soldering.

[R005T3r]

Well, that said. I'll skip the flux cleaner: if I can use IPA instead, not a major concern.

I've also found some flutin: they are european, and the particularity of this kind of solder is that it's  Sn60/Pb38/Cu2 2.2% solvent. They also have some 0.5 mm versions as well as 0.75 mm versions... Not sure if this is meant for electronics soldering  or other applcations, but they are quite reasonable on a price point: it's around 50 Eur per Kg.

[R005T3r]

Thanks.

What about MBO? http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0547372/
62/36/2 0.7mm with 2.6% rosin flux. Seems a good universal spec.

Or the one I mentioned earlier the Warton Future https://www.rapidonline.com/warton-metals-future-hf-63-37-fast-flow-2-flux-solder-wire-22swg-0-711mm-500g-85-6274
64/36 0.7mm 2% no clean modified rosin flux

Looking back at your list of tools earlier in the thread, when you upgrade to an even half decent soldering station the choice of a specific solder will be mostly insignificant to the difference a temp controlled station will make.
Get what seems to be a good brand solder for now, focus next on a station then home in on a preferred solder by grabbing mini spools to try. Keep a little of each to compare against others and you will find what you like best.
Stick to leaded unless you need the grief that comes with the muck, but if you want to treat yourself get some with a little silver in the mix for those special jobs. 

Yeah, you made an interesting point. Mini spools are not that expensive and also you can have a variety of solder (just to try out and see some differences). Also, with the cheap soldering iron, why not try and see what's wrong with lead-free stuff... May be worth experimenting...

[gblades]

Thanks.

What about MBO? http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0547372/
62/36/2 0.7mm with 2.6% rosin flux. Seems a good universal spec.

Or the one I mentioned earlier the Warton Future https://www.rapidonline.com/warton-metals-future-hf-63-37-fast-flow-2-flux-solder-wire-22swg-0-711mm-500g-85-6274
64/36 0.7mm 2% no clean modified rosin flux

Looking back at your list of tools earlier in the thread, when you upgrade to an even half decent soldering station the choice of a specific solder will be mostly insignificant to the difference a temp controlled station will make.
Get what seems to be a good brand solder for now, focus next on a station then home in on a preferred solder by grabbing mini spools to try. Keep a little of each to compare against others and you will find what you like best.
Stick to leaded unless you need the grief that comes with the muck, but if you want to treat yourself get some with a little silver in the mix for those special jobs. 

I am not sure if you are confusing me with the original poster. I did post my equipment but my soldering station is temperature controlled so I am unsure whether you are referring to a different iron or if you think the station I have is inferior in some way?

[tautech]

Thanks.

What about MBO? http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0547372/
62/36/2 0.7mm with 2.6% rosin flux. Seems a good universal spec.

Or the one I mentioned earlier the Warton Future https://www.rapidonline.com/warton-metals-future-hf-63-37-fast-flow-2-flux-solder-wire-22swg-0-711mm-500g-85-6274
64/36 0.7mm 2% no clean modified rosin flux

Looking back at your list of tools earlier in the thread, when you upgrade to an even half decent soldering station the choice of a specific solder will be mostly insignificant to the difference a temp controlled station will make.
Get what seems to be a good brand solder for now, focus next on a station then home in on a preferred solder by grabbing mini spools to try. Keep a little of each to compare against others and you will find what you like best.
Stick to leaded unless you need the grief that comes with the muck, but if you want to treat yourself get some with a little silver in the mix for those special jobs. 

I am not sure if you are confusing me with the original poster. I did post my equipment but my soldering station is temperature controlled so I am unsure whether you are referring to a different iron or if you think the station I have is inferior in some way?

I did, sorry.

[tautech]

Thanks.

What about MBO? http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0547372/
62/36/2 0.7mm with 2.6% rosin flux. Seems a good universal spec.

Or the one I mentioned earlier the Warton Future https://www.rapidonline.com/warton-metals-future-hf-63-37-fast-flow-2-flux-solder-wire-22swg-0-711mm-500g-85-6274
64/36 0.7mm 2% no clean modified rosin flux

Looking back at your list of tools earlier in the thread, when you upgrade to an even half decent soldering station the choice of a specific solder will be mostly insignificant to the difference a temp controlled station will make.
Get what seems to be a good brand solder for now, focus next on a station then home in on a preferred solder by grabbing mini spools to try. Keep a little of each to compare against others and you will find what you like best.
Stick to leaded unless you need the grief that comes with the muck, but if you want to treat yourself get some with a little silver in the mix for those special jobs. 

