Soldering iron temperature

Willy6

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I was just wondering what temperature of a soldering iron does the best all around job?
 
It depends on the tip, the work being done and the station itself. Too many people run too small a tip way too hot. A medium chisel is right for most PCB work. You need some thermal mass that the micro tips don't have. I run about 675 F for most things, but will crank it up a bit higher on heavy traces, and even up to 750-800 for lugs and larger wire. If doing more than a couple of those, a larger tip would be better. You'd have to add a bit to all those numbers if using lead free solder. Subtract if working on fragile boards or the old tin & reflow boards.
 
Willy, The more heat you use the greater the chance of lifting the traces off old Sansui boards.
This is why most people suggest avoiding the new lead free solder as it takes more heat to flow
thus increasing the chance of smoking components and/or accidentally lifting the trace from the circuit board.
675-700 as Conrad suggested above.
Also, the craptastic idea of a tree hugger friendly solder leads to uglier joints as it flows/melts somewhat poorly.
Stick with lead/tin mix to help keep board, components and iron temps down.

Just my 2 cents.


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Ya I've been using flux core leaded solder.20170717_210002.jpg here is a pic of what I mean by darker. it seems like the flux is what burns to me see arrows..
 
Clean the boards with acetone and a acid brush after soldering. Will definitely improve the aesthetics of the board if you remove the excess flux. And make your solder connections shine.;)
 
Clean the boards with acetone and a acid brush after soldering. Will definitely improve the aesthetics of the board if you remove the excess flux. And make your solder connections shine.;)
I'll try that avionic..I know i can solder and make things work but I was trying to figure out why mine wasn't as pretty as some I've seen here on AK..
 
Hot !! Get in and get out quick!!
I am usually around 750˚F, then I use a much finer tip with the iron at the same temp for delicate work..

Don't hold that sucker on too long, you don't want the heat soaking into the board...
 
What everyone else has said, and just to reinforce the point, use short duration application of the iron for removing components, don't hold it on too long - 2 or 3 seconds should be plenty of time to wick solder up, or use a solder sucker. If you are not successful first time get the iron off the board and allow it to build up tip heat - then re-tin the bit and 'in' for as short a time as possible to get the job done.
 
I found this paper on soldering by a recently deceased industry expert; a good read... http://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Documents/Knowledge Base/Lead-free-Handsoldering.Final_.4.19.06.pdf

I am using a tip temperature of 750F 400C on my Weller WSD81, good quality lead-free solder and genuine Weller tips but I have trouble with persuading the solder joints to melt when de-soldering. Not sure what I am doing wrong so I will keep monitoring this thread for ideas.

Tin the tip of your iron with some fresh solder or add some flux before trying to desolder old joints. The rosin of the new solder will help flow the old joints. Works for me at least! Trying to desolder old, dry joints with a dry solder tip is no fun.
 
I found this paper on soldering by a recently deceased industry expert; a good read... http://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Documents/Knowledge Base/Lead-free-Handsoldering.Final_.4.19.06.pdf

I am using a tip temperature of 750F 400C on my Weller WSD81, good quality lead-free solder and genuine Weller tips but I have trouble with persuading the solder joints to melt when de-soldering. Not sure what I am doing wrong so I will keep monitoring this thread for ideas.

FLUX !! Use FLUX and plenty of it....:thumbsup:
 
My iron's been locked in at around 725F forever. Works well with Cardas quad anyway.

More important is tip heat recovery. A good iron with a temp indicator and fast recovery between joints is real nice. My Weller station has a flashing LED that lets me know when it's safe, and that's almost immediate recovery.
 
Know your tools, and how to use them. Get an old PCB or PCA and practice, practice, practice. You need to be able to anticipate when YOUR iron will flow solder, and the minimum time you need to hold contact to complete a connection or to clean one with solder wick or solder pullit.

Make sure you have enough access to the joint to do the job, without having to push something aside that might slip off and screw up your work.

Different people have different tools and different techniques, so the same temp will not work for everyone. Your iron just needs to be able to get hotter that the melting point of whatever solder you are using. Sometimes the old boards cannot stand up to the temps required to melt silver or lead-free solder. Again, know what you are working with.

Now practice some more - - -
 
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