Soldering woes

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Dippy

Moderator
Lots of different tips.
And people have lots of preferences.
So, other than temperature control, it sounds like you need to find what is best for you.

Without a link I'm guessing here with respect to the Duratool station.
If it is the Grey station then we had four at work - bought cos they were cheap'n'cheerful. Now replaced by Weller and Pace (which looks like is was made in my shed).

Don't forget; 'Duratool' are like 'Draper' and 'Clarke' they simply get mass produced stuff from anywhere and stick their name on. Quality will be a mixed bag. (and Clarke starts from a very low quality base).
Downside:
One was DOA and sent back for refund.
Another broke at the joint.
Physically a bit feeble and clunky and the tips are not good for fine work (even their smallest ones).
They are anonymous Chinese made.
You haven't a hope in hell if you want a spare part next year.
Upside.
They aren't bad as tool. Solders quite nicely.
Asuming you don't overheat them they work well and wet quite nicely.
I haven't got a clue about temp setting accuracy - digital display , so it must be good huh?

Would I buy one?
No. But that's just a personal opinion. I prefer Weller and for low cost stuff I'd still have an Antex 660 for home use. (The factory is just 'down the road' if I need parts).

Anyway, good luck.
 
M

manuka

Senior Member
-plate your tip, with iron or copper or some other metal, perhaps even brass.
Click to expand...
Aduy: Plating ? Do you mean electroplating? Brass is essentially a zinc+copper alloy (typically 65% Cu/ 35% Zn), not an element!
 
U

umoharana

Member
Dippy said:
Lots of different tips.
And people have lots of preferences.
So, other than temperature control, it sounds like you need to find what is best for you.

Without a link I'm guessing here with respect to the Duratool station.
If it is the Grey station then we had four at work - bought cos they were cheap'n'cheerful. Now replaced by Weller and Pace (which looks like is was made in my shed).

Don't forget; 'Duratool' are like 'Draper' and 'Clarke' they simply get mass produced stuff from anywhere and stick their name on. Quality will be a mixed bag. (and Clarke starts from a very low quality base).
Downside:
One was DOA and sent back for refund.
Another broke at the joint.
Physically a bit feeble and clunky and the tips are not good for fine work (even their smallest ones).
They are anonymous Chinese made.
You haven't a hope in hell if you want a spare part next year.
Upside.
They aren't bad as tool. Solders quite nicely.
Asuming you don't overheat them they work well and wet quite nicely.
I haven't got a clue about temp setting accuracy - digital display , so it must be good huh?

Would I buy one?
No. But that's just a personal opinion. I prefer Weller and for low cost stuff I'd still have an Antex 660 for home use. (The factory is just 'down the road' if I need parts).

Anyway, good luck.
Click to expand...
Here is the link to element-14 where these Duratool soldering stations are listed. The catalogues do not give much details of the equipment.

http://sg.element14.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=1002343+500006+1250&No=0&getResults=true&appliedparametrics=true&locale=en_SG&catalogId=&prevNValues=1002343+500006&filtersHidden=false&appliedHidden=false&originalQueryURL=/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=1002343+500006&No=0&getResults=true&appliedparametrics=true&locale=en_SG&catalogId=&prevNValues=1002343+500006
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
The ones we have are the same as the top one although ours are grey.
So, not bad but a little flimsy.
And you get free brass shaving cleaner and some lead-free solder.

I would strongly suggest getting leaded solder (famous brand) and run it at less than (indicated) 290oC. I dunno how accurate the thermo is but that seems a good setting for average soldering and the none of our tips developed that black laquery coat. Obv they are a bit grubby now.

I'd still choose something of higher quality , but I can't spend your money.:rolleyes:
 
A

aduy

Senior Member
manuka said:
Aduy: Plating ? Do you mean electroplating? Brass is essentially a zinc+copper alloy (typically 65% Cu/ 35% Zn), not an element!
Click to expand...
Yes I am well aware that brass is not an element, but you can still plate brass onto other metals.

I made this instructable a few days ago. I believe umoharana was asking if it was possible to do electroplating at home, and it certainly is and its fairly easy, well at least copper plating is easy.

heres the linkhttp://www.instructables.com/id/Copper-plating-made-easy/
 
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umoharana

Member
Great. Thank you so much. The never imagined the process could be so simple.
Is there a similar simple process to revive the dead / blacked soldering tips to with tinning ? If there is one it would be of great use. I have so many of lying around. These are not corroded but blackened and repel the solder.

Thanks
 
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aduy

Senior Member
I have an idea. take two blackened tips, hook them up to a 12v power supply one tip for positive and one for negative, then fill a bowl with water and some baking soda, and dip the two tips into the solution, the bubbles that form on each tip should in theory dislodge the black stuff on the tips. just an idea.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
I would guess that it depends how bad it is.

I use this:
http://uk.farnell.com/multicore-solder/ttc-lf/cleaner-tip-ttc-lead-free-15g/dp/1115477

Hee are some tips (no pun).
http://www.antex.co.uk/pages/paper3.htm

I wouldn't rub them with anything much more aggressive than this.
http://uk.farnell.com/3m/05305/hand-pad-155x225-afn-7496/dp/1495868
(or similar)
Obv you don't really want to rub through any plating, so don't go mad.


