| RE:Monday Chat 12.03.07 |
Subject: RE:Monday Chat 12.03.07 by CasetheCorvetteman on 2007/12/4 6:58:17 Soldering irons are like any other tools, you simply dont buy cheap rubish and expect a top notch result. If you take pride in doing a job right, money is no object, and the end result much be something you can show to people and be proud to say "i did that". I use a Royel adjustable temp feedback soldering iron, although in my experience, Weller are also good. Practice and know-how are important, but they are only part of the job, you must use quality tools. Depending on what youre soldering, you dont want it too hot or itll burn the wire and/or the item youre trying to solder. (especially quality OFC speaker cable, its got very fine strands and will burn easy if its too hot, which will result in slag filling the join, and then causing resistance in the flow) You dont ever want it too cold, and you dont ever want to rush the process, cause this will cause a poor result, and what ever solder you use, be sure it has a flux core so it will adhere to the job. (this is mainly important for passive type soldering equipment, if youre using an industrial type soldering iron, which is heated usually by resting over a gas flame in what looks like a very small oven, you would use a clean solder, and apply the flux to the job.) Dont strip back too much insulation when youre soldering, only as much as you need, and dont twist the wire up too tight or the solder will not be able to absorb into the wire. 70/30 is a good solder for this sort of job, 80/20 may be getting abit hot, and 60/40 or less is not something i would use on a high current application. The numbers relate to the make up of the solder, usually tin/lead. The more tin content, the higher the melting point. |
