SMT soldering

You don't need anything more than a sharp tip. The smaller the better, but as considering your zero-experience, I don't think that you are going to solder the smallest and the most difficult components on a PCB with the highest component/surface -density, so I'm pretty sure that any sharp tip will do :-)

I guess my real concern is temperatures. The WTCPS station is a regulated power supply with changeable fixed temp tips. The lowest tip temp I've been able to find for it is 600 deg F. From what little I've been able to find on SMT solder temps on the web, it appears most SMT work is sub-500 deg F, making my station a bit hot. Will my station be ok if used with a judicious touch? I may have no experience with SMDs, but have more soldering experience than I care to relate.

nb

I always thought most guys used solder paste and a hideous $4.99 toaster oven they bought at the local GoodWill or Starvation Army.

When doing SMT stuff.

-phaeton

yeah, I got that page bookmarked, too.

nb

::I always thought most guys used[...]a hideous $4.99 toaster oven ::phaeton

Lotta good info in that thread. Thanks.

nb

No actually. You need a small wedge shape tip that gets good contact with the pad and component, sharp conical tips are not very good for this. The rest is pad layout, technique, and 0.46mm or finer solder. A pair of tweezers is absolutely essential, I prefer the straight sharp pointed type, but the angled type can be handy too.

Re. pad layout. If you are designing a board for hand soldering then you have to have larger pads that allow surface area for the tip. It's much more difficult to hand solder "high density" pads that have little or no oversize. The recommended IPC footprints are large and are good for hand soldering, but crap for high density production layouts.

Dave :)

I don't, but a lot of guys in an IRC channel I haunt periodically do just that. A few of them build SMT boards exclusively.

It's probably a bit too much fine detail for me. CTS/Tendonitis and all makes me a little 'clumsy' in the hands, and the eyes aren't the

-phaeton

OK, I agree, but by putting a little solder to the bit before begionning to heat the component and the pad, both will get heated, and sharp bit will do...but of course, in case of more advanced work, some kind of more advanced tool will do better :-)

I put a little touch of solder on one pad, and then slide the component onto it while heating with the tip of the iron (fine tweezers and wedge shaped bit!). The part slides into a little pool of solder and can be positioned before withdrawing the iron. With the part tacked in place, I then do the other end normally, using just iron and solder, before redoing the first joint with iron and solder.

Can't say I've found pointy tips to work reliably - hard to get the heat in fast enough. Maybe they're okay for 0603 size?

A wedge shaped tip is hardly a more advanced tool!, it's the right tool for the job. Better for normal soldering too. Conical tips are pretty much useless for normal and SMD soldering.

Dave :)

Yeah, that's one of the standard techniques, and works very well.

Dave :)

"Righter" for the job --> more "advanced" to the job, isn't it?

Agreed, and good if the OP has better tip for doing, but my points were originally just that a) If the OP has just a tip that is non-sharp and is too big, it won't do. b) If he has a sharp tip, it will probably do, even if it's quite big. c) I would think that soldering irons/stations have more often as original tip either a sharp tip or a one that is not suitable for this job, than a correct-sized wedge-shaped one.

I think the idea is to go to the wedge-shaped bit shop and buy one.