As to whether there are any magic/lucky cleaning chemicals you can buy I don't know.
 
A

aduy

Senior Member
I just bought an eight dollar 15w soldering iron from radio shack. Any one else have experience with it, are there any things to look out for when using it.

also instead of getting a fancy adjustable soldering iron couldn't you get a good quality iron and use it in series with a dimmer to control the heat.
 
premelec

premelec

Senior Member
You can prevent overheating with the dimmer circuit but not do the auto tip temperature regulation - there are some regulated types for less than $100... Sometime just try one somewhere - I used un-regulated irons till about 30 years ago so it's certainly possible to work with them - just a lot easier to NOT mess up with an auto regulated tip...
 
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MartinM57

Moderator
...exactly.

My iron is 80w and solders 0804 SMD resistors and 1/4" bus bar connections without me doing anything (except setting to 308C - YMMV).

When placed on big stuff, the tip initially cools done and the tip sensor makes sure the full 80W is applied to regain temp (which it does pretty quickly being 80W).

When placed on a 0804 resistor it probably doesn't even notice and the tip sensor is just "idling" the temperature to keep it at 308C in free air/minimum heat extraction into the joint.

An inline "dimmer" won't do that....
 
A

Andrew Cowan

Senior Member
Martin - 308C seems pretty hot for an iron. 60/40 solder melts at under 190C.

I have my iron set to 250C and it melts solder very quickly - any hotter and the flux is burnt off almost immediatly - the solder oxidises immpediatly and the tip becomes dirty and doesn't hold solder as well.

Are you using regular solder at 308C?

A
 
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D

Dippy

Moderator
Settings depend on make/construction/tip/power of iron.
I use a £900 Pace station at work and have it set at around 290oC.
This gives fast soldering for small pad/ through hole and occasional smd stuff.
It doesn't go black.
(Actually I don't really like the Pace but it works well enough).
Horses for courses Andrew.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
Short answer: Dunno.

Long answer:
You don't have to buy Weller per se. You can get cellulose soldering iron sponge from numerous suppliers.

A sponge (wet) is for regular wiping during soldering really.
If your tip is black and yukky then you may need to be a bit rougher... or buy a new tip and turn the heat down.

Like I said before in this thread, try:
http://uk.farnell.com/multicore-solder/ttc-lf/cleaner-tip-ttc-lead-free-15g/dp/1115477
or
http://www.productionequipment.ie/ProductDetails.aspx?prodid=316
No doubt there are many similar products.

If you use wire wool then be gentle, you don't want to penetrate the tip plating (assuming your tip is plated of course :) ).
Maybe you could use Scothbrite, or a brass wire brush.

Personally, I have never had success with those brass-swarf/shavings cleaners. But others love it.

If I were you I'd go over to leaded solder and turn your iron temperature down a bit and give the tip regular rubs on wet sponge and occasional rubs on my first link above.

I'm sure you'll get a dozen different answers so good luck.
If there is some 'magic acid' that dissolves that blacky lacquery stuff without tip damage I'd love to know.


PS. I just noticed these too. Check out the safety sheet to see the yukky stuff in them.
I don't know if they work.
http://uk.farnell.com/weller/tip-activator/tip-activator/dp/873895?crosssellid=873895&crosssell=true&in_merch=true&
http://uk.farnell.com/pace/1102-0016-p1/tip-tinner-lead-free-brite/dp/1279335?in_merch=true&MER=i-9b10-00001422
 
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inglewoodpete

Senior Member
If you let the black "stuff" build up on the tip of your soldering iron, you will probably have to replace the tip. Fortunately, tips are not too expensive.

Really, once you get the tip into this state, you have nothing to lose. From my experience, the stuff chips/scrape of fairly easily: best done when the tip is cold. If the tip is plated, you will probably damage the plating but the tip will continue to work for months or years, depending on how much you use it.

The key to a good soldering iron is good maintenance. Get a sponge pad, keep it wet when in use, use it regularly and keep your iron tinned. Regular wiping on the sponge will remove the gunk before it sticks and burns on.

Peter - formerly a techie with well over 1,000,000 soldered joint's experience.
 
D

Dippy

Moderator
1,000,000 joints?

- Any of them any good? :)

Sadly, I think we're starting to go round in circles now and earlier posts are not being read.
 
S

spiritbear

New Member
Thanks for the responses. To be honest I have read the earlier posts but I used an old bit of towel. So I guess the key is a specialized sponge. The tip is quite new - hardly any joints smoked. I use to have it at a lower temp - but it would take ages to melt, even pre-loaded/tinning it. So I turned it up - its a Weller temp controlled unit - not a cheap one. The setting is around 680-700F.

Having used lead/tin solder when I was a kid, I dont recall issues but maybe daddy secretly cleaned the tip - but I would have known because I would have been YELLED at very loudly and the experience would have been burned into my memory!
 
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