Yeah, you made an interesting point. Mini spools are not that expensive and also you can have a variety of solder (just to try out and see some differences). Also, with the cheap soldering iron, why not try and see what's wrong with lead-free stuff... May be worth experimenting...

Forget lead free, without much soldering experience it'll drive you nuts.
Put your old iron away or give it to some kid to get started with, take the plunge into any reasonable temp controlled station and discover what you've been missing. Before I got one ~10 yrs ago I just used a mains pencil iron and a light dimmer to tame/control it but when I got the rework station the old stuff was rapidly retired.
A small selection of tips and you'll be away.

[tautech]

As for solder, if you haven't worked it out from my avatar, I only use leaded, don't care much what make or formulation, pretty much anything "works". The only new spool I ever purchased was a silver bearing leaded solder from RS ~20 years ago and that's saved for use on special occasions as it's a low temp model. 
Grabbed various part spools from swap meets for next to nothing and have enough assorted and unlabeled solders to see me out. However each has there own peculiarities and those with more active fluxes are very useful for old and dirty work. Unless you do only clean new work you'll want a small selection.

[R005T3r]

Ok, guys... I've just ordered a brand new genuine Hakko 888d station. Also took the points posted earlier in the thread.

Meanwhile, let's speak about lead-free solder. What's wrong with it?  I'm not understanding. Is it difficult to solder or it's not performing well? 

[gblades]

The only good thing about lead free solder is that it contains no lead. It has a higher melting temperature so more difficult to work with and more likely to damage components with excessive heat.

[tautech]

Ok, guys... I've just ordered a brand new genuine Hakko 888d station. Also took the points posted earlier in the thread.

Meanwhile, let's speak about lead-free solder. What's wrong with it?  I'm not understanding. Is it difficult to solder or it's not performing well?

Both.
In simple terms for the uninitiated it doesn't "wet" as well, and requires higher temps that especially for the inexperienced can result in lifted pads on PCB's. Greater care need be used with it as to not expose componentry to elevated temps that can result in failures if careful temp profiles that are required for some parts are not followed.
Manufacturing uses tuned profiles to ensure damage is not done but for the hobbyist hand soldering you can't guarantee to stay within max temps.
The stuff is muck and unless you into production supplying ROHS demanding markets stick with leaded.
Those that rework mostly prefer to use leaded even if the PCB was constructed with Pb free.
I hate the crap.

By all means get a small spool and find out for yourself.

[Augustus]

Meanwhile, let's speak about lead-free solder. What's wrong with it?  I'm not understanding. Is it difficult to solder or it's not performing well? 

It's actually not that bad or difficult if you use good stuff. My recommendation for lead-free would be Felder Iso-Core "Clear" Sn100Ni+ (Sn99,3CuNiGe). This will get you as close to "leaded solder experience" as you probably could get with the lead free. But you need a really good soldering iron with excellent regulation and ultra-fast heat recovery, the likes of JBC's, Ersa i-con's or Metcals, to have any fun with it. Soldering temps are generally ~40K higher and it takes longer to make the joint because it doesn't flow as well as leaded solder, which of course puts additional stress on components and pads, especially in prototyping, where you often solder to a particular joint several times. The higher working temps also shorten the life of the tips as do the more aggressive fluxes used in the lead-free stuff. A lot of people also dislike the usually "dull" appearance of the joints, they are not as nice and shiny as the ones done with leaded solder. Though the Sn100Ni+ stuff is pretty good in this respect, almost as shiny as leaded ones. If you're used to leaded solder chances are you won't like the lead free... But a small spool is not that expensive and I would recommend anyone to try it out, at least once, it's a nice experience 

[george.b]

As for soldering, I think this explains it well enough, at least when it comes to PTH.

https://mightyohm.com/files/soldercomic/FullSolderComic_EN.pdf

[GreyWoolfe]

Meanwhile, let's speak about lead-free solder. What's wrong with it?  I'm not understanding. Is it difficult to solder or it's not performing well? 

