Re: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . .

Tweakers' Asylum

Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

In Reply to: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . posted by psgary on January 17, 2004 at 14:50:56:

Hi PSGary;
The difference between "tinning" and what Batman is suggesting is that "tinning" will "plate" a thin layer of solder onto the tip so it turns "silvery coloured" rather than oxidising to black. If you have a small molten drop of solder on top of the tinned tip, that does indeed work wonders at heat transfer. The "plug in the wall" type irons are a pain to work with IMHO - personally I much prefer an adjustable soldering station that can be "turned down" in between joints. However, the cash outlay makes that a poor choice for someone who doesn't use it much (when I have vacation time that I'm spending at home, the solder flows like wine....so I love my adjustable Weller! ;-) ). The alternative to turning off the iron between each joint is to have a set of 3 or 4 prepped in advance, then just move quickly from one to the next. Then turn it off and prep the next 3 or 4. Particularly when soldering multiple components to IC chip's pins, I've found that sort of procedure to be useful since then I only need to heat each pin up once (If you're using point to point that is).
One other tip is to use good solder. I personally like Kester "44" and Philips ECG (getting hard to find these days) and do NOT like Rat Shack's solder; I've never had good luck getting good clean solder joints with it....
Good luck on your soldering!
All the best,
Morse

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

The Cable Cooker

Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Soldering - what am I doing wrong? - psgary 13:51:50 01/17/04 (7)

You need a visit from the soldering pismire! - Batman 14:11:01 01/17/04 (6)

Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . - psgary 14:50:56 01/17/04 (5)

Re: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . - Morse 03:28:17 01/18/04 (4)

Thanks - psgary 09:04:08 01/18/04 (0)

Re: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . - Batman 05:11:07 01/18/04 (2)

And I'm assuming . . . - psgary 09:03:01 01/18/04 (1)

Hot! -t - Batman 12:07:56 01/18/04 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . - Morse 03:28:17 01/18/04 (4)

Thanks - psgary 09:04:08 01/18/04 (0)

Re: Thanks, Mr. Soldering Pismire, and . . . - Batman 05:11:07 01/18/04 (2)

And I'm assuming . . . - psgary 09:03:01 01/18/04 (1)

Hot! -t - Batman 12:07:56 01/18/04 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.