Soldering SMT Components

Do you mean Handy Dandy Tandy, who bought Radio Shack? (or maybe owned it from the get-go?) ;-) In the Boy Scouts, we did some crafts (coin purses, wallets, belts, etc.) with Tandy tools, but nobody built a sewing machine. ;-)

Thanks! Rich

Won't work with a bottle of Porter ;-)

I sure do.

Without pliers that tight grip might suddenly become not so tight, the tube piece slips out, rolls off the table, onto your socks and tzzzzzz ... *OUCH*.

Good Scotch doesn't need ice. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

I use hemostats. Doesn't mangle the collar and good control so you don't drop the darn thing. Also easy to install hot tips. Alas, the old Weller doesn't get much use anymore. The Metcal is so much easier to use, especially when soldering to copper pours and/or small parts.

Actually i saw something about tin silver copper indium alloys that were not too bad. No life data yet but more acceptable materials properties.

Much of it has been shown in references here. Maybe you should look some more.

There is way too much serious studies and reports that contradict you.

It is also supposed to make pancakes.

They

Thus losing maybe a full minute

Let alone with morning hot tea.

Ever ha' Laphroaig?

Actually, when i moved from the LA, CA are i had a local shop which could, would and did resole and do other serious repairs on my shoes and boots, for less than a replacement of adequate quality. The very old man that owned the shop asked me once why, i responded "this is a better deal, buy good repairable footwear, and maintain them. Cheaper in the long run." He smiled and said "Have a good day".

I haven't found equivalents since i moved to Sactown. And i need new boots.

And where do you get YOUR crazy ideas?

The OP is talking about lead alloying pure tin, which WILL prevent the tin whiskers that form on otherwise

But if you are in the commercial world, and not the military market, don't worry about it....

But you have to be careful about hand-soldering SMTs: often they become damaged from hand-soldering, because the temperatures are hotter than if you used a controlled re-flow oven with solder paste.

We had 0.001uF ceramic 0603 SMTs, for inter-stage coupling between RF amps, and had consistent failures from hand-soldering. You might be able to get away with it if you carefully adjust your solder-iron temperature.

Just letting you know from experience.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

I have read every reference posted here that I noticed, along with at least 600 other articles on the subject over the last 10 years, much of it including actual test results with complete description of materials, processing parameters, test conditions and results with statistical analysis. Nothing I have ever read regarding tin whiskers from lead-free solder holds up to the slightest bit of scrutiny.

Asian manufacturers have been cranking out millions of lead free assemblies per month for years now. Where are the failures? Statistical analysis shows improved yield and reliability, and absolutely ZERO failures have been reported due to tin whiskers growing from lead-free solder. Compare to the failure numbers from HDD rotating elements, fan failure, electrolytic capacitors, etc., the whole lead-free reliability scare is clearly much ado about nothing.

Name one. Post a link, and I will explain what is wrong with it or why it does not apply to current materials and processes.

No one who is serious about high reliability is failing to investigate the advantages of lead-free. It is now clear that tin-lead has no future in high-rel PCB assembly; its fatigue and shock resistance properties are not even in the ball park of the latest high performance lead-free alloys. Read the literature.

problems

station.

devices

They

Wellers.

When working on a prototype that I am anxious to get going a minute is a whole long time ;-)

of

Well, there is a place here in Shingle Springs, near the Ponderosa exit. But that would be kind of a long drive from Sac.

I currently work in the packaging research department at IBM Watson Lab. I'm an electro-optics guy surrounded by people who worry about solder and thermal interfaces and 3000g shock tests and other such stuff that you have to get right if your systems are really going to meet a five-nines availability specification. (That's 30 seconds downtime per year, maximum, with a real guarantee that costs lots of real money if it isn't met.)

The sheer volume of labour, of people as smart as any you're likely to meet, that has been poured down the lead-free rathole due to that

Lead doesn't go anywhere in landfills, and heavy metals move incredibly slowly in ground water--witness the Oklo natural reactor plume, where the heavy metal fission products moved less than a mile in well over a billion years. Getting lead out of paint and gasoline made abundant sense. Getting it out of plumbing solder made marginal sense, if your tap water is acidic enough and has little or no lime in it. Getting it out of electronics and CRT tubes is just plain ideology.

In a hundred years, we'll be mining landfills--they're high grade deposits of just about everything needed for a technological civilization.

Cheers,

Phil Hobbs