Tony Duell wrote:
> Well, I should probably upgrade myself (I still use an old Weller TCP,
> which has a not particularly accurate thermostat), but I can assure
> you
> that even that is a lot nicer than most 'hobbyist grade' irons.
Hmm... The only Weller soldering iron I've ever used was a 100W soldering
gun. And that thing was crap with a capital C.
> To the extent that on the few occasions that I've tried to use a
> cheap, totally non-thermonstatically-controller iron recently (to
> save going
> back to get my Weller), I've had to give up and go and get said unit.
Hmm... I've always been a fan of the Antex irons. They make an iron known as
the "TCS" - it's basically an XS with a thermostat. Then there's the
full-blown Soldering Stations - the yellow one (without digital readout) and
the black ESD-safe one (with a digital readout). They should both be listed
under "Products" at www.antex.co.uk. The TCS230 is a 50W temperature
controlled iron, priced up at ?45. The next one up is a soldering station at
?112...
>> I've just come to the conclusion that my Antex XS is far too
>> overpowered for
> You probably mean _UNDERPOWERED_ !
It certainly seems to get very hot, but the temperature plummets when it
touches a joint on a PCB...
> Power is not the same as temperature. For example, my Weller is
> actually
> a 45W unit, which sounds rediculously high (after all, many books
> recomend a 15W iron for PCB work).
Right....
> The problem with too high a power
> in a non-controlled iron is that it gets too hot. The problem with
> too little power (in any type of iron) is that it takes too long to
> heat the joint
> up, thus getting the rest of the PCB and components hot, causing
> damage.
OK, then. Time to smash the piggy-bank again :-P
> Try soldering (or worse, desoldering) an IC pin connected to an
> internal ground plane on a multi-layer PCB and you'll see what I mean
Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. That's why I get to rebuild
100-or-so through-holes on the Ace - the soldering iron soldered the THP to
the IC's pin and then when I pulled the IC out, it ripped up the THP... Time
to get the wirewrap wire out again...
Later.
--
Phil.
philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/
Received on Tue Mar 18 2003 - 01:38:00 GMT