|
Tube DIY Asylum Do It Yourself (DIY) paradise for tube and SET project builders. |
|
|
|
Tube DIY Asylum Do It Yourself (DIY) paradise for tube and SET project builders. |
|
In Reply to: I wish I know. posted by cheap-Jack on February 9, 2006 at 09:04:25:
Hello,Soldering is one of the hardest things for DIYers. Many of us has no background in electronics, and we have to start from scratch - at least that was what I did. A few years ago started soldering with a RS 25W iron. It took an age to heat up, and eventually I managed to use it, but when I borrowed a 100W RS solder station for a few weeks it was like walking in the heavens. I got every joint right for the first time with the station, and not a single cold joint, resoldering. Now I use a 60W Hakko station, and I can't express how much I love it. Although less watts, it heats up faster than the 100W RS, and can get almost anything soldered - including diodes and ga 8 solid core wire.
However, I am sure that not all 25W-ers are equal. But probably what DIYers use, the cheap non-A-plant-rated irons are a far cry from the sophisticated ones.
I have experienced that a higher wattage iron / station warms up considerably faster than a low watter, and has a lower chance of making a cold joint. Especially when we use silver bearing or lead-free solders.
Your point with controlled heating / cooling is excellent, and is probably the ultimate way to solder, if we can heatsink the sensitive parts adequately. But this can only be reached with sophisticated tools far beyond the reach of ordinary DIYers. For one thing, depending on wire diameter, it takes very different times to heat up / cool down. I used a ga 8 solid copper bus for my preamp, and it's a very tough thing to solder. By the time it heats up to the temperature where the solder will flow nicely, it is burning hot even at a foot distance. Had to use plenty of heat-sinking over there...
The lower the temperature gradient, the better the metalic grid-structure can form, resulting in a better joint. I'm curious about one thing: when we are breaking in an equippment, the electricity flowing through the solder joint heats it up, and anneals it each time it conducts & heats. So it slowly re-orients to the ideal grid-structure, following the path of lower resistance. I'd be curious, have you noticed that the joints made by very slow heating / cooling sound like already broken in?
Long live DIY!
Janos
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Re: I wish I know. - Janos 00:20:26 02/12/06 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