It's actually not that bad or difficult if you use good stuff. My recommendation for lead-free would be Felder Iso-Core "Clear" Sn100Ni+ (Sn99,3CuNiGe). This will get you as close to "leaded solder experience" as you probably could get with the lead free. But you need a really good soldering iron with excellent regulation and ultra-fast heat recovery, the likes of JBC's, Ersa i-con's or Metcals, to have any fun with it. Soldering temps are generally ~40K higher and it takes longer to make the joint because it doesn't flow as well as leaded solder, which of course puts additional stress on components and pads, especially in prototyping, where you often solder to a particular joint several times. The higher working temps also shorten the life of the tips as do the more aggressive fluxes used in the lead-free stuff. A lot of people also dislike the usually "dull" appearance of the joints, they are not as nice and shiny as the ones done with leaded solder. Though the Sn100Ni+ stuff is pretty good in this respect, almost as shiny as leaded ones. If you're used to leaded solder chances are you won't like the lead free... But a small spool is not that expensive and I would recommend anyone to try it out, at least once, it's a nice experience 

I bought a spool of AIM SN100C Glow Core 2.5% lead free because of a part time gig that didn't pan out.  I updated the alligator clips on my Der EE DE-5000 as found in another thread and saw that lead free solder was used.  I used mine and got almost instant wetting using extra flux and a 850 series tip in my Metcal MX-500.  You will need a really good iron with the ability to dump lots of heat quickly to avoid damage.  Another point is that you want separate tips for lead and lead-free so as to avoid contamination that could lead to premature failure of the joint.

[nanofrog]

Another point is that you want separate tips for lead and lead-free so as to avoid contamination that could lead to premature failure of the joint.

Ideally, yes.

Unfortunately, this may not be feasible due to cost constraints.  So if separate tips aren't feasible, rinsing would be the next best alternative (better than not doing anything).

[tautech]

While I admire those of you that use that Pb free muck, I ask why bother.

Manufacturing sure, hobbyist use is it really worth the grief or is it some "feel good" factor?

[R005T3r]

Nah, just to know what's wrong with that. Maybe a good project is try to solder with lead free stuff  and see how it goes, but definitely not in the imminent future, since I have a lot of things to buy still: from a decent pot trimmer tool to some tweezers...

Alright, I'll avoid lead free stuff. Now, let's talk about the solder wick. Is there anything I need to know before purchasing it? And more important, is it better if I buy different width, considered they are not that expensive? What may be a good width? Also, there are some RA and RMA, what's that about?

[nanofrog]

Now, let's talk about the solder wick. Is there anything I need to know before purchasing it? And more important, is it better if I buy different width, considered they are not that expensive? What may be a good width?

Given your location, I'd suggest looking for Multicore (Henkel) brand desolder braid/wick. As per what width to use, what will you be using?
I ask, as it's like soldering iron tips; you have to size the wick to the pad/hole. For example, if you're primarily working with PTH with pad diameters ~ 2.54mm, then .0100"/2.54mm wide wick would be the appropriate size.

If you look around quality wick manufacturers (Multicore, Chemtronics, MG Chemicals, ...), they usually have a sizing chart in the literature, such as the datasheet or product line marketing literature. Definitely worth your time to dig into this further IMHO. 

Also, there are some RA and RMA, what's that about?

Flux activity (ability to clean oxidation off of the metals to be joined).

RA = Rosin, Activated
RMA = Rosin, Mildly Activated

In order from weakest to strongest activity, is as follows: R (rosin), RMA, and RA.

[R005T3r]

I'll be using the baird to desolder trought holes, included to 220, and some SMDs. I'm not going much lower on SMD size, for now. After I've mastered these, maybe I'll try something more compact. However, I'm sure I'll start with big SMDs first and for a while...

So, the same considerations done to the solder wire are the same with the desoldering baird? I see there are some no flux baird and they can be mixed with the flux you want. Is that true? 

[tautech]

Now, let's talk about the solder wick.

This is where things get interesting, yep, I've got a small canister of it and for all the use it is for the soldering methodologies I use, well..... I might as well throw it away. I've learnt of ways to not need it.
You won't get similar responses from many here, probably all to the contrary.

If I want a "clean" pad (not often necessary) I flood it with solder and suck it clean with a cheap solder sucker.
Want to suck the solder from a stubborn hole, resolder it with a low temp solder and re-suck. Rinse and repeat.
As far as methodologies are concerned: necessity is the mother of inventiveness. 

Now this seem like a bit of time pissing around with molten solder and maybe it is, but it's where a temp controlled iron is invaluable as you can spend some time on pads with little fear of lifting them, but then practice makes perfect....I'm not. 

