Soldering irons and solder recommendations in UK?
in [Design]
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From: markp on 16 Jan 2010 07:05 Hi All, I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for through hole components. I don't want to spend too much. Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive bits. Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering? Thanks! Mark.
From: Nico Coesel on 16 Jan 2010 07:14 "markp" <map.nospam(a)f2s.com> wrote: >Hi All, > >I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm >looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that >have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for >through hole components. I don't want to spend too much. > >Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be >temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive >bits. Farnell carries most of Ersa stuff. I use tips 832SD for regular soldering work and 832PW (hollow point) for TQFP. -- Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply indicates you are not using the right tools... nico(a)nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) --------------------------------------------------------------
From: TTman on 16 Jan 2010 07:42 "markp" <map.nospam(a)f2s.com> wrote in message news:7rdo7mFg6bU1(a)mid.individual.net... > Hi All, > > I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm > looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that > have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for > through hole components. I don't want to spend too much. > Those two are probably incompatible.... try rapidonline.com
From: Nemo on 16 Jan 2010 09:11 >I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm >looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that >have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for >through hole components. I don't want to spend too much. > >Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be >temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive >bits. > >Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is >available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded >solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering? I'm in the UK and I've been using lead free solder for fine SMT work (hand assembled prototypes) for a few years. Leaded solder - works well on everything, good for prototypes, but not really usable any more for commercial products. For example most professional assemblers refuse to use it in case it contaminates the soldering machines; if customers who require lead-free detect lead (which is relatively easy) they will be most annoyed. I keep some leaded solder around for difficult-to-solder prototypes but try hard to avoid using it. Lead-free - I settled on silver loaded stuff a couple of years ago as it had the lowest melting point of all ROHS compliant types. However as I've moved to finer pitches I am not happy with it; compared to leaded solder it sticks into large snot-like lumps. I suspect my soldering iron is not hot enough despite the tip being allegedly calibrated by the manufacturer - lead free solder melts at about 40C above leaded (which can damage some more sensitive items like the metallisation on ceramic substrates). Also I often have problems wetting joints. I posted some queries here recently about fluxes / cleaning boards and discovered that I probably need to use an active flux instead of the eco-friendly "water soluble" ones I've been using: the halide-activated (acidic) flux burns through oxidation on component legs and permits the solder to wet the joint properly. The downside of acidic flux residues is they need to be washed off properly, eg vigourously with acetone, to stop long term corrosion of components; and I suspect the fumes from them are a tad more choking than from water-soluble fluxes. So I ordered some new bits and solders to experiment with the other day. I can't recall the brand of soldering iron I use right now. If you email me at paul.el - stitch these bits together - ectronics "at" furfur -demon [co] uk, I'll probably have firm data about "what seems to work", with Farnell part numbers, which I can summarise back to you within a week or so. -- Nemo
From: markp on 16 Jan 2010 11:37
>>Hi All, >> >>I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm >>looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that >>have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for >>through hole components. I don't want to spend too much. >> >>Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be >>temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive >>bits. > > Farnell carries most of Ersa stuff. I use tips 832SD for regular > soldering work and 832PW (hollow point) for TQFP. > > -- > Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply > indicates you are not using the right tools... > nico(a)nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) > -------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, that looks quite a nice range. It looks like the two tips you mentioned are not stocked though. Do you know their tip dimensions? Mark. |