New soldering station recommendations...

[martin martin]

There I was building yet another Nixie clock from pvelectronics when my 35 year old Weller soldering station burned up.Of course I was watching the SpaceX mission in the background!

So. what's the best temperature controlled iron these days?  I haven't had to shop in a very long time!

Thanks in advance from Southern California

martin

[Joe Croft]

I don't know if they are the best, but I have been very pleased with my Aoyue soldering stations

-joe

[Kevin A.]

If "best" includes a reasonable price as well, then from my experience I would recommend the Hakko FX-951-66. For about $300 usd new, I cannot imagine you can buy a better soldering iron. I purchased mine 2 years ago on Amazon and have used it on a very regular basis with great and consistent results. I purchased a kit which had 6 different sized tips and a weighted metal tip holder included as well (amazon link). 

Of course, the solder and flux you use will also play a big part in your results (with skill also being an obvious factor). I use Amtech 4300LF tacky flux which is simply the best water soluble stuff out there. It stays where you put it, has great wetting properties, and cleans very easily. In addition to Kester 331 flux core water soluble eutectic (63/37) solder, I rarely have a problem getting pads or leads to wet, and when I'm done a little rinse with water and some light scrubbing with an acid brush is all that's needed to get the work squeaky clean. But a picture is worth a thousand words, so have a look at some of my more recent projects if you want to see the results for yourself: https://neonkev.com/2020/04/30/pocket-size-%ce%b1%ce%b2%ce%b3-geiger-counter/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/00372f0a-de2f-476e-bf98-c78697ecd97f%40googlegroups.com.

[Nicholas Stock]

I’ve been using an Edsyn Loner for 20 yrs....anything from Hakko or Weller should be good too.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 31, 2020, at 10:40, Kevin A. <ka...@scarletmail.rutgers.edu> wrote:



To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CALcVLKKWMPU64%2BSev_h6JQ4sQ8giWG%2BObYuV5%2BnZx9eMMLpG6A%40mail.gmail.com.

[gregebert]

I replaced my Weller WCTPN with a Weller WES51 several years ago, and it's very good for SMT work up to tube sockets.

I would also suggest getting a hot air reflow gun as well; ust bout one a few weeks ago for $50 from Amazon.

[David Pye]

Unfashionable opinion probably: 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://hackaday.com/2017/07/24/review-ts100-soldering-iron/&ved=2ahUKEwj7-cbH2d7pAhXwQhUIHYFTCR0QFjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw0BvcAV0d_e5TcsGeKx9Leo

I bought one of these as my portable iron, but actually I like it so much I use it for everything from fine smd work upwards.

David

On Sun, 31 May 2020, 18:47 gregebert, <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I replaced my Weller WCTPN with a Weller WES51 several years ago, and it's very good for SMT work up to tube sockets.

I would also suggest getting a hot air reflow gun as well; ust bout one a few weeks ago for $50 from Amazon.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/0c48f7fc-47d1-4a6f-a2ad-01472a3ab4e6%40googlegroups.com.

[martin martin]

Thanks to all!

I ordered this one and found out it's actually made about 45 minutes from me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00012YSG4/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

Have a fine Sunday 

~

mcve...@gmail.com

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0GzP63RqC8sEJ%3DRN5wx1Ge-tsT-5soO-9J3TZefPso23w%40mail.gmail.com.

[Nicholas Stock]

An excellent choice sir....:)

Sent from my iPhone

On May 31, 2020, at 15:53, martin martin <mcve...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAKYv7NTGU8E2uMrkvg-rRep6VD94sA9vG4wo82%3D-c53TrDoJ3A%40mail.gmail.com.

[David Forbes]

I love my Metcal MX500, but it's pricey. I got it used. If a large part of your livelihood involves soldering, it's worth the investment.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/00372f0a-de2f-476e-bf98-c78697ecd97f%40googlegroups.com.

[Alex]

Seconded on the Metcal MX500, they were on another level to conventional soldering irons but the gap has narrowed considerably in recent years, but the sub 8 second warm up still amazes me. I have a couple of TCP irons as well for dragging on site and vehicle / panel work etc.

On Monday, 1 June 2020 00:11:59 UTC+1, nixiebunny wrote:

I love my Metcal MX500, but it's pricey. I got it used. If a large part of your livelihood involves soldering, it's worth the investment.

On Sun, May 31, 2020, 10:25 AM martin martin <mcve...@gmail.com> wrote:

There I was building yet another Nixie clock from pvelectronics when my 35 year old Weller soldering station burned up.Of course I was watching the SpaceX mission in the background!

So. what's the best temperature controlled iron these days?  I haven't had to shop in a very long time!

Thanks in advance from Southern California

martin

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

[Nick]

+1 on Metcal - I have both the MX500P (x2) and a MX5200 (the later version) - both are fantastic irons.

On Monday, 1 June 2020 00:11:59 UTC+1, nixiebunny wrote:

I love my Metcal MX500, but it's pricey. I got it used. If a large part of your livelihood involves soldering, it's worth the investment.

On Sun, May 31, 2020, 10:25 AM martin martin <> wrote:

There I was building yet another Nixie clock from pvelectronics when my 35 year old Weller soldering station burned up.Of course I was watching the SpaceX mission in the background!

So. what's the best temperature controlled iron these days?  I haven't had to shop in a very long time!

Thanks in advance from Southern California

martin

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Bill Notfaded]

Metcal 100% I'll never go back again. We use them at work to solder for space applications under scopes... Well I don't but they do in the factories. Since they turned me on and I bought a 5k series I'm totally sold. It's the bomb period!

Bill

[gregebert]

Reviving this thread...

I've spent some of the holiday season using hot-air soldering for surface-mount devices, and the results are far superior to hand-soldering. With good solder paste (I'm using ChipQuick 63/37; there are several other brands) and placing small dabs on solder pads with the included syringe. You dont need to use a stencil; you probably will want one if you are doing several builds of the same board AND you are going to mount all components at the same time.

If the PCB has good solder-masking, the solder paste will flow from the masked area towards the pad when heated, so shorts are unlikely to occur unless you used way too much paste. I've also seen some self-centering of SMT parts while the solder is molten, so you dont need to hold the part in-place while soldering as long as the airflow velocity from your hot-air machine is low enough.

BTW, I'm using a cheap (40 USD on Amazon) reflow device that holds temperature quite well; adjustable airflow is a MUST-have feature.

If you are fearful of doing SMT work because it looks too small, I suggest you give it a try. Find a PCB from a discarded device and test it out yourself.

Thru-hole parts should still be soldered with a traditional hand iron.

[Jon Jackson]

Is it the CO-Z 858D Rework Station ??

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/2587ced5-a9c2-49c8-9b48-6ac2ecc9eeaan%40googlegroups.com.

[gregebert]

Yes, that's the one. Works great; just be sure to gently break it in by slowly increasing the temperature to burn-off the manufacturing residue, and ALWAYS let it cool-down (fan will shut off automatically) before you power-down. It came with 3 nozzles, and I use the small one. It's permanently stuck on the tool, so dont expect to be changing nozzles around. It heats-up in less than 10 seconds, and at 350C it does a great job.

On my current project I had an intermittent connection on a 144-pin CPLD that I hand-soldered that took months to track down (I thought it was a software bug, or metastability in the CPLD logic). After reflowing the CPLD, no more intermittent problems.

[Mark Moulding]

If you're far enough along that you've got more than a couple of surface-mount parts (or even one IC), I highly recommend the use of a surface-mount oven.  You can cobble one together using a toaster oven and an Arduino-based controller, but personally I wanted to make circuits, not learn how to make a surface-mount oven, so I purchased a T-962 oven off Amazon (there are many sellers of this item).  It ranges from $300 to $500.

There are many modifications available on-line, including a complete firmware replacement that appears to fix a number of shortcomings in the original product.  However, the only one I really felt was necessary was replacing the tape that holds the insulation together internally; from the factory, it's basically masking tape (paper), but it's very easy to replace it with aluminum duct-sealing tape, to avoid the campfire experience the first time you use it.

Once you've done this, it seems to work quite well.  I've used mine on several boards now, of sizes as large as 8 " x 5", and it's done a great job.  I use only 63/37 tin/lead solder, and for this the built-in program #2 is perfect.  Just as @gregebert described, either a paste mask or just a conservative drop of solder-paste-with-flux on each pad is all that's needed, and everything sort of self-centers when the solder mounts, due to the surface tension.

~~
Mark Moulding

[David Pye]

Anyone tried using a hotplate for SMD soldering? (clearly, single sided only..)

I've seen reasonable reviews of a hotplate, with a chunk of aluminium or similar as a heat spreader.

David

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/98971898-0cac-4d06-9555-a36ed3e1b079n%40googlegroups.com.