By all means get some braid but I don't believe it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Or you could spend the money on some nice fine (bent and straight) tweezers, some small fine needle nose pliers (bent and straights) and an assortment of tips for your new Hakko.

[mariush]

I once made the mistake of buying a cheap desoldering wick without flux.  Without flux, it's useless. Even applying liquid flux on the wick and the surface, it still didn't work right.
So if you want to buy some desoldering wick, don't buy the cheapest, buy a good brand one with good flux in it.

That bad wick practically made me quit using wick, I bought a good solder sucker and learned to use that well.  Good solder suckers are very versatile, if you decide on one don't get the cheapest. I bought one with aluminum body and silicone tip (doesn't burn easily from the soldering iron tip and is flexible enough to shape itself around the area with the solder to suck the solder better.
Cheap solder suckers don't create enough suction so again, they'd only piss you off.

[R005T3r]

I have a cheap solder sucker bought from my electronic store quite a while ago... It's a terrible tool. No matter how many times you try, it won't suck the lead off. Not to mention that after 3 uses it's stuck and you have to disassemble and clean it.
Ok, so  It's better buying a solder wick with flux on it. Good to know.

[mariush]

No, I think you just happen to have one of those cheap and useless solder suckers. Buy one of those higher end models (at around 10-15 uk pounds) and you may be shocked at the difference.

Have a look at something like this : http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/343-7253/  or this : http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/479-4197/

The one I have doesn't have to be cleaned as often as you say and i have to say the technique also matters a lot. When i first started to use solder suckers I was reluctant to touch the sucker tip to the soldering iron tip because i didn't want burnt plastic on the iron tip, but in fact the sucker work best if there's a good seal around the tip area, so that suction pulls the solder inside nice and fast.

[R005T3r]

Something like this one here:
http://www.digikey.it/product-detail/it/jonard-tools/DP-200/K414-ND/243485

[nanofrog]

So, the same considerations done to the solder wire are the same with the desoldering baird? I see there are some no flux baird and they can be mixed with the flux you want. Is that true?

You want quality wick that contains flux (R or no-clean). Personally, I use R as I keep liquid RA & RMA on hand, which makes sure any additional flux I apply will mix & perform properly (there are occasions where lots of additional flux is present, such as during drag soldering). The no-clean will likely mix with rosin (many no-cleans do), but I'd test that first to be sure.

I go for Chemtronics (Soder-Wik or Chemwik) as it's the best I've ever used. Techspray's wick is quite usable as well (both of these are common in North America). I'm sure you can get them, but not sure if the price is competitive or not in your market. 

Fortunately, Multicore is widely available in the EU, and is an excellent performer as well, based on comments I've seen from other members (one of these days I'll need another roll and will give it a go).

I have a cheap solder sucker bought from my electronic store quite a while ago... It's a terrible tool. No matter how many times you try, it won't suck the lead off. Not to mention that after 3 uses it's stuck and you have to disassemble and clean it.
Ok, so  It's better buying a solder wick with flux on it. Good to know.

I'd recommend tossing that POS in the recycle bin and get a good one, such as an Edsyn Soldapullt (i.e. DS017 or PT-109). The Engineer SS-02 looks good as well, and a few members that own one have had good things to say about it (scroll down for the SS-02).

[tautech]

Or you could spend the money on some nice fine (bent and straight) tweezers, some small fine needle nose pliers (bent and straights) and an assortment of tips for your new Hakko.

I left something off this list^^

Tip cleaning.
A small cup with a good lump of brass or stainless wool, scouring type product.
A "tumbler" shaped cup is best as it's more stable.
A couple of stabs of your hot iron tip will remove all the solder dross and burnt flux and the tip will look nice and clean.
Re-tin as necessary.

[R005T3r]

So, solder wick is best to buy branded and by application. Also it's better buying a RA or MRA one instead of no flux. Also a good tool may be a solder sucker that must not be too cheap otherwise it won't work. Also silicone's tip sucker ones are a great tool for desoldering because the tip perfectly adhere to the surface, maximizing the effect.

Another topic I wanted to discuss has been anticipated: tip cleaning. What am I supposed to do to maintain my iron? Also, I saw that the cheap iron tip started tipping/rusting. Also the heating reservoir started to rust, I guess, due to the environment because the soldering iron is in a garage drawer. Is that normal?

We will talk about component placing (tweezers and other tools) later.