getting my 1st soldering station. what's the best temp for...

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#3
its my experience that the higher setting is safer. if the temp is too low, you just end up heating the part for a few minutes and never end up melting the solder. the part gets hot and you get annoyed. with a bit higher heat setting the lead gets hot very fast and the solder melts when you touch it.
 
#5
315C/600F. If it won't heat a thick bit of wire then that's because the tip isn't big enough to have the quantity of heat required to heat that wire. If you use a small tip at too high a temperature, you will burn wires, PCBs, and semiconductors. I switched on my soldering iron today and made five joints. I changed the tip twice. Smallish tip for normal wires, big hot tip to solder to a piece of slightly mucky steel, small tip because the smallish tip was a bit too clumsy. I use a Weller TCP with No6 (600F) tips wherever possible. If things are mucky, I might use a No7 tip (700F). The big wedge tip is a No8 (800F) and is only made in that temperature. I have about ten different tips and freely change them for a particular joint. Moral: There is no such thing as a universal tip size or temperature.
 
#6
VEC7OR said:
For Pb/Sn I work with 280 on pretty much everything
For Lead free something like 300-320 is better.
Well just try experimenting, you'll 'feel' the proper temp with time.
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There are many types of lead free solder, and the melting point varies widely. Check the technical data for your type. BTW, even PB/Sn differs in melting point depending on the relative amounts and possible additives. In either case, try to get an encaustic solder to minimize the risk for cold joints.
 
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