Lead Free Soldering Iron

reflow).

package.

Refer to the temperature chard I made:

Don't you mean "A good lead free solder joint should be a little MORE shiny than a leaded solder joint?" All of mine are.

On a sunny day (Mon, 20 Aug 2012 12:04:51 -0700) it happened Robert Baer wrote in :

reflow).

the package.

That is a nice chart, thanks.

Nonsense. I've had *lots* more reliability issues with my Wellers.

'Sort of problems Johnny Cash would have had with his 'psycobilly automobile'?

:)

That might explain why I've not had any problems with mine....

--Winston

That's a 'no' then..... :)

Whoa. Your vendors don't act anything like my vendors. :)

--Winston

Just because they appear as "shiny" does not in any way mean that they were properly constructed.

The key to solder tip life is that you TURN OFF the device between sessions! Hell, I turn it off between solder joints. It heats up in 5 seconds flat!

It is a VERY simple premise, and MY tips last TWENTY times longer than ANYONE else's (actual solder joint count)

I have a 2" wide x 2 feet long strip of Velcro on the upper shelf of the bench which has the solder station (there are several in the lab, but this one is in the family of assets I get access to when I need it.)

I can stick many things to that Velcro, but the thing I like it for most is that it is wider than the bench shelf I stuck it to, so the bottom edge of it has a very sticky band facing away from the user. I can stick my entire tip collection along that exposed back edge, and they are all right there to grab when needed and replace when done. Far better than digging in a drawer or toolbox bin. They are all also right above the iron so even a monkey would have a hard time missing them. It is also the perfect place to hang the flux brushes too!

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_____\------/_____ | | | | _____ | | | | | | | | | | _______ ____________________ | | | ------------ | | | | ------------ | | | | ------------ | | | ---------------------- |_____|

So much for all those copper piped (leaded seams) schools and leaded pipe water fountains. Made us all dumb.

I still use one of several ancient Weller WTCPN soldering irons. Something like this:

It's not that I prefer this iron. It's because I bought a box full of parts for these irons and have enough to build perhaps another 10 of them.

Years ago, I was also killing tips are an alarming rate until I found the culprit. Notice that the sponge is next to the metal solder tip tray. When I soak the sponge with water, some of the water always seems to end up in the metal tray. Leave an iron tip in a puddle of water for even a few days, and it will corrode badly. When I stopped storing my tips in the metal tray, the tip corrosion failures stopped. Typically, I replace my tips once every 5 years for the irons that I use every day. Oh, I use mostly 700F tips, but do have a few 800F tips.

Very nice. When I run out of WTCPN parts and pieces, I might consider buying something better.

I like hot air desoldering and soldering better for SMD. I glue the parts with a drop of cyanoacrylate adhesive and reflow with solder paste.

microswitch

Hey... that's my Weller WTCPN (TC-201) iron.

There's no RF involved. It's an ordinary heater run by a marginal thermostatic switch. It's not very accurate and needs occasional contact cleaning. As for overprice, my box of parts cost me about $10 for maybe 20 irons. Tips were extra at about $4/ea.

the tank coil,

next to it.

No way. Metal box? Something else must have killed the RF xsistors. Presumably the high power output stages were what died. You can crack the ceramic lids, look at what's left of the die, and make a good guess as to what killed the device.

"Nico Coesel"

It is fitted into a near new FX 8801 iron.

You are a so full of crap.

... Phil

This is my favorite soldering station:

Gets up to 427C which isn't bad.

I've gotten the tweezer set for it and additional chisel tips too. Cheap enough - fully outfitted will run you less than a hundred dollars.

On a sunny day (Mon, 20 Aug 2012 20:47:12 -0700) it happened Jeff Liebermann wrote in :

Right, you need spare parts for that model...

I learned something similar, I have stopped using the 'wet sponge' for tip cleaning. It is much easier to gather some 60/40 droplets into a larger piece, and rub the tip against that, cleans better and no corrosion.

microswitch

Yes I know, but I was referring to the continuous adds for that other thing called 'metcal?" here :-)

the tank coil,

by) next to it.

Think this way, the metal box just forms a one turn loop at RF. Although it should short all RF, at that power level only a little needs to go through, if 2 transitor leads are touching you get a second loop with the (Ge in that time) in the loop.

.......... -->-----\ . |--Something else must have killed the RF xsistors.

The lead was more of a problem on the hot water side. The heat caused more lead enter the water. But they took lead out of the solder for copper pipes just for that reason.

I've talked to the PEX peddlers a few times. [I'm due for a repipe to get rid of the galvanized.] They claim PEX is safe even for drinking, but I don't know.....

Apparently it is very tasty for rodents, so unless your construction is set up for PEX, it is probably not good for a retrofit.

Yeah? When?