soldering station

[sam67]

Re: soldering station

Thanks for your time ,i like the look of the Xytronic type LF-1000 can you use the normal solder with this one as it says lead free.

Cheers

[willawake]

Re: soldering station

yes. it will be even better product for the normal solders.

actually you will encounter lead free solder on modern computer hardware so its good to have that capability for removal purposes

personally i think the 100w is overkill but either look very nice

make sure you get a chisel tip around 2mm for recapping. i think it comes with a conical tip.

personally i would also get another tip for general purposes like doing general electrical stuff, making audio cables etc. so you can abuse that tip and keep a nice one for recapping.

i would also get some tip refresher, flux, antistatic strap and some nice 0.8mm or thereabouts solder and some more brass shavings for when those are done

[stj]

Re: soldering station

dont use tip flux, i'll tell you from experience that it cuts through xytronics tips real fast.
use the brass wool tip-cleaner it comes with,

and yes, get some assorted tips.
that's why i recommend xytronics, you can get loads of tips & spares real easy.

about the wattage.

hear is how a decent iron works.
the iron is powered, until it reaches the set temerature,
then switched off.
once it drops below that temp it will switch on again.

what this means is that it's powering on and off once a second or so on most irons.

now here is where it gets good.
if you put the iron on something big like a massive track or a heatsink it will lose temperature and the power will go back on.

the higher the wattage, the quicker it will react to this.
also, the higher the wattage, the quicker it will be at operational temp when you turn it on.

if your used to mains irons then you will know that it takes a minute or 2 to be ready & cant solder big stuff.
not on these - ready much faster!

[stj]

Re: soldering station

oh yeah,

RoHS regulations.

if you intend to sell any of your repairs or they are for someone else then you must use lead-free solder.
the only exemptions are stuff so old that it used lead oringinally - that is probably anything older than 2000,
and military/medical equipment.

otherwise the government can fine your ass back into the dark ages!
and given that most governments are bankrupt because of war,
(the most expensive thing a government can do)

they are actively looking for every excuse to get money from people now - so play safe.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: soldering station

RoHS didn't kick in until 2006. Still lots of stuff out there that was built using lead based 60/40 solder.

Also who would go around checking repairs to see if you used lead-free solder? Nobody, that's who. You have nothing to worry about.

[stj]

Re: soldering station

dont make that asumption for everywhere,
RoHS was phased in a lot sooner in Europe - 06 was the final deadline only.

and there are people doing random checks - mostly on commercial businesses - but that may change.


besides, what's the big deal with using solder that's stronger than the old stuff and that wont give you blood poisoning?

i'v used lead-free on eveything for years now - even stuff from the 70's.
you have nothing to lose other than the lead plating you used to get on your fingers!

[willawake]

Re: soldering station

you can make non rohs compliant repairs to anything first placed on the market prior to 01/Jul/06.

interestingly

Lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems, network infrastructure equipment for switching, signalling, transmission as well as network management for telecommunication.

is exempt from the directive

[sam67]

Re: soldering station

Cheers guys ..looks like i'll be going with the Xytronic type LF-1000 ..have already bought stuff from rapid and they were a pleasure to deal with.

Best

sam67

[stj]

Re: soldering station

yea l like rapid, the range is small but the prices are good.
and they have unusual stuff like 3mm rainbow-led's
i love using those to replace the power light on pc's

[sam67]

Re: soldering station

My new solder station came today,must say rapid are pretty quick with delivery and they package there stuff really well..

Also got some spare tips Will be using it once i get my new caps from Bigpope on here

Just to clear things up ,i do have some solder 60/40 will this ruin any of my tips on this new station (i will be only using this leaded rosin core solder on my own monitor) just seems a waste otherwise..

Cheers

[stj]

Re: soldering station

no, no damage.

infact the thing that can do damage is the flux - it's heat activated acid.
that's why you keep the tips clean

[sam67]

Re: soldering station

Cheers stj..

[Toasty]

Re: soldering station

Rosin core is not acid(ic). If it were, the repairs done would eat the board traces.

There is acid core solder and acid fluxes out there for joining items involving galvanized steel, sheet metals, and radiator repair. Using acid core solders or acid flux with soldering equipment will quickly degrade the tips.

Anything repair involving electrical or electronic equipment should use rosin core solder -only-. Metal components such as tin, copper, or brass should use rosin core solder or solid core with an matching flux.

Apply a small amount of solder to the tip after cleaning (re-tin) and before shutting the unit down.

[stj]

Re: soldering station

most modern solders dont use Rosin anymore due to health issues.

[ratdude747]

Re: soldering station

nope, the solder i buy has rosin.in Europe, you might have done away with it, but here in the US, rosin is still used. maybe the uk is different...

[Toasty]

Re: soldering station

“The EPA concluded that the chemicals do not pose a hazard to the environment or human health and therefore no further action needs to be taken to restrict their use”
- Fern Abrams, IPC's Director of Environmental Policy and Government Relations

[stj]

Re: soldering station

yea, well.
we all trust the CDC, EPA, FDA etc dont we.

long term inhalation has been shown to oncrease the chances of asthma.
that's why fume extractors are so common.

it's not banned, it's just that most company's and people in general are trying to avoid it just in case.
the solder makers are wise to this and are cutting back on it so as not to lose sales.

[Toasty]

Re: soldering station

Fume extractors are common because companies don't want to end up in litigation.

"Plaintiff demands (insert dollar figure here) in compensatory damages because Defendant failed to provide adequate ventilation and removal of smoke from environment, resulting in chronic asthma and (insert other illnesses here)."

Oh, did we fail to mention he has a 3 pack a day habit...? GeeWhiz... Sorry.