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By John Meacham
#5735
I have owned many soldering irons throughout the years, mostly radio shack firestarters. My current favorite is a butane powered cordless as it lets me (despite all reason) solder in bed or on the couch watching TV. I am starting to recognize this is not a suitable tool for any precision (SMD) or even decent normal sized work.

in any case, I don't own a "real" soldering iron and am thinking it might be time to just get one. I am considering the sunkko 8502 sold here with the soldering and rework nozzles both. I was wondering if people thougcht that would be a 'good' first real soldering iron.

Also, could people give examples of what the hot air rework part of the iron is used for? I have never used such a tool and am curious what the common uses of it are. (other than shrinking heat shrink tubing :)

Can it be used to solder parts in the first place? like putting solder paste down and placing a SMD device down and giving it a blast? or is it only useful for 'de-soldering' things?

Also, when it says it is variable temperature, does that mean you can just adjust the wattage going through the iron, or does it activly compensate for how fast the heat is dissipating depending on what you are soldering? (that would be a huge improvement over my radio shack specials!)


Also, how long can I expect this tool to last? is it something I just need to buy once in my life or is it the type of thing you replace every n years due to wear/tear/shame at having an outdated model?
By JohnLeung
#5740
Just get a spared PCB with some surface mount components on it, example can be some garbage electronic PC boards (modem card, controller of faulty hard-disk, floppy...).

Start with holding the gun at about 1-2 inches from the board and try to reflow any SOIC or SMD components. Experiment is the key.

JOHN
User avatar
By leon_heller
#5820
John Meacham wrote:I have owned many soldering irons throughout the years, mostly radio shack firestarters. My current favorite is a butane powered cordless as it lets me (despite all reason) solder in bed or on the couch watching TV. I am starting to recognize this is not a suitable tool for any precision (SMD) or even decent normal sized work.

in any case, I don't own a "real" soldering iron and am thinking it might be time to just get one. I am considering the sunkko 8502 sold here with the soldering and rework nozzles both. I was wondering if people thougcht that would be a 'good' first real soldering iron.

Also, could people give examples of what the hot air rework part of the iron is used for? I have never used such a tool and am curious what the common uses of it are. (other than shrinking heat shrink tubing :)

Can it be used to solder parts in the first place? like putting solder paste down and placing a SMD device down and giving it a blast? or is it only useful for 'de-soldering' things?

Also, when it says it is variable temperature, does that mean you can just adjust the wattage going through the iron, or does it activly compensate for how fast the heat is dissipating depending on what you are soldering? (that would be a huge improvement over my radio shack specials!)


Also, how long can I expect this tool to last? is it something I just need to buy once in my life or is it the type of thing you replace every n years due to wear/tear/shame at having an outdated model?
I use a second-hand Metcal STSS system. Metcal equipment is expensive when new, but is very well made, and should last a very long time:

http://www.metcal.com

Leon
User avatar
By sparky
#5883
We've reflowed entire boards using a hot-air station. It can be used very easily for soldering things together. Air-air is also perfect for fixing and removing stuff.

The 953A stations are good, analog, stations. They work great and are priced great. 953D has a nice digital output if you need to know the precise tip temp (I never have). Both stations will allow you to solder *very* fine pitch devices, but they cannot desolder multi-pin devices without cutting leads and other 'tricks'. For desoldering, get a hot-air station.

I've used a metcal once, and while it was 'nice' I didn't really see the advantage when you compare the increase in price. It's really a camp thing - the metcal lovers will fry me on this one...

-Nathan
By DynamoBen
#5960
Recently I was looking for a good, reasonably priced station, for my bench.

I ended up buying one from Circuit Specialists. I have to say I love it. I purchased the analog version but they do have one with a digital readout. At $34.95 you would be hard pressed to find anything that good at twice that price.

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307
By adamthole
#5963
I am in the same boat as the original poster. I currently use a radio shack 15 watt iron for all of my soldering. I currently do not do any SMD, but want to very badly. What would I be able to do with the sparkfun heat gun/soldering iron that I couldn't do with the 34.95 soldering iron? What can I do with the 34.95 soldering iron I can't do with my radio shack? Just curious on how much better it will be, and what I should get.

Thanks!
By NleahciM
#5984
So as long as we're on the topic of soldering - can anybody tell me how to do the really really nasty parts? Like for example a couple months ago I had to solder these resistor arrays to a board... They were 4mm by 2mm with 8 pins on each 4mm side - so 16 pins, .5mm pitch. But the pins weren't exposed - they were actually set in a little bit. I did the first one pin by pin with my Hakko 936 and a ridiculously fine tip, and it took forever (minute or two per pin). Then I got smart - and realized if I heated up the entire damned thing it would melt the pads properly, and I could solder the stupid things in under a minute.

But what about larger chips? And chips that are more sensitive to heat? Or what about chips that have a big pad covering the entire bottom of the chip? Or what about BGA chips? Is this where a hot air station comes in handy?

For example I've been looking for a 3-axis accelerometer for an ongoing project. This one looks absolutely perfect: http://www.kionix.com/Product%20Sheets/ ... Series.pdf - except that it's a "DFN" package. This appears to be the same as a QFN - same pitch (.5mm) and shape and all, except with pins on only 2 sides of the chip (seriously - why couldn't they have put pins on all 4 sides and doubled the pitch?!)

I think I can probabaly solder this thing - as long as the pads are on the sides of the chip as well as the bottom, which I can't really tell from the drawing. But I'd probabaly end up doing it pin by pin with my 936 - and it's not going to be easy to test to make sure all the pins are properly connected... No sir.

So - how would you all solder such a chip? Is this where a hot air station would come in handy? I was looking at hot air stations - and while I really like the quality of my Hakko - it seems Hakko hot air stations are wayyyyyy out of my budget range (being a poor, broke college student) - they all seem to be $500 or more, often into the $Ks.

So I was looking on Ebay, and found these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 7527217534 - sold by the same company that sells some Hakko knock off irons. at $150 it doesn't seem like a half bad price. Or these: http://www.circuitspecialists.com/level.itml/icOid/7543 - sold by another hakko knock off company.

Would something like that help when soldering these harder to solder chips? Any advice?
By elecngnr
#5987
Listedhere is what I find to be a decent solder station for a reasonable price. I am not familiar with the Sunkko product on here (Not to say they are bad, I just have no experience with them) We use the Hakko irons here and have had decent luck with them.

And John M....stop soldering in bed....you might burn something important to you :wink:
By DynamoBen
#6030
In regards to the Hakko soldering station. If you take, a long look at the one I posted it’s a rebranded Hakko...just less expensive.

As far as the questions about soldering irons...

"What would I be able to do with the Spark Fun heat gun/soldering iron that I couldn't do with the 34.95 soldering iron? "

I don't see any functional difference between the one I posted/have and the one spark fun is selling. A heat gun is really only used for reflowing boards or soldering with paste. (usually surface mount stuff) To be honest if you are doing surface mount with paste you might want to check out the recent thread related to the hot plate.

"What can I do with the 34.95 soldering iron I can't do with my radio shack? "

Your 15-watt iron can only give you one temperature. Problem is you do not know what that temperature is. It’s not uncommon for me to alter the temp of my iron to solder different components. There is nothing worse than soldering something and then finding out you cooked it. The more expensive stations (including the 34.95 one) allow you multiple tips. As you move into surface mount, you will need some really fine tips.

"Just curious on how much better it will be, and what I should get."

Honestly, any station is better than what you have. If you are on a budget, you cannot beat the 34.95 station. If you have more to spend and/or you want to support spark fun purchase their station. Just stay away from radio shack! The only thing their irons are good for is soldering model railroad track together. ;)
User avatar
By sparky
#6072
Thanks ben for posting a link to a competitor with a lower price :wink: Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...

Thank the internet, prices are dropping. $34.95 will get you a pretty good iron. The only difference with *any* iron like these is the internal element in the iron. Cheaper the iron, the shorter the life span of the element. That said, the one that ben posted will probably last just as long as our $65 units. Buyer beware.

Don't shrug off the hot-air benefits. I swear by it. We use our rework stations for all sorts of things, reflowing surface mount parts, repairing boards by removing SMD parts, shrinking heat-shrink, melting molex connectors, etc.

You can definitely solder a QFN leadless part (the CP2102 for example) with a $35-$70 iron. However, I doubt you'll ever remove it without a rework station.

As for a radio shack iron, get rid of them. The tips are too low quality, too hot, and too large for anything in this world of soldering.

-Nathan
By DynamoBen
#6074
Sorry for the link. Intially I didn't think Spark Fun had irons for sale. Sorry :(
By Great Zanzibar!
#6395
I am using the Weller WESD51 soldering station for all my surface mount soldering. It has temperature adjust and digital temperature readout. Grab the ETS tip (sold right here by SparkFun) and it's fantastic for surface mount work. I soldered down a 64 pin TQFP IC with 0.8mm pin spacing without any errors on my first try. 0805 sized passive components are a breeze too!
By Tre
#6403
I also use a WESD51 digital soldering station and wouldn't trade it for anything.

In response to the questions about soldering ridiculously small things, its not that bad. Load up the pad with flux, put some solder on the tip of the iron, and stroke it across the pins. It takes a little getting used to, but I solder LLC, QFP, DFP, SOIC, TQFP, etc.. all the time like that. Even at 0.5mm pitch with the right amount of flux, solder on the tip, and practice, its really a breeze.
By dpaton
#6418
I'll second the Weller WES(D)-51. I have 2 on my desk, and wouldn't work without them. Metcals are amazing, but priced out of my range. Just remember to keep your tips covered with a thin layer of solder, never file them, and replace them at regular intervals. One of mine is close to 10 years old, and gets no less than an hour of use, 6 days a week. Be good to them, and they'll be good to you.

If you need something bigger, the W60P-3 is excellent.

-dave
By moorejl
#6492
dpaton wrote:I'll second the Weller WES(D)-51. I have 2 on my desk, and wouldn't work without them. Metcals are amazing, but priced out of my range. Just remember to keep your tips covered with a thin layer of solder, never file them, and replace them at regular intervals. One of mine is close to 10 years old, and gets no less than an hour of use, 6 days a week. Be good to them, and they'll be good to you.

If you need something bigger, the W60P-3 is excellent.

-dave
You can add me to the list of happy WESD51 users. I have a small business and didn't mind paying a little extra for a Weller. For hobby use, which is Sparkfuns target audience, I am sure the ones he offers are excellent for occasional use. I bought one of his better hot air stations and LOVE it! Brings out the latent pyro in me. :shock:

Jamie