solder iron

[Greg.]

If you need a new iron and would prefer to keep costs down, you can’t go far wrong with this timely offer, available from Sunday.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/parkside-so...tion/p10012555

As to the task, I suspect your technique may be the culprit. Remember to wet the iron with solder before applying heat to components. Loads of videos on YouTube and solder guides on Google.

[Greg.]

Originally Posted by Mark

I have just checked RS' price for the low temp solder : £40 ex. VAT !!

Mark

Being a hazardous product, RS will only sell that particular brand to business account customers. Some of us have that type of account having set up decades ago.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Greg.

If you need a new iron and would prefer to keep costs down, you can’t go far wrong with this timely offer, available from Sunday.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/parkside-so...tion/p10012555

As to the task, I suspect your technique may be the culprit. Remember to wet the iron with solder before applying heat to components. Loads of videos on YouTube and solder guides on Google.

Gregg,

Thanks and fair comment, but I am aware of that one :-) The bit is well loaded with solder to increase the heat transfer but it's turning to mush on the joint. As I said, it could be a knackered iron telling porkies and/or the huge acreage of copper on the pcb sucking the heat away. The claimed 48W of the iron may also be inadequate and/or the heat transfer from the heating element to the bit may be very poor. Perhaps I should smear the mating surfaces with thermal paste ! Thanks for the link to the Lidl one but my mate has already ordered a £12 allegedly 100W iron from Amazon which I am highly sceptical of on the basis that you don't get owt for nowt, but hey : nothing ventured nothing gained !

Mark

[TimN]

At Lidl prices you could use one in each hand!

[Mark]

Originally Posted by TimN

At Lidl prices you could use one in each hand!

Tim,

That might work :-). If we bought 4 my mate could have one in each hand too ! Then, in theory, we could get 400W into the joint!

The Amazon "100W" Leaderpro temperature controlled iron for £12 didn't go well. With the temperature turned up to the maximum 500C the liquid solder on the bit turned to paste under the bit the moment it touched the pcb, which is a roughly 80 x 30mm area of copper. That's after cleaning the copper with a fibreglass pen and isopropyl alcohol and using a flux pen. Basically the copper is dissipating the heat faster than the iron can supply it.

Mark

[A Stuart]

How does the bit connect onto your usual soldering iron?

If that connection is not clean and tight the re-supply of heat to the tip will be reduced.
Mine screws on with a washer which creates a second junction separating element from tip.
I put heatsink compound in on the presumtion that any micro-gaps lacking metal-to-metal contact ought to be improved, though I never did a proper comparison.

[bob orbell]

Could I sugest you invest in a good soldering station such as an Antex temperature controlled iron, it should last for a long time and do the job, I have had one for years. Bob

[Mark]

Originally Posted by A Stuart

How does the bit connect onto your usual soldering iron?

If that connection is not clean and tight the re-supply of heat to the tip will be reduced.
Mine screws on with a washer which creates a second junction separating element from tip.
I put heatsink compound in on the presumtion that any micro-gaps lacking metal-to-metal contact ought to be improved, though I never did a proper comparison.

Thanks. The same thoughts had crossed my mind. The bit on my usual iron is on the end of a tube that slides over a metal tube containing the heating element and the temperature sensor. The bit is held against the end of the element by a threaded sleeve. Whilst it's a design that has worked perfectly OK for several years I suspect a lot of the watts aren't getting to the bit. As you have suggested I will clean it and try some thermal grease/paste inside the sleeve. I assume thermal grease/paste doesn't go solid at 350C+ so I can get the bit off afterwards !

Mark

[A Stuart]

The other thing is the size of the bit. A 5mm bit will have around 6x the mass of a 2mm bit, and therefore 6x the instant load of heat energy to dump into the target, and also 6x the contact surface area.
Not certain what thermal grease is made of, but I could imagine a volatile oily carrier boiling off, leaving whatever the white stuff is.
Mine is an Oryx 50, bought around 1978.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by bob orbell

Could I sugest you invest in a good soldering station such as an Antex temperature controlled iron, it should last for a long time and do the job, I have had one for years. Bob

Bob,

Fair comment. Which make and model number do you have ?

Mark