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Which solder iron as a safe option?

I picked up my Metcal for 100 bucks on Ebay. Bought the used power supply for about 40 bucks, a brand new handle for 50 bucks and a few used tips for 10 bucks. Took a bit of looking but there are deals out there.
I'm in full agreement with getting in there with a hot iron. Less time on the joint increases your chance of a good job and minimizes any chance of damage. The Metcal is in another whole class compared to fire sticks, it improved my soldering a lot.
The other thing about the Metcal is the hand piece is very slim. Think about holding a Sharpie fine point magic marker with the tip only about 5/8" further away than the Sharpie tip. A Weller fire stick feels like a baseball bat in comparison. Haven't touched my Weller since getting my Metcal.

BillWojo
 
Sounds like that might be the next step up from my Hakko setup. If it ever dies, maybe I'll consider one. The handle on the Hakko isn't real chunky, which definitely makes it more comfortable to use. Maybe not quite fine point Sharpie small, but its probably the next step up marker sized. I don't have especially tiny hands though so that works for me.
 
Alan0354 said:
the only recourse is to press it harder as pressure reduce melting temperature.
Click to expand...

I have to call you on that one - nonsense - if you have to 'press hard' to get heat transference your bit isn't tinned properly and may also be set too hot, thus destroying bit tinning before you get it to the joint.
 
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Hyperion said:
I have to call you on that one - nonsense - if you have to 'press hard' to get heat transference your bit isn't tinned properly and may also be set too hot, thus destroying bit tinning before you get to the joint.
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Oh no, I have a whole complement of tips including the 6mm wide big tip. You always tin the tip, I even feed solder wire while I was pressing to melt the solder on the tip. But instead of giving better conduction with a pool of melted solder, the solder solidified!!! Don't even buy the big tip, it did not help in any way. Problem is the tip cannot hold heat, the temp must be falling on the tip.

I think the problem is if you open the inside, you'll see the heating element is inside a ceramic like stick going into the solder tip with air space in between( not a tight fit). When you solder, the temp of the tip drop fast( metal is good heat conductor), but heat cannot be replenished fast enough through the air gap and ceramic.

If you look at the Weller gun, the heater element literally wrap around the root of the solder tip through a very thin layer of metal. So heat transfer is very quick from the heater to the tip.
 
BillWojo said:
I picked up my Metcal for 100 bucks on Ebay. Bought the used power supply for about 40 bucks, a brand new handle for 50 bucks and a few used tips for 10 bucks. Took a bit of looking but there are deals out there.
I'm in full agreement with getting in there with a hot iron. Less time on the joint increases your chance of a good job and minimizes any chance of damage. The Metcal is in another whole class compared to fire sticks, it improved my soldering a lot.
The other thing about the Metcal is the hand piece is very slim. Think about holding a Sharpie fine point magic marker with the tip only about 5/8" further away than the Sharpie tip. A Weller fire stick feels like a baseball bat in comparison. Haven't touched my Weller since getting my Metcal.

BillWojo
Click to expand...
You are lucky, one thing is I don't think MetCal is as reliable as the Wellen soldering station. MetCal performs a lot better, but the station do die. The heating mechanism is using RF to heat up the metal, very fast and keep the heat, but the RF generator do fail. A lot of them start having problem that you have to keep flicking the power switch to get it turn on. Both of them at work are like this. Luckily mine is not......yet. That's the reason I never dump the Weller.

Yes, I like the thin handle, and you can put big tip or even something square that you cover over the IC to desolder the whole IC. I only have smaller tips, but that's plenty good. For SMD, MetCal is a must. I literally use one iron on each hand, "pick" the small component up and "put" it on the pad for soldering , or "pick up" the component from the pcb for desoldering.

Yes, the key of good soldering is have it hot, use the biggest tip as practical so you do it fast. Things go south if the tip is to small and takes long time to melt the solder.
 
all i can see with too much heat is the flux vaporising . i find slightly lower melting point solder is a good thing .. for old joints and especially lead free when removing it i find flooding with new solder works wonders ..dab of flux does too but roll of solder is easier to grab hold of and less cleaning .
 
petehall347 said:
all i can see with too much heat is the flux vaporising . i find slightly lower melting point solder is a good thing .. for old joints and especially lead free when removing it i find flooding with new solder works wonders ..dab of flux does too but roll of solder is easier to grab hold of and less cleaning .
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This is a very good solder, melt easily, very little flux afterwards. Very cheap. Best I used bar none.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068IJOU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
this is last one i got .. does smd no problems ...
MBO 0.7mm Wire Lead Solder, +183 → +190°C Melting Point, 40% Lead, 60% Tin, 100g
 
My Hakko 888D has been berry berry good to me. Good hobbyist iron.

888D.jpg
 
gadget73 said:
They use inductive heating? Didn't know that.
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I did not look that deep into it. I just know it's not heater element, it's RF. I used to have a schematic, but I lost it.

It is nice, different world from Weller. Now the Wellers are all in the junk pile in the company. But the Weller last, this is the one I have:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weller-WTCP...040923?hash=item2caa23e81b:g:eCUAAOSw2ENW8aDy

I had an old one like this from the early 80s. It lasted until 5 years ago. It was my fault I ruined it. I was impatient for it to cool down to change tip, I took the output tube out, stick the inner shaft on wet sponge to cool it down, that ruin the heater element!!! It would have last forever if not for that. So I bought the current one. I would still recommend this to hobbyist.

Somehow, both MetCal and Weller tips are much easier to tin, easier to melt solder on the board than the Aoyue, something about the metal composition of the tip that is different. The tip of Aoyue is harder to melt the solder even when tinning, it's as if a layer of oxide is form quickly on the surface and prevent heat conduction as good as the Weller and MetCal. You really pay for what you get. For work, it's very important. You don't have time to tinker with all the little things, time is money. Like for soldering SMD like 0805, I literally use two iron on both hands, pick up the resistor with both tips on each side and place onto the pads and melt the solder. It's very quick soldering this way. The Aoyue side always takes longer to melt the solder on the pad to reflow the solder. I can see the solder start to change color on the MetCal side as it is heating the solder too long waiting. I have to reflow with new solder on the MetCal side. If you have to do hundreds a day, that really add up.

I still say soldering iron is very important, I would not go cheap at all. I don't even recommend buying fancy stuff with adjustable temperature and all, just the good basic good station like the one I bought will serve years to come. It make the solder that much better. You take good care of it, you buy one for life.

I disagree that just because you are hobbist, weekend warrior that you go cheap on the solder station. For audio work here, you can really go cheap on scope, generators etc. An old Tek 465 that cost like $100 will serve you well for years to come, a $100 signal generator will serve you well already. But your work is affect by how good the solder joints are. One cold solder will really ruin your day to trouble shoot it down the road.

I have a Tek 2465A 400MHz scope with fancy display only because I do contracting, my old trusted Tek 465 will do everything I ever want for audio amplifiers.
 
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I keep mine plugged into the big power strip that feeds my bench. If the light over the bench is on, it means I forgot to shut off the power. Helps keep me from worrying about the place burning down from that.
 
I use a Weller WTCPN with an assortment of tips, ranging from 5-9 (500 deg-900 deg), mostly use a 600 deg Conical Tip, but have the others as needs arise. Is this an ideal iron? In my hands, yes. In yours? Hard to say. Iron's vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and even within the same manufacturer. And there suitability for any use is a mix between the iron itself, and the user.

Would I use a soldering gun on a PCB? NEVER! But I have worked on some units that I swear someone did.

Like gadget73, my iron is connected to the same power strip my test equipment is connected to, so if the light is on, so is the iron.
 
Livin4 said:
I use a Weller WTCPN with an assortment of tips, ranging from 5-9 (500 deg-900 deg), mostly use a 600 deg Conical Tip, but have the others as needs arise. Is this an ideal iron? In my hands, yes. In yours? Hard to say. Iron's vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and even within the same manufacturer. And there suitability for any use is a mix between the iron itself, and the user.

Would I use a soldering gun on a PCB? NEVER! But I have worked on some units that I swear someone did.

Like gadget73, my iron is connected to the same power strip my test equipment is connected to, so if the light is on, so is the iron.
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WTCPN is just as good, just without the separate base. Pretty much the same iron. They are primitive, no adjustment, you can only change tips to change temp. BUT it works. How many times you encounter some old antique stuffs that works and beat the crap of the more modern, fancier, "latest fashion" stuff.

There is absolutely no comparison between the Aoyue and the Weller, not a chance. It is like comparing a man to a boy. If I am not extremely allergic to the fumes, I would have dump the Aoyue solder iron and just use the desoldering gun.

There is a good reason why they are selling for over $100 and people keep buying it. If I don't do contract and only work on audio electronics, I'd pick my Weller over the MetCal any time of the day if I can only keep one. But I can keep all 3!!!

600 deg? That's low, I only use 800 tips. I found 700 is too slow already. I soldering fast, low temperature tips burn away flux because it's way too slow. Not only that, I use 2.5mm wide tip so it retain heat better so it can keep up with my speed.
 
In the process of searching local stores yesterday looking for a smaller, replacement tip I ended up buying a new Weller 25 watt iron. I'm tackling my 1st DIY mod on my tube amp; replacing a pair of TFT Exotica Teflon coupling caps with Jupiter copper foil paper & wax caps. *

In hindsight I probably would have been better served to go with a 30-40 watt iron but I was concerned about de-soldering leads on a common post and making a general mess in the tight quarters. The WBT silver solder did the trick. Now the 100 hr burn in process begins.


* Was strongly leaning toward the V-Cap CuTF [copper foil and fluoropolymer film] capacitor as it more closely resembles the construction / signature of the Exotica caps but the more I read determined the Jupiter copper foil paper & wax caps might be a better upgrade / system / replay match for me.
 
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