Soldering iron starter kit

[andrewjoy]

I would get a genuine tip as well if its within your budget.

[ImbaHue]

Trying to send a PM to andrewjoy but still in the outbox? weird

I'll like to get the bare minimum as much as possible

Iron + holder
Solders + flux?
Extra tip? Genuine?
Pump?

[HzFaq]

It'll sit in your outbox until he reads it, then it'll move into your sent box I think.

A decent 60/40 solder, a pump and a brass tip cleaner are probably the essentials. Extra tips, flux and braid are nice to have but by no means essential.

[ImbaHue]

Thanks HzFaq! I'll start with the essentials then.

[andrewjoy]

It'll sit in your outbox until he reads it, then it'll move into your sent box I think.

A decent 60/40 solder, a pump and a brass tip cleaner are probably the essentials. Extra tips, flux and braid are nice to have but by no means essential.

They come with a point tip not a chisel tip unless your are very experienced with soldering a point tip is going to be very hard to use.

[HzFaq]

Ah, yeah, in that case a chisel tip is probably a good shout.

[ImbaHue]

What chisel tip should I get for the Yaxun?

Note: I'm a noob in soldering.

-ImbaHue

[andrewjoy]

a 2mm chisel tip is about the average size .

[ImbaHue]

Hi all,

Already ordered my first soldering kit.

Big thanks for all the help, especially andrewjoy for proxing.

This place is full of awesome people.

Next is my first custom board! Till then.

Kind Regards,
ImbaHue

[Scottex]

Get a temperature controlled iron even if its a cheap one, you want to use the minimum amount of heat possible.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003 ... 1_1&sr=8-1

Or a big step up

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soldering-Sta ... SwVL1V-bl3

The best thing about that is it can take genuine Hakko tips. As always with china stuff that plugs into the mains always open first to check its safe.

You want a chisel tip like this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015 ... 1_4&sr=8-4

why the minimum amount of heat?
I've always heard that you had to solder with a very hot tip to apply the most heat in the minimum span of time to not damage the components.

[chzel]

Andrewjoy mentioned heat, not tip temperature.
Ideally you want a high wattage iron and a tip with high thermal mass, so that the temperature doesn't drop excessively when trying to solder. You are trying to finish the joint as fast as possible, so if you have a cheaper iron that can't hold the temp up, you need to start at a higher temperature to account for cooling of the tip.
With a good iron this is minimized.

[Muirium]

Sounds about right. I get all sorts of cooling trouble with my freebie old soldering station and crap solder.

Got any Amazon etc. links for solid midrange kit I can point my brother to in America, guys? He's got *nothing* so it's a starting from scratch scenario. I'll be soldering a Teensy for starters (NeXT converter) and hopefully a Hasu Alps 64…

[andrewjoy]

I would give the same recommendations .

Knock off hakko

http://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Station ... ering+iron

Some very thin solder

http://www.amazon.com/DMiotech-0-3mm-Ro ... lder+0.2mm

Some flux

http://www.amazon.com/Kester-186-Rosin- ... s=flux+pen

Have to clean that flux off

http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Choice-AL ... yl+alcohol

And keep your tip clean

http://www.amazon.com/Mokingtop-Fashion ... ip+cleaner

Mistakes Happen
http://www.amazon.com/Aven-17542-Desold ... lder+braid

http://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Aluminium- ... older+pump

[Muirium]

Thanks Andy. Links are always the best! What would you advice for desoldering? I hate doing that, but it's all about the gear…

[Halvar]

I'm using a pump like in Andrew's last link, and it does work ... well at least I don't know a better way ...

There's a nice video by MrInterface where he shows how to desolder switches on an Alps keyboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoEMcT2KUDU

[chzel]

For a pump I always recommend a BIG one like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Orange-Plastic-De ... B00G98ZE26
The extra volume makes sure to get all the molten solder in one go!

The wick is more usefull to "mop up" the solder from a pad after you have removed the component, more useful for SMD, since you need a flat pad to properly place the component.

For general soldering (switches, diodes) I use a thicker solder, usually 0.5mm and when doing even larger joints I go to 1mm.
The thinner the solder, the less flux it contains, and the more you need extra flux.
I consider the 0.5mm fine for everyday soldering, with something like 0.3mm reserved for SMDs with extra flux on hand.

