;-) Clearing the snow from my glasses, I saw Tony Duell typed:
>I would _strongly_ recomend buying a good temperature-controlled
>soldering iron if you are serious about computer repair. It'll cost
><$100, and it'll save a lot of time/hassle.
I don't have one of these (I'd love to have one), but...
>I am told that a butane soldering iron, like the Weller Pyropen with a
>hot air tip is almost ideal for surface-mount repairs. I've not got one
>(yet!), though.
My Weller butane iron (to my knowledge) isn't called a "Pyropen", but that
could be just a UK name thing...
Spec's on my Weller: it's a butane-fired adjustable-heat soldering iron
with removable tips & a sparker built-in to the protective cap, and the
whole thing fits into my shirt pocket (The *ultimate* geek-wear! ;-) ...
cost me $70 USD but well worth it. The tips I received in the package were
the standard-sized soldering tip, the hot-knife, the blowtorch (great for
camping! -- who needs matches???) and the heat-blower.
Then, at the local "Dork-RadioShack" they had mis-marked two 1.0mm tips for
it at $0.99 USD (instead of $9.99 -- over 90% off!! :-) so I bought both of
them! These work great for board soldering, and have done a few of the
"larger-part" SMD soldering with no problems whatsoever. (I picked up some
1407 round SMD resistors for really cheap (closeout) from Mouser
Electronics) and the job my Weller did was just wonderful!
By the by, I've been using that one 1.0mm tip for almost everything for the
last two years (including soldering mains power cords) and it's still like
brand-new. The other tip should be as classic as my CoCos by the time I
have to open it!!! ;-)
Thanks to that little wonder, I'm not in *such a hurry* for a full-bore
soldering station. ;-)
HTH,
"Merch"
--
Roger Merchberger | If at first you don't succeed,
Owner, MerchWare | nuclear warhead disarmament should
zmerch_at_northernway.net | *not* be your first career choice.
Received on Sat Mar 14 1998 - 00:45:01 GMT