[Coco] Soldering Iron

[Steve Bjork]

Good Day Chester,

First of all, please because careful!  You are working on an old 
computer that is very hard to replace. It couldn't hurt to practise 
on a few corpses (dead computer parts) before working on a family 
member like the coco.

With that said, there are a few good "Hot to solder" websites to help 
remembering some of theose do's and don'ts of soldering. Just do a 
Google search on the subject and you will find sites like: 
http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm and the very good: 
http://www.mediacollege.com/misc/solder/

With that out of the way, Let's get to the irons...

The cheap 15 to 30 watt irons ($10 to $20 range) can handle most PC 
boards jobs.  Please be careful not to overheat the PC board's 
paths.  Very easy to do with standard iron because they don't control 
how hot the part gets, you do by how long you hold the iron on the 
part.  This is a the reason why most on this list will recommend a 
iron with variable temperature control.

A variable temperature control iron will monitor the heat near the 
tip and adjust the power level as needed. (This makes it very hard to 
overheat (damage) the PC paths because you left it on the board far too long.)

I have a few friends that got the Radio Shack Digital Soldering 
Station  (64-2185) and it has worked out well, for the most 
part.  While you can get the iron at most stores, you have to order 
the smaller tips need for PC board work.  XYTRONIC INDUST makes a 
analog display, 45 Watt unit that sells for about $60 at jameco.com. 
(Once again, you may need to order smaller tips with the iron.)

The bottom line, you can go the cheap route, but you run the risk of 
trashing your beloved coco.  I'd would play it safe and get the right 
tool for PC board work.

For the cheapest solution, find a friend that already have a good 
soldering station and do the work there.  If you live near Whittier 
(20 miles east of Los Angles, CA.), you are more than welcome to use 
my work bench.

I hope this helps,

Steve Bjork

At 12:17 PM 2/22/2007, Chester A Patterson wrote:
>Howdy. I'm getting back into soldering because of my two coco's. 
>It's been MANY years since I last fluxed. Now that I've got a little 
>bit more flow (cash) but less eyes and less steadiness, the old 
>cheapo 30W irons don't cut it. I have NO idea what to buy, never 
>having bought anything but 30W cheapos. Looking on ebay... 
>Confusing. Fellas: where to buy? what do buy? what do you suggest? Up to $75.
>Thanks.


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