Electronics > Beginners
Trying to solder correctly
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SPFC:

--- Quote from: KL27x on July 30, 2019, 05:27:15 am --- In America we measure resistance in ohms.
--- End quote ---

 ;D Well, the resistance is measured in Ohm in all the world, not only in USA.   It's world standard. :D


--- Quote from: KL27x on July 30, 2019, 05:27:15 am ---Unless you have some strange requirements, I think you will use the dimmer only to turn down the temp while you are not using the iron. When using your 20W iron, you will probably turn it back up to full power for most things. So a dimmer might be overkill. A cheaper method of achieving this is a switch and a rectifer diode. (And another $5.00 iron to solder it.)  Then you have a half power setting for standby, to keep the iron hot when idle. This worked great on my firestick, 20 years ago.
--- End quote ---

I turned on the soldering iron to check the maximum temperature limit and the display showed about 377º.   My intention is to do it works at a "more stable" temperature that is just below 200° C. A temperature that only serves to melt the Sn-Ch.

Another question: Do you know how to prevent darkening of the metal part?

Thank you!
L_Euler:

--- Quote from: SPFC on July 27, 2019, 11:23:18 pm ---Hi guys,

please...

I have a question and would like to take this topic to eliminate it.

I have a 20 watt 110 volt soldering iron.

Well, is there some problem with setting a dimmer as one of the devices to control its temperature?

Thank you

--- End quote ---

I did some stained glass work in a former life and found that my iron ran way too hot.  I was constantly burning up tips.  Then I put it on a variac (fancy light dimmer) and got the tip under control, but then the tip didn't have enough thermal mass to maintain tip temp during a lead run on the glass.  So, when the iron was idle I ran the variac at about 60% to keep it in a ready state.  Then just as was about to use it I ran the variac all the way up so the tip would remain at temp under use.  How does all this apply to you?  A light dimmer will not maintain temperature between idle and use. It only sets the operating power.  If you go this route you will find yourself constantly adjusting to balance between burning up the tip while idle and maintaining adequate tip temperature while soldering.
KL27x:
^and his iron is only 20W, 377C. This why I suggested a switch will be  near as good as a dimmer. Witb you variac you ended up using primarily 2 settings. 60% and 100%. with a switch and a diode, you get 50% and 100%.

--- Quote ---I have never had a temperature controlled iron. I have developed a certain awareness and sense. If the iron has not been used in a while I turn it off or I may blow on it to cool it if I know I will be using it shortly. If I am soldering something that needs more heat I wait a bit if I have just been using it.

--- End quote ---
100% agree, temp control is not necessary. A superhot firestick can do anything. You prevent lifting traces and burning compoments by controlling dwell time. The major benefit of temp control is you get to keep the iron at a lower temp for the 90% of the time you are placing components or moving between components. And thusly, you do not need to stop to clean the tip nearly as often.

SPFC, there is no way you will do any normal, practical soldering at 200C. With a large mass tip, you might solder at 300C. With a pointed conical, you might need the full 377C. The temp of the tip drops as soon as you touch it to a heatsink (i.e., the joints you are making.) It doesnt matter how much power and magic beans and PID and $1000's of price of the station. You cannot solder stuff with 200C set temp with any of today's irons, cuz that is not how things work. We dont have irons that sense temp of the joint, only they can sense the base of the tip. Let alone your iron is only power controlled.
Jwillis:
If you can afford a soldering station then go for it. The benefit is they can be put in a standby mode which lengthens the life of the tips.Heat accelerates oxidation.  But if you can't ,look for a minimum 60Wsoldering iron with a steel tip .Steel tips are copper inside, plated with stainless steel or iron so they last longer. Pure copper tips don't last as long and are more maintenance .
Stainless steel or Copper dish scrub pads will do in a pinch for a tip cleaner. Wet sponges are alright but if your not careful plastic ones can be a real pain for carboning up your tip. Natural sponge works a  little better.
I use a small extra pot of flux to do a "hot dip" clean once in a while before a good re tinning.Do in a well ventilated area if your concerned about the smoke.
If your into it there are some interesting hot iron hacks on the internet to make them temperature controlled.
Using a variac isn't a very good idea because your just lowering the wattage of your iron when you lower the voltage so it just makes things worse.
I've not tried this myself but But apparently you can increase the tip wattage a little bit by wrapping copper wire around the tip base to make it thicker.So the tip holds it's temperature a little longer I guess.
Sometimes we need to do some unorthodox methods to get by.   
macboy:

--- Quote from: Jwillis on September 07, 2019, 07:14:48 am ---If you can afford a soldering station then go for it. The benefit is they can be put in a standby mode which lengthens the life of the tips.Heat accelerates oxidation.  But if you can't ,look for a minimum 60Wsoldering iron with a steel tip .Steel tips are copper inside, plated with stainless steel or iron so they last longer. Pure copper tips don't last as long and are more maintenance .
Stainless steel or Copper dish scrub pads will do in a pinch for a tip cleaner. Wet sponges are alright but if your not careful plastic ones can be a real pain for carboning up your tip. Natural sponge works a  little better.
I use a small extra pot of flux to do a "hot dip" clean once in a while before a good re tinning.Do in a well ventilated area if your concerned about the smoke.
If your into it there are some interesting hot iron hacks on the internet to make them temperature controlled.
Using a variac isn't a very good idea because your just lowering the wattage of your iron when you lower the voltage so it just makes things worse.
I've not tried this myself but But apparently you can increase the tip wattage a little bit by wrapping copper wire around the tip base to make it thicker.So the tip holds it's temperature a little longer I guess.
Sometimes we need to do some unorthodox methods to get by.   

--- End quote ---

Soldering tips are never plated with stainless steel, only with plain iron. Solder will not bond to stainless. On high quality tips, some areas will be additionally chromium plated to prevent solder from sticking there, so that it only ever wets the working area of the tip. Sometimes, only a very small area may be wetable (not chromium plated); I have a 'micro hoof' tip with a wetable area of less than 1 mm2.

If you need extra thermal mass for bigger jobs, use a large chisel tip.

NEVER use plastic sponges for wiping a solder tip. Only use cellulose. Purpose made sponges are best and are not expensive, but kitchen sponges (of cellulose) work fine. Just make sure to rinse them very very well, as they are usually sold dampened with glycerin or something which keeps them soft in the package.  It is best to dampen the sponge with distilled water, since minerals and chlorine found in tap water are bad for the tip. Distilled water is cheap, so there is little excuse.  Never "wet" the sponge, only "dampen" it. It should be just damp enough to be supple. If you first soak the sponge, then squeeze out as much water as possible, this is about the right dampness. It prevents the sponge from becoming scorched without thermally shocking the tip.

Periodically remove the tip from the heater element and clean both. Crud that builds up over time acts as an insulator. Inspect your tip to check that it has kept its shape. If the business end of the tip is deformed, then: you may be using excessive pressure on the tip, and/or the copper is erroded away under the plating. Over time one learns that the tip never needs to be pressed into the work, but only placed onto it. This is the single most important thing to both preserve tip life and prevent damage to pads on the PCB.

The best performing soldering irons dispense with the problematic heater-to-tip thermal interface entirely, and build the heater right into the replaceable tip. This makes tips quite a lot more expensive, but the performance is consistently excellent.
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