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Post subject: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:26 pm
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After years of using 25 and 40 watt soldering irons, I purchased a Velleman digital thermostatically controlled soldering station. What do you guys who use such things recommend for soldering temps with 60/40 tin/lead solder? I also bought several different shaped tips ranging from a thin pencil point to a medium pencil point to a small flat chisel tip. I always used the 25 watt iron with a pencil point for general PCB and eyelet/turret wiring and the medium flat chisel on the 40 watt iron for soldering to the back of pots and to ground planes. What do you recommend for different situations?

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:32 pm
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Those are pretty solid tip/temp combinations for most Fender amp situations, Bill. But be sure to keep your biggass honkin' 100-watt iron around for soldering ground leads to a chassis or trem claw, and persuading your neighbor's puppy not to dump in your wife's petunia's.

:mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:44 pm
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I posted a Q on DIY board, as to some temp ranges used by ppl for printed circuit boards, eyelet tagboards, and turret boards. Will posted answers.


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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:58 pm
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Congrats on the cool new toy, errr, I mean tool, bluesky636. 8)

The temperature that you need can vary, depending on your particular iron and your style. After experimenting for a while on my Aoyue, I settled on 350 C/662 F for soldering, and 400 C/752 F for desoldering, and this seems to cover most any situation. My temps might be just a bit high for some people, but I work very quickly. You'll know the right temp for you the first time that you use your station, so you might practice on something that you don't mind melting.

I am anxious to hear what temp you end up using.

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:42 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
I posted a Q on DIY board, as to some temp ranges used by ppl for printed circuit boards, eyelet tagboards, and turret boards. Will posted answers.


Great! Thanks!

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:44 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Congrats on the cool new toy, errr, I mean tool, bluesky636. 8)

The temperature that you need can vary, depending on your particular iron and your style. After experimenting for a while on my Aoyue, I settled on 350 C/662 F for soldering, and 400 C/752 F for desoldering, and this seems to cover most any situation. My temps might be just a bit high for some people, but I work very quickly. You'll know the right temp for you the first time that you use your station, so you might practice on something that you don't mind melting.

I am anxious to hear what temp you end up using.


From what I have found on the Internet, those seem to be reasonable temperature settings.

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:25 am
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From DIY Board:

" I typically run between 600-700 for such work.

The real answer is to have a good soldering iron that has enough power to complete the process in a few seconds....under five ideally. Solder melts around 360-370 degrees F so you don't need that high of a setting. What you need is something that responds quickly with more wattage on a large heat sink. Cranking up the setting to compensate runs the risk of ruining tips in a hurry.

The right sized, well tinned and wet tip, on a quality soldering station like, metcal is best. Most of us have to make do with a weller or hakko. Turning it off in between joints will greatly extend tip life.

The type of flux used in the solder is a biggie as well. Some of the lead free solders are really problematic. I'd stick with rma or ra flux and a 63/37 solder. "


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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:23 am
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
From DIY Board:

I typically run between 600-700 for such work...Solder melts around 360-370 degrees F so you don't need that high of a setting...Turning it off in between joints will greatly extend tip life.


Keep in mind that to use the soldering iron properly, you don't melt the solder with the iron, but rather you heat the parts to be soldered, apply the solder to the heated parts and let the parts melt the solder. If you use the iron to directly melt the solder, you can easily get cold joints. For a good solder job, yes you do need that high a setting. :wink:

I also do not agree about turning the iron off between joints. The heating and cooling is typically what ruins the connection between tip and iron, so once heated, leave the iron on until you are completely done.

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 6:13 pm
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Finally got around to firing up my new toy. I used it tonight to change the pickup in my Epiphone Les Paul Jr. I replaced a GFS 59 Vintage humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 in a humbucker case. That pickup is smokin'!

The new solder station (set to 350 degrees C) worked like a charm. I need to experiment with the different size tips I bought. I used a medium pencil point tip (I also have fine pencil tips, and small flat blade tips) which worked great for the hot connection but was not optimum for soldering the braided shield to the back of the pot, though it did the job. I'll use the small flat blade the next time. Overall I am happy. It sure beats juggling two irons. :D

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:10 pm
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A Weller TWTCPT with a 1/16" flat 700 degree tip(wet cleaner iron holder). Alpha solder flux metal cleaner, Kester 60/40 rosin core .050 diameter. And a guy I call "Granpa", for chassis grounds, 5/8" four-flatsides tapered to a fine point. That guy sports a tweed power cable, probably vintage late' 50's or early 60's.....Yeah Shimmy, got that same soldering technique taught to me from my dad, at about 12yrs old!!! Oh yeah, I use heat sinks for sensitive components. Art

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 6:52 am
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bluesky636 wrote:
Finally got around to firing up my new toy. I used it tonight to change the pickup in my Epiphone Les Paul Jr. I replaced a GFS 59 Vintage humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 in a humbucker case. That pickup is smokin'!

The new solder station (set to 350 degrees C) worked like a charm. I need to experiment with the different size tips I bought. I used a medium pencil point tip (I also have fine pencil tips, and small flat blade tips) which worked great for the hot connection but was not optimum for soldering the braided shield to the back of the pot, though it did the job. I'll use the small flat blade the next time. Overall I am happy. It sure beats juggling two irons. :D


Yeah Bill, those Phat Cat P90's are really nice. I have then in an Ibanez AS73. The previous owner installed them. I use the GFS pups in my cigar box guitar builds. For the money, they're a pretty sweet deal.

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Post subject: Re: Digital Thermostatically Controlled Soldering Station
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2014 1:50 pm
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63supro wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
Finally got around to firing up my new toy. I used it tonight to change the pickup in my Epiphone Les Paul Jr. I replaced a GFS 59 Vintage humbucker with a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 in a humbucker case. That pickup is smokin'!

The new solder station (set to 350 degrees C) worked like a charm. I need to experiment with the different size tips I bought. I used a medium pencil point tip (I also have fine pencil tips, and small flat blade tips) which worked great for the hot connection but was not optimum for soldering the braided shield to the back of the pot, though it did the job. I'll use the small flat blade the next time. Overall I am happy. It sure beats juggling two irