Pace ADS200 soldering station

[Shock]

New Miniwave demo.

[Hydrawerk]

4 cartridges were ordered on 15. 05. 2022 and 3 of them were delivered on 04. 08. 2022. They are OK and working. The 25mm flat blade will be delivered much later probably. 

The 25mm flat blade 1130-0532-P1 Accudrive tip will be delivered probably around 12. 10. 2022. I got an email that it has been shipped.

[Hydrawerk]

The 25mm flat blade 1130-0532-P1 Accudrive tip was delivered probably on 10. 10. 2022. I tried it today and it works. I will add some photos maybe later. Lead time was about 5 months, it is not that bad. At my company we buy many electronic components and the lead time is often about one year.

[Hydrawerk]

Now I have probably all the Accudrive tips that I will ever need. But I wish there was an ultra performance (=thicker) version of the 25mm tip.

[Hydrawerk]

There is a cancer warning in red letters.  Soldering is for brave men only. 

[Hydrawerk]

The 25mm tip is good for desoldering long components with many pins like DIP. Thermal performance is good, but it could be better. I think that thermal performance is better with JBC cartridges like C245949
Blade Cartridge 32. https://www.jbctools.com/c245949-blade-cartridge-32-product-425.html
But I am happy with my PACE ADS200, it has some advantages for sure.

[Shock]

Nice, for dips I think it's better to use low temp alloy if you remove them that way due to less thermal stress, that is if you are keeping the part of course. I alternate pins when soldering them back in, it seems to allow more even heat distribution as you go.

[Hydrawerk]

I use a Sn60Pb40 solder wire at home of course.  I only use lead free solder wire at my company when soldering new parts in new PCBs.

[grantb5]

I think @Shock might be referring to Chip Quik.  I just used this to remove two SOICs where half the pins were soldered to a giant ground fill with no thermal relief.

https://www.chipquik.com/store/index.php?cPath=200

[Hydrawerk]

Is that an alloy like Field's metal or Wood's metal?

[helius]

Yes, it's a low-melting alloy similar to those.
Some discussion from 2013: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-437-removing-smd-parts-with-chipquick/msg3850053/#msg3850053
The pre-ROHS leaded alloy is the same as Cerrolow 136 (mp=136°F).
The lead-free alloy is mostly bismuth and tin with some carbon (!) and traces of indium, oxygen, and sulfur.

[berke]

Got mine today.  It's a really nice upgrade, coming from a Weller WESD51.  The only annoyance is that Farnell (France) is out of most tips, so I only have the conical 0.2 mm.  It's a bit too fine, but still usable for through-hole headers and the like.  Hopefully that tip will last at least until Farnell gets more stock, they seem to be the exclusive distributor around here.

Also, what the hell is this rubber square thing?

[ataradov]

Also, what the hell is this rubber square thing?

It is silicone rubber, it is thermally insulating. You can use it to swap the tips while they are hot. There is also a tweezer-like thing that is for the same purpose. It is up to you whichever you  like.

[grantb5]

Also, what the hell is this rubber square thing?

Good question. I searched high and low for an answer and now I forget what it was. It definitely had something to do with hot tips, similar to how silicon mats are all the rage now. What I also never figured out was the arrow looking part of it accomplishes.

[ataradov]

What arrow part?

[Shock]

It's made for the tapered end to wrap around the handpiece cable so you don't misplace it. I don't use mine for removing tips but they do make good little mats to dump hot things on or a coffee mat etc. They are probably static dissipative as well.

Try using the tip tool (the little tweezer with blue handle), it's easier to remove and place tips into the stand with practice. A cold one you can insert with your hands if you are quick, there's a penalty for being wrong though .

[berke]

Also, what the hell is this rubber square thing?

It is silicone rubber, it is thermally insulating. You can use it to swap the tips while they are hot. There is also a tweezer-like thing that is for the same purpose. It is up to you whichever you  like.

Oh I see !  Swappable tips are a new concept to me.

Now another question, I'm sure this has been discussed before but is it worth getting the Minitweez?  I can expense it but it's not insignificant at 500 bucks.  Is it just for desoldering (for which it works quite well according to the videos) or can it be used for soldering as well?

Is it better than heating tweezers with an iron (a technique I haven't tried yet)?

I occasionally rework boards I messed up or need to modify because of changing requirements and assemble small prototypes.  Hot air gun works for desoldering but blasts the small SMDs away and I have to mask nearby parts with tape/foil.

SOICs/TSSOPs/SOTs are a piece of cake.  With only two hands I find getting the 0805's to the board the right side up and holding them in place with tweezers while I touch one side with the iron to be a bit time-consuming, and they always end up lifting a bit on the opposite side.  I don't have time to mess with stencils this is for rework & debugging boards.  So would the Minitweez help my case?

[grantb5]

SOICs/TSSOPs/SOTs are a piece of cake.  With only two hands I find getting the 0805's to the board the right side up and holding them in place with tweezers while I touch one side with the iron to be a bit time-consuming, and they always end up lifting a bit on the opposite side.  I don't have time to mess with stencils this is for rework & debugging boards.  So would the Minitweez help my case?

I'd like to know how you remove SOICs/TSSOPs/SOTs? My method is terrible.

As far as passives go, again my method may be not ideal, I put some flux down, place the passive then introduce solder using a fine tip. Usually the heating of the flux which causes surface tension keeps the passive in place while that one end gets soldered.

[berke]

I'd like to know how you remove SOICs/TSSOPs/SOTs? My method is terrible.

What's your method?  I just blast the components away with an el cheapo Duratool hot air station.  There really isn't anything to it, except maybe adjusting the right temperature/airflow for your particular nozzle.

Passives and small transistors pretty quickly blast off.  If it's an IC I do a circular motion around pads, they either fly away as well or you gently help them with tweezers.

The problem is keeping the other nearby parts from desoldering and plastic connectors from melting.  I try to shield them with copper tape.  That's why hot tweezers are interesting as you can basically just go and pluck out the component you want.

As far as passives go, again my method may be not ideal, I put some flux down, place the passive then introduce solder using a fine tip. Usually the heating of the flux which causes surface tension keeps the passive in place while that one end gets soldered.

What kind of flux are you using, gel?  I only used liquid flux with a pen dispenser so far.  I put a bit of flux, pick up the passive, try to place it with tweezers, oops it flipped upside down, try to turn it around, then go get the soldering iron, by that time the part moved again, put iron back, replace part, get iron, try to hold part with a tweezer with one hand, hold solder with a second hand and hold the iron with a... oops ran out of hands.  Put some solder on iron tip, touch the part while holding it with a tweezer, part gets soldered to one pad but lifts a bit, then do the other pad.  Isn't this how NASA does it?

Is it possible using hot tweezers to put some flux, place the part with regular tweezers, hold solder with one hand, grab the hot tweezers with the other hand and solder the part flat?

[helius]

The Minitweez is for removing SMD components with planar sides such as chip resistors, capacitors, inductors, fuses, and the smaller ranges of SOICs. TSOPs are on the large side and I would use a different tool for them. For installing the aforementioned components you would normally use the TD-200 with an appropriate tip (bent conical works well as does the hoof or knife tips) and wipe one pad at a time while holding the component in place with tweezers. Hot air pencils and solder paste also work well for installing small SMD parts (with air flow turned down to an appropriately slow rate).

To avoid knocking the component around before it is soldered, you can use a small drop of tacky flux, or put solder paste on the pads and press it down into the paste. If you don't hold the component with tweezers while soldering, it will tend to "tombstone" and move towards the heat source, which is why the hot air pencil supplying heat evenly is so effective. The automated assembly industry also uses glue to hold SMD components down in difficult situations such as during wave soldering.

The first flux I used was a pen dispenser like the MG Chemicals 835-P and I really didn't like it. It's the kind of liquid marker that has a solid fiber tip and opens a valve when you press down, like the silver paint markers in the drugstore. More often than not it just released a huge pool of flux each time it was used with almost no control. Now I use a bottle of liquid flux with long-handled cotton buds to better control the amount and placement of flux. I also found some better pen dispensers: the Bonkote pens have replaceable brush tips and control flow precisely by how hard you squeeze them.

[tooki]

Oh I see !  Swappable tips are a new concept to me.

I've never seen a soldering iron where tips are not replaceable. What's cool about cartridge-heater systems like this is how easy it is to hot-swap.

Now another question, I'm sure this has been discussed before but is it worth getting the Minitweez?  I can expense it but it's not insignificant at 500 bucks.  Is it just for desoldering (for which it works quite well according to the videos) or can it be used for soldering as well?

I guess there might be some edge cases (like solder cups) where they might be handy. But really, they're a rather specialized desoldering tool.

Is it better than heating tweezers with an iron (a technique I haven't tried yet)?

Huh?? What are you referring to?

[Shock]

I think berke means heating up metal tweezers so they can desolder.

If so no that doesn't work very well, if at all. Soldering irons or desoldering tweezers maintain a regulated temperature and have a tinned portion on the tip.

Under ideal conditions a little solder is applied to the tip and a little flux into the component joint. A molten thermal link (of solder) is created between the tip and component joint which allows the joint to be efficiently heated to the stations or irons set temp. This causes solder to flow or reflow throughout the joint.

Small components like resistors and caps can be removed by flooding a little solder across both joints and then knocking it off the pads with the iron tip or metal tweezers. You can also use two soldering irons, which sort of emulate having tweezers.

Another common work around is to go back and forwards with an iron until there is enough residual heat to remove the component. As was being discussed above, you can use a low temp desoldering alloy like Chip Quik to increase time it takes for the joints to solidify and less likely to cause damage.

A good usage case for desoldering tweezers is if you are regularly desoldering or prototyping. They do cut down the time, if you aren't I would recommend focusing on a hot air station and if doing a lot of through hole component desoldering, a vacuum desoldering station.

[tooki]

I think berke means heating up metal tweezers so they can desolder.

I can’t imagine anyone would think that’s a viable thing to even bother testing! 

[berke]

I've never seen a soldering iron where tips are not replaceable. What's cool about cartridge-heater systems like this is how easy it is to hot-swap.

Neither have I, but so far I've only been replacing tips when they get too old, and not as a routine thing.

I think berke means heating up metal tweezers so they can desolder.

Yes that's what I meant.

I can’t imagine anyone would think that’s a viable thing to even bother testing! 

Well why not?  At face value it sounds plausible to me.  This idea was suggested in this very forum.

If so no that doesn't work very well, if at all. Soldering irons or desoldering tweezers maintain a regulated temperature and have a tinned portion on the tip.

That settles it then.  Experience has spoken.  Thanks for your input!

A good usage case for desoldering tweezers is if you are regularly desoldering or prototyping. They do cut down the time, if you aren't I would recommend focusing on a hot air station and if doing a lot of through hole component desoldering, a vacuum desoldering station.

Thanks, I do have a hot air station.  It works fine for desoldering on my own boards as I don't pack them too tight.  It's just soldering that is time-consuming.

So in conclusion hot tweezers are no help for soldering, only for desoldering right?  I guess my best bet is to get some gel-like flux.

[Shock]

Hot air and metal tweezers are a better idea. You need hot air to desolder some packages anyway. Regardless I think desoldering tweezers are more efficient, they just aren't as flexible until you have a few tip sizes.