[Coco] Soldering Irons

[Gene Heskett]

On Saturday 04 November 2017 01:51:02 Michael Furman wrote:

> I'd recommend a Weller WTCP or the newer WTCPT series soldering
> station with the matching iron. You should be able to find them on
> eBay or surplus for reasonable prices.  These irons basically last
> forever. The standard tip is 600F medium conical tip that does just
> fine for most jobs but you can get  tips of many different shapes,
> sizes, and temperatures that simply screw on.
>
> https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fu
>lk%2Fitm%2F142561354478
>
Three things on this model.

1. If the 3rd pin on the power cord has been removed, it will blow gates 
in an IC when it switches on and off to maintain the set temp, which is 
marked on the button at the rear of the tip. Never ever use a third pin 
isolation adapter, or a drop cord thats been clipped, it MUST have a 
good ground. This also means the board you are working on must be 
disconnected from any source of power. Even then, its not 100% safe in 
CMOS circuitry. 99.9999% maybe.  Or I had an already damaged chip.

2. the pocket where all the loose tips are shown in that set of pix needs 
to have a sponge cut to fit the pocket, and kept wet to serve as a tip 
wiper/cleaner.

3. Modern low or no lead solders will need a tip stamped with a 7 for 
700F temps as they are a higher melting point solders. So will solders 
with a 2 or higher percent of silver content. Excellent solders, but 
600F may be found to be a bit slow with them.

And since Cooper Group bought Weller, decades ago, the heaters have a 
limited lifetime.  I have one of the original old black brick style of 
that iron, bought it in the 1950's, probably has accumulated 250,000 
power on hours by now, powered up 8+ hours a day at the various tv 
station service benches where I was employed down thru the last 40 years 
I worked in tv. Still using its original heater.  Looks like it lost the 
war, and no, its not for sale, its still my goto iron for small quickly 
done projects.

> --
> Michael R. Furman
> Email: n6il at ocs.net
> Phone: +1 (408) 480-5865
>
> > On Nov 3, 2017, at 9:41 PM, rcrislip <rcrislip at neo.rr.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hello, What would be a good soldering iron for circuit board work?
> > What heat, watts, Brand, etc. TIA
> >
> > --
> > Coco mailing list
> > Coco at maltedmedia.com
> > https://pairlist5.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/coco


Cheers, Gene Heskett
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene>