I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.
Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive bits.
Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?
Farnell carries most of Ersa stuff. I use tips 832SD for regular soldering work and 832PW (hollow point) for TQFP.
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Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
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I'm in the UK and I've been using lead free solder for fine SMT work (hand assembled prototypes) for a few years.
Leaded solder - works well on everything, good for prototypes, but not really usable any more for commercial products. For example most professional assemblers refuse to use it in case it contaminates the soldering machines; if customers who require lead-free detect lead (which is relatively easy) they will be most annoyed. I keep some leaded solder around for difficult-to-solder prototypes but try hard to avoid using it.
Lead-free - I settled on silver loaded stuff a couple of years ago as it had the lowest melting point of all ROHS compliant types. However as I've moved to finer pitches I am not happy with it; compared to leaded solder it sticks into large snot-like lumps. I suspect my soldering iron is not hot enough despite the tip being allegedly calibrated by the manufacturer - lead free solder melts at about 40C above leaded (which can damage some more sensitive items like the metallisation on ceramic substrates). Also I often have problems wetting joints. I posted some queries here recently about fluxes / cleaning boards and discovered that I probably need to use an active flux instead of the eco-friendly "water soluble" ones I've been using: the halide-activated (acidic) flux burns through oxidation on component legs and permits the solder to wet the joint properly. The downside of acidic flux residues is they need to be washed off properly, eg vigourously with acetone, to stop long term corrosion of components; and I suspect the fumes from them are a tad more choking than from water-soluble fluxes.
So I ordered some new bits and solders to experiment with the other day. I can't recall the brand of soldering iron I use right now. If you email me at paul.el - stitch these bits together - ectronics "at" furfur
-demon [co] uk, I'll probably have firm data about "what seems to work", with Farnell part numbers, which I can summarise back to you within a week or so.
I've always used Weller irons, in Europe as well as in the US. All you really need is an analog station with a lone temp control knob. WECP-20 was the older generation and the new one is called WES51. Both very good. Currently under $100 in the US but I don't know EU pricing.
For SMT I use a needle-point style tip called ETS. However, we are nearly free from this RoHs nonsense over here so I can't say much about RoHS soldering other than that I've wrecked ETS tips doing it. But that was from boards with unknown types of lead-free solder from clients. So it's best to keep a stash of tips on hand, they are under $5 a piece.
Stay away from fancy digital stations, I've seen them die like flies, got a dead one here (for scrap, in case I cinge or break the enclosure of my analog ones etc.)
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Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
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One exception is the Ersa i-CON. Very good soldering station and no problems for years for a client in their service workshop (they have some of the big ones with desoldering tools, but I'm happy with the i-CON1 at home).
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Frank Buss, fb@frank-buss.de
http://www.frank-buss.de, http://www.it4-systems.de
I use what's on the bench. ...often after some mumbling.
Our stuff is all RoHS, so I have others do the soldering on production stuff. I'll still work on prototypes but screw RoHS soldering. A good connection looks worse than the worst cold solder joint.
Your designs go "*phut*", why wouldn't we expect the same from your tools? ;-)
Ersa is a good brand but we can't really buy it over here. So I got a
150W Ersa from Germany for heavy duty stuff and run it from the 230V line in the lab. It is possible to design a good digital station but IMHO Weller clearly didn't succeed with that back in the 90's. Inside of mine are alumina hybrids so I guess they had stuff that ran rather hot. Maybe too hot. It worked for a few minutes, then the LED display went blinky-blink. A technician at a client told me they lost most of their digital Wellers with the same fault pattern. It would still regulate, you just didn't know what temperature. I prefer the analog ones, mankind doesn't really need more than some temperature labeling around the control knob.
It's like the fuel gauges in fancy cars that show gas mileage, how many miles left in the tank and lots of stuff that a driver really doesn't need. Then on a really cold day ... nada ... zilch ... LCD almost invisible. If it's not your car and you don't know how much fuel is inside you'd be driving to the next gas station with white knuckles, only to be embarrassed when the pump shuts off right away because the tank was full. There I prefer a simple analog gauge with liters or gallons on it.
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Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
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So do I but there have been cases where I brought in my Weller. A couple of recent clients then ordered some for themselves right afterwards.
I had the "pleasure" to resolder a complete RoHS VME extender board with leaded solder, all pins. There was a real "solder stench" in their lab when done but now it worked.
Nope, I get other folks' stuff to re-design so it doesn't go *phut* anymore :-)
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Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
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I got a second-hand Metcal STSS power unit with a new MX-500 handpiece and a selection of cartridges for =A3125 about eight years ago. That's about the same price as a new Weller system, and is much better value.
Thats the problem with Weller: they make money on their soldering tips. Their needle pin tips are the worst. I always considered them one-time-use only (this is before the whole lead-free thing). Needle pin tips are hard to use anyway because they can't transfer enough heat to the solder joint.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
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Mine always last forever until that one day where I have to tackle a lead-free board from a client. If you have to lift and resolder individual pins on a TSSOP they are really great.
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Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
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