Electronics > Beginners

Atari 2600 resoldering skills

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Cubdriver:
Put a chisel tip in for through hole PCB work for sure.  I can't recall the last time I used a conical tip - they stink for through hole work as until the connection wets there's almost NO thermal contact to heat the pad and lead.  The flat side of a chisel tip will get things hot enough to melt the solder a lot faster, letting you get in and out more quickly giving less time for oxidation or overheating.

-Pat

tooki:

--- Quote from: Cubdriver on January 03, 2020, 07:14:21 pm ---Put a chisel tip in for through hole PCB work for sure.  I can't recall the last time I used a conical tip - they stink for through hole work as until the connection wets there's almost NO thermal contact to heat the pad and lead.  The flat side of a chisel tip will get things hot enough to melt the solder a lot faster, letting you get in and out more quickly giving less time for oxidation or overheating.

--- End quote ---
I couldn’t agree more. I am baffled that anyone likes conical tips, as I can’t identify any situation where they’re superior to a chisel (or a more specialized tip), and thus even more baffled that some brands of soldering stations ship with conical by default.



--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on January 03, 2020, 06:15:34 pm ---
--- Quote from: Cubdriver on January 03, 2020, 05:30:28 pm ---A bit late to the party here, but I must also add - I'm impressed with the results you got given that you were using that Hazard Fraught Tools iron.  This is definitely an instance where a good bit of the blame for the less-than-stellar result lies with the tool.  Get a temp controlled station and some good chisel tips and you'll be amazed at how much easier it will seem and how much better your results will be when you can actually get some heat into the pad and component lead.

Keep up the learning and good work.   :-+

-Pat

--- End quote ---

To both you and Tooki, thanks for the kind words :D
I actually recently bought a new kit from Amazon that looks hopeful. I ordered a spool of leaded solder as well so I have new solder to work with. By the reviews, it looks like a good kit until I get enough money for a more professional setup. See attachment.

It arrives tomorrow, and I’m very excited to finally use something good. Erm.. well.. better than the cheapie Chinese Hazard Fright rubbish.

--- End quote ---
You’re very welcome!

It’ll be better, but not the same as a real station. (It seems unclear as to whether those cheap irons with a knob on the handle are actually temperature controlled or just a “light dimmer” style power control. The original Hakko of that style is temperature controlled, but the Chinese clones, who knows...) Even within the realm of single-heat fire sticks, there are big differences. My very first iron, when I was around 8 years old, was a radio shack one that looked much like your old one, probably 20W or so, and I never managed to make nice joints with it. Upgrading to the much nicer 15W radio shack one made a huge difference. But when I finally got a real soldering station a few years ago... omg, a revelation. Fire sticks tend to do well with one size of joint (since they have a fixed heat output), e.g. small iron for small joints, bigger one for bigger joints. A proper temperature controlled station (that is, with thermostatic regulation using a sensor in the tip), on the other hand, is self-adjusting constantly, so it’ll pump in more energy for bigger, heat-sucking joints, while remaining gingerly for small ones. Soldering with those seems effortless by comparison.


For what it’s worth, if I were in the market for a soldering station today, I’d probably spend around $250 for a Pace ADS200 with a couple of tips. (That’s a station that will serve you for the next 25 years at least.) But if that’s out of your budget and you don’t have a birthday or graduation gift request coming up ;D,  even the $20 Chinese soldering stations will get you surprisingly good performance. And the ever-popular Hakko FX888D, while not state of the art as such, is still a great starter station. And the TD100 and TD80 open-sourceish irons, while they do have some small limitations, perform FAR above their price point, by all accounts.



I hope you purchased name brand solder; cheap Chinese solder sucks, no matter what alloy it purports to be. (While leaded Kester is my favorite solder, I’d choose a name-brand lead-free over Chinese leaded any day for normal use. Don’t believe the anti-lead-free hysteria: while leaded is indisputably easier for work with, the difference is nowhere near as big as many people claim. With that said, old boards will not tolerate the higher temperatures of lead-free, so DO NOT use lead-free to repair any device that originally shipped with leaded!!!!)

Cubdriver:
About the only place I can see a conical tip being very useful is in old school hand wired chassis work with terminal strips and tube sockets and the like, where it can be poked into the hole in the terminal lug among the component leads, making contact with things that are then all around it.  (Though even then I typically use a chisel).  As to why all the cheap irons come with them, I suppose because being symmetrical along its length, it's the easiest and cheapest type to make.

-Pat

WyverntekGameRepairs:

--- Quote from: tooki on January 04, 2020, 08:30:27 am ---I’m baffled that anyone likes conical tips

--- End quote ---

Personally, I like the small, pencil-like conical tips because they are great for tight joints in very small, compact, and awkward places where a chisel tip would typically not fit (I.e. a THT joint in between densely packed BGA chips), and even some medium and large SMD work. They are good for tinning small magnet wire as well. But that’s just me.  :-//


--- Quote from: tooki on January 04, 2020, 08:30:27 am ---I hope you purchased name brand solder;...

--- End quote ---
It’s not a well known name I don’t think, but it has good reviews. See attachment.


--- Quote from: tooki on January 04, 2020, 08:30:27 am ---Don’t believe the anti-lead-free hysteria...

--- End quote ---
Eh, the hysteria on my part is the fact that lead free solder has more chemical additives to make it melt easier, and this can harm you faster than leaded solder can. The flux contains a very harsh reducing additive that can actually irritate the eyes and sinuses (as well as any other moist/wet membrane and tissue in your body), and the fumes are toxic. Leaded solder fumes are also pretty toxic, but since leaded solder does not contain harsh reducing additive in the flux, it is less potent and dangerous than lead free solder. It’s not just the melting point I’m worried about, but also the health affecting repercussions that come from the different solder types. As long as you work in a ventilated area, wash your hands, and keep your workspace clean, leaded solder is not as toxic as lead free. However, it is okay to use lead free solder for manufacturing if you are manufacturing something to be distributed to other countries that prohibit use of leaded solder in products, as long as you are ventilating the area really, really well and you are not in direct contact with the fumes. Lead free is always the best choice otherwise. Since good joints with leaded solder are shiny, it is easy to check your joints. But since lead free solder hardens with a dull, matte finish, it is hard to identify a bad joint unless you have worked with lead free solder for a very long time and really know what you are doing. Also, the flux used in lead free soldering actually has a shelf life since oxygen attacks the chemicals in it more easily. This oxidises the flux and renders it unusable and seriously worsens the efficacy of the core in the solder.
Information obtained from: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-disadvantages-of-lead-free-solder-vs-lead-solder

-Sterling Ordes

WyverntekGameRepairs:
 :palm:
I WAS VERY WRONG.
My package with the new soldering iron and solder came in! I was really excited, especially because I now had a proper setup with proper solder... or at least I thought.

The soldering iron kit was fantastic as expected (for its price, I mean), and functioned perfectly. It looks like it uses a dimmer controller to adjust the heater element temperature using a triode. It even actually has a little indicator that lights up when the iron is on. Very well built for only $18.

But the solder I got.. Is absolute turd material. It is leaded, meaning it is supposed to harden with a shiny finish, not a layer of matte.. But alas. See attachment.
I must have seen a different product with good reviews or something, or the people who buy this are ignorant, or worst case scenario I happened to get a bad batch. I’m going to ask for a refund, because this is not acceptable. The temperature was set correctly (max 230c, I set the iron to around 200c), and the tip was cleaned and tinned properly. The joint was completely clean. This solder is just really dirty by the looks of it, or it has little to no flux. Hell, even the tube of solder that came with the iron is better than this spool of lead-plated turd.
You can see the desoldering job I did in one of the photos, and it is kinda sloppy. I tried my iron and did a quick desolder job to see how effective it is. I used the chisel tip, and clearly it took a bit of getting used to, but I got there eventually.

Name of the crappy solder brand is B&C by the look of the logo. It also has WYCTIN in big letters at the bottom, dunno if that’s an identification number or model number. Origin of manufacture, surprise surprise, China.
Contents are as follows:
Sn - 60
Pb - 40
Flux - 1.8%

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