6L6,
Thank you very much for the reply. I will go ahead and get that ordered up.
I have ordered the Hakko Soldering Station, FX-888 from Amazon which should arrive soon.
One thing I was looking at is the tip that comes with it which appears to be a pencil type. I was wondering if I need to go ahead and order a Hakko Soldering Tip, T18, Chisel, 1.6mm for this project.
James
Why on earth would you need a chisel for stuffing a circuit board?
Don't worry about it. Soldering with a 'station' is a completely different experience than with a low-power pencil. The tip stays at a much more constant temperature, and it just plain works better.
That part I was not sure of so I figured best to post and see what reply I get. Now that I have that reply I know that I do not need one
Thanks again.
James
Just a matter of preference, I have chisel tips on both of my Hakkos. I think,
and correct me if wrong 6L6, but what he (6L6) is telling you is that with a nice station, there is no massive drop in temp when you touch it to the work like a pencil. The unit will ramp up the juice keeping the tip at a constant temp, which makes soldering much quicker and easier....thus making tip shape, (at least standard ones) less of a factor.
Happy trails,
Russellc
and correct me if wrong 6L6, but what he (6L6) is telling you is that with a nice station, there is no massive drop in temp when you touch it to the work like a pencil. The unit will ramp up the juice keeping the tip at a constant temp, which makes soldering much quicker and easier....thus making tip shape, (at least standard ones) less of a factor.
Happy trails,
Russellc
Russell,
Thank you for the reply.
I was not sure about the tip since this will be my first little soldering station. I was sort of looking at that other tip since it seems it would cover a larger area of what I was trying to heat up for the solder process but not a huge area.
Just another question real quick, when you guys are soldering, just say a resistor to the board, do you usually add a very small amount of flux on the contact area first? Or do folks only use the flux on a larger surface area item? I hope that makes sense. Thanks.
James
Thank you for the reply.
I was not sure about the tip since this will be my first little soldering station. I was sort of looking at that other tip since it seems it would cover a larger area of what I was trying to heat up for the solder process but not a huge area.
Just another question real quick, when you guys are soldering, just say a resistor to the board, do you usually add a very small amount of flux on the contact area first? Or do folks only use the flux on a larger surface area item? I hope that makes sense. Thanks.
James
I would still recommend you buy some extra tips for spares and different applications anyway and among them certainly a chisel. You need some tip surface for larger pads and normal cables, audio connectors etc. Most people tend to settle between 1.6mm to 2mm for FR4 work. I use a 1.8mm chisel mostly. For lower temp chisel I use a 2.4mm. (I have to exchange range of tips because my station is smart heat). You may also find the angled knife tip very nice for driving the wick braid in desoldering or for doing some drag soldering when an SMD device comes up or some long side through hole chip.
James:
You are welcome, forgot to reply your other question though, about extra flux. If we talk circa 2mm FR4 pads and the PCB gets cleaned first with pure alcohol, the rosin in the core is usually enough for easy flowing leaded 63/37 eutectic like Kester 44 or the Cardas one.
Extra flux is needed in wick desoldering, drag soldering (knife, hoof, chisel), ground planes, large pads, wherever you see your inside the wire flux is struggling to push the oxides for a fast shiny joint. Don't use more than 0.6mm wire by the way, 0.8mm tops for FR4 through hole. Thick wire feeds too much, makes a mess.
You are welcome, forgot to reply your other question though, about extra flux. If we talk circa 2mm FR4 pads and the PCB gets cleaned first with pure alcohol, the rosin in the core is usually enough for easy flowing leaded 63/37 eutectic like Kester 44 or the Cardas one.
Extra flux is needed in wick desoldering, drag soldering (knife, hoof, chisel), ground planes, large pads, wherever you see your inside the wire flux is struggling to push the oxides for a fast shiny joint. Don't use more than 0.6mm wire by the way, 0.8mm tops for FR4 through hole. Thick wire feeds too much, makes a mess.
Salas,
Thank you very much for the information. I had no idea about cleaning the PCB with pure alcohol before starting this process.
James
I guess it depends if you are looking for a temporary socket, for testing purposes, or for something to use in the long term.
As a quick fix, I "extracted" the socket from this connector which I happened to have handy:
Mouser part # 571-5-534998-6
With a pair of pliers I cut the plastic and pull each metal connector out. The connectors are of decent quality and work fine with resistor leads. This is a very economical approach. I am sure others will have better suggestions.
For permanent use, I would personally consider using a zero insertion force "zif" socket.
Of course! matching in situ is really in the DIY spirit. Works like a charm.
Incidentally, so are the mating areas of the Tyco receptacle I referred to.
Exactly my point. You just said it a whole bunch better!!
And I also was trying to say (poorly) that tip size is not the arbiter of tempature. When it's all said and done, use the tip shape that you like the best. It's more of a feel and use thing than anything else. I have a conical tip on mine that I haven't changed in about 10 years. (And I do know where my other tips are!)
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My question was very logical, but forum members ignored it. I have always wished to know the motivation of backward steps in DIY audio and, as in a old folk saying, started to ride donkey instead of horse.
So I believe all parts for the board stuffing have arrived. I have not as of yet ordered the power supply or chassis stuff. My plan is to look into a chassis that can hold the Pearl cards and my B1. I was also hoping to put the power supply in the same chassis but I am not sure if that would cause me to pick up too much noise. For rack space concerns I hope I can put everything in one chassis.
For the board stuffing parts I ordered extra of pretty much all of them, so if the parts listing stated 2, 1K resistors (example) I ordered 4. I will go through and meter them out to see which ones are the closest and use them.
James
For the board stuffing parts I ordered extra of pretty much all of them, so if the parts listing stated 2, 1K resistors (example) I ordered 4. I will go through and meter them out to see which ones are the closest and use them.
James