[Halvar]

Wow, I need to get that, that sucks big time!

[chzel]

Pun intended I guess!
It does.It's a solder sucker and proud of it!

[HzFaq]

Yeah, those huge suckers are well worth the extra money. Especially when you're de-soldering fecking Alps switches, you need all the help you can get with those bastards.

[andrewjoy]

Poor peasants with hand operated pumps.

This is what you want

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011 ... 1_1&sr=8-1

Honestly i linked the small one as its the one i have for backup so i know it works. If you know a better one go for it.

EDIT

Tips for desoldering

Add fresh lead solder
Add some flux
Get it hot
Suck it

Oh and Dont lift the pad


EDIT 2

For general soldering (switches, diodes) I use a thicker solder, usually 0.5mm and when doing even larger joints I go to 1mm.
The thinner the solder, the less flux it contains, and the more you need extra flux.
I consider the 0.5mm fine for everyday soldering, with something like 0.3mm reserved for SMDs with extra flux on hand.

I prefer and recommend thin solder as its easy to handle, you can use thicker stuff just fine but its harder to control how much you add. I do agree that 0.5 is as big as you should go however i feel 0.3-0.4 is the best to use.

You can ofcorse add too little solder but too much is even worse !

You can use thin stuff for larger components but you cannot use the thick stuff for smaller things. Thats why i like thin stuff.

[DanielT]

To be honest I could never justify buying a soldering station, I have built a lot of boards but still it seemed like a bit of an overkill for me.
But I do use a good quality soldering iron, I have an Antex XS25 25W. It's very good, was able to solder even 2012 SMD resistors, they have very good tips so I bought a few of them for different applications. What I've liked about Antex was also their customer service, they shipped very fast and cheap, answered my questions every time, so a big plus.
I also use thin wire, you have better control of the quantity of solder it gets applied and you need less heat.
If you are a starter and don't want to invest tons of money in something that you might use from time to time I think this is the perfect solution.

[micrex22]

If you are going to be doing loads of boards , i would get a proper desoldering station in addition to the soldering iron.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Duratool-D006 ... SwfZ1WYCTF

Don't get me wrong its no metcal or hakko 808 but this thing is awesome! With practice you will be super fast. I disordered every single switch from an M0110 ( to remove the PCB and hand wire it) in about 3 mins ( excluding the time i took to flux every contact beforehand).

Yes they are expensive but if you are someone who wants to salvage / repair more than one board its worth every penny. You will be in the pub and the smuck with he braid will be there for another hour getting his switches

I would actually recommend the FR-300 over the 808, for a few reasons:
#1 better suction
#2 tips don't get loose after awhile due to superior locking mechanism
#3 power button
https://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fr300.html
(After getting the FR-300 I haven't touched my 808 since)

I also tend to use the FR-300 for soldering as well since it can create perfect joints effortlessly; due to the fact the unique tip can go over joints. My poor FX-951 has been neglected for years as a result--only to be used for micro-soldering on SMT.
---

Can't say I would ever recommend the cheap knock-off stations (I've tried some GORDAK stations that couldn't desolder anything), but hey, if it does what you need then I'm not one to judge.

[Muirium]

How about some real Hakko?


http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fx888d.html
http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-T18-D08-D12 ... ords=hakko

$100-200 for a core tool isn't too bad, he reckons. What'dya think?

[Matt_]

Nice! But if this is the 110V version, is it not a hassle to get it to work here in Europe ?

I remember that an Italian webstore was selling the genuine 220V version for slightly less than 100€ a few weeks ago, but I can't find the link again.

edit: got it http://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko_fx-888d

[Muirium]

This kit is for my brother's use, here in America. I'm unlikely to have any room for bulky gear in my luggage this time!

[Matt_]

That's a great choice then. I never used one myself but there must be a reason why it's so popular among serioust hobbyists.

[ohaimark]

I can confirm the usability of that model. It's at my university computer club and it handles like a dream.

[Muirium]

Awesome! Thanks for the tips, guys. Next is fine solder…