Soldering iron.

[Eszett]

Hi! Is this soldering iron appropriate to desolder switches, or is it toochunky (this is my suspicion)?

P1010267.JPG (149.95 KiB) Viewed 6100 times

If not, please give me a recommendation.

[fohat]

The shape is hard to hold. A "pencil" type iron is probably much easier. Something like this:

http://www.radioshack.com/nte-j-060vt-2 ... t=15&sz=12

To remove solder, there are cheap pumps like this:

http://www.smarthome.com/steren-400-170 ... oCuY7w_wcB

But much easier are these:

http://www.radioshack.com/radioshack-45 ... Sp5TpOK7Yg

And all are available on ebay from China even cheaper.

Of course, if you are willing to spend $100+ you can get a serious rig, which is always recommended.

[Eszett]

@fohat To find supply for such a desolder iron with balloon is not that easy, I searched on eBay worldwide, and the only one I found is a used one

[DiodeHead]

The cheap desoldering pump for me is the best option and the cheapest, i have disoldered a lot with mine, i even broke the pastic threads on mine of use, that soldering iron is 100w if you re not careful you can melt the pastic on the switches i think, but if it is what you have just pick up some parts and practice a bit if it´s your first time and you would be ok with time and practice. If your planning on buying one, a decent one with temp control can be found cheap enougth. i would definitly recommend you one of those since you can change tip too, ( wich can be very helpfull in a desoldering job )

if your planning on salvagin some old switches, then i give you a tip, even your going to desolder them, add more solder (yeah counterintuitive i know) but that would help you to get better flow and would be easier to suck up with the pump.

i hope it helps

[Parak]

If buying retail, ZD-987 might be a decent option for Europe, or the ZD-985 with just the desoldering iron.

[Eszett]

Thanks for recommendations. Why can’t I simply use desoldering wick?

[DiodeHead]

mmm i would say that´s more for cleaning than for desoldering, it tends to stick on the boards and is slower that the pump , i would use the wick for smd cleaning on chip pins and take excess or even to tin a board with an oval tip, and the second reason is price, you would use a lot of wick.

[chzel]

The best desoldering pump I have ever used is a really cheap clone (like 3,50€ cheap) of the Soldapult. Just add a bit of solder to the pad and suck it up! High volume works wonders!

[Zylkan]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I found the timing perfect since I have a couple of things I'd like to see done and am trying to learn as much as I can before I get my hands dirty.

Since I'm not yet planing to do a lot of soldering in the long run, at least for now, the fact that a cheap pump works fine was indeed refreshing.

Still, regarding the iron, I've heard that you should go for 30W, max 40W otherwise you risk damaging the pcb and/or components.
Does this make sense to you?

There are lots of cheap 30-40W soldering starter kits available on ebay.

Thanks in advance!

[andrewjoy]

you would be better with a cheap temperature controlled iorn. It does not have to be an expensive one . i got a hakko 936 clone and a real hakko tip for it and it works very well. The ones on the end of a cord usually have a terrible tip on them . not only that but they are quite dangerous imo , each to slide everywhere and burn you

[scottc]

you would be better with a cheap temperature controlled iorn. It does not have to be an expensive one . i got a hakko 936 clone and a real hakko tip for it and it works very well. The ones on the end of a cord usually have a terrible tip on them . not only that but they are quite dangerous imo , each to slide everywhere and burn you

Definitely this, I got the same (Yaihua 936 or something) and it's 10x better than my crappy old iron.

[Zylkan]

Thanks for the tips guys!

I found the 936B station on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/YIHUA-936B-220V ... 35d7e2143c

Although I see exactly the same thing for 27eur AND 53eur which is kinda odd... but anyway, they have them in 220v which is what interests me.

I also checked YIHUA's website and apparently the 936 station is 45W, 936B is 50W and 936A is 60W. Would the 45W be ok ?

Also, regarding the possibility to control the temps, what kind of situation would make you want to go hotter or colder?

[scottc]

I got mine for 20 euro shipped in Poland from Allegro.pl. I remember that IvanIvanovich said that they were usually about $20 too.

[Zylkan]

Ok interesting. I don't see the 936 in Allegro.pl, maybe they don't have it anymore but I'll keep searching.

$20 sounds great. Need to think this over since my limit to avoid customs taxes is around 22eur

[scottc]

Here's one here: http://allegro.pl/stacja-lutownicza-wep ... 13023.html

If you're not in Poland, you'll need a proxy as most of these sellers don't speak English or won't ship outside of Poland.

[andrewjoy]

I also checked YIHUA's website and apparently the 936 station is 45W, 936B is 50W and 936A is 60W. Would the 45W be ok ?

Also, regarding the possibility to control the temps, what kind of situation would make you want to go hotter or colder?

The wattage is not that important as its temperature controlled.

The idea is you don't want it any hotter than you need to. So if you are soldering a small component on a small pad you will need less heat than if you are soldering a heatsink to a huge ground plane.

I would also recommend getting yourself a replacement tip. The pointy tip is not so good as it only has a small contact area with the component and pcb you are soldering and thus requires more heat you want a flat tip.

Something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-HAKKO ... 51cdcb7210

You also want to use 60/40 solder none of this lead free rubbish. Also make sure it has flux in it and its as thin as you can get 0.5 mm is ideal

this is a good brand but have a look around see what you can find

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solder-60-Hi-Ac ... F40+solder


When soldering never ever add solder to the tip and then try to solder like that you will get a rubbish joint. Place the tip on the part you want to solder for a few seconds to let it get hot and then add the solder in between the iron and the component, don't add too much you will be surprised at how little you need.

[bhtooefr]

It's also worth noting that more power can actually help prevent burning traces and melting components, on a temperature controlled setup. (I highly recommend temperature controlled soldering stations, too.)

See, if you're using an underpowered iron, you'll put the iron to the joint, it'll cool down, and then take a while to recover. All the while, the area is being heated, damaging things.

A powerful iron, it recovers quickly, and you reduce the time you're on the joint, because it never drops below the solder's melting point for long. Less total energy transferred.

[andrewjoy]

That is important as well yes. If you have an iron with a high thermal capacity you need less heat than you would with a cheaper one like the one above. But ether way its better than any hot stick you can buy by orders of magnitude .

I mean you could get a high thermal capacity iorn like a weller or a metcal but you would be looking at 100s and 100s of euros .

[Zylkan]

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys, lots to take in indeed but the overall picture is getting clearer!

I'll poke around to see what I can find closer to me and then decide. Budget a bit tight atm as well. I'll be back with further questions!

[scottc]

Where are you, Zylkan? It'd help for any suggestions.

[DiodeHead]

well you´ve got your awnser and more, the process of soldering is well explined here the only thing to add is cleanliness, your tip at ALL TIMES should look shiny, if not add a bit of solder and clean with some steel wool.

To Eszett i fail to mention, if you would like to introduce yourself in the fine hobby of electronics what is said here is very good advice, if you only want to salvage some swtiches from an old keyboard, then there is some other option, you could find some friend with a heat gun ( normally they are use to remove paint or to bend pvc ) and very very carfully you heat up the back side ( where the solder is ) and they should pop of very quicly, but after that you still need a soldering iron to complete your project.

[DiodeHead]

i normally buy all my electronics "toys" on alliexpress and i have never paid taxes (it´s provably luck also) i´m in south spain, normally it takes 2 weeks or so.

i hope it helps

[Zylkan]

I'm in Lisbon, Portugal.

As I understand it, everything that comes from outside the European Union (or is it the Schengen Area) may be subject to customs inspection and consequent taxation, unless the total ammount is not higher than aprox. 22eur (I think) - Including shipping.
It is said that the procedure is totally random and even if it is of low value, if it's picked up by customs they'll still hold on to it for about 2 weeks if you're unlucky.

Anyway that's how it roles over here. Just by thinking of all the hassle, I try to stay away from those situations. I often order stuff from China through ebay but normally for amounts of 1-10eur

[Zylkan]

As an example, here's a Baku 936 (seems the same as Yihua's 936) from Olx - Portugal:
http://meixomil.olx.pt/estacao-de-solda ... -444751329

50eur...

Seller says it's new equipment, with warranty

[scottc]

22 euro seems like a very small amount. In Ireland, they NEVER bother me unless it's declared as over 50 euro.

50 euro seems like a lot for the 936 clone. Mine came with warranty from a legit Polish company and was the same price as the one I linked above...

[Zylkan]

Yeah, thanks scottc. You wouldn't have any idea of how much something like that would cost to ship over here would you?

[scottc]

I shipped a load of keyboards from Poland recently and their shipping is pretty cheap. Depends on the weight, but I'd estimate like like 20 euro max. You'd have to get a Polish friend to help you, though. Use this website: http://cennik.poczta-polska.pl/

[Stabilized]

Had a bit of cash for my birthday and spent some of it on a soldering iron (used a cheap one before) went for the Hakko FX-888D from Batterfly in Italy (cheaper then buying it in the UK, even with shipping).
TBH I am underwhelmed! I haven't found that it has made my life any easier when it comes to soldering or de-soldering switches, or any other through hole component. Not tried it with SMD parts yet, but I am a bit skeptical of whether spending more really will improve the job.

[andrewjoy]

get yourself a de-soldering station

[Stabilized]

I know, I should have spent my money on that instead, I would have been able to buy one and have cash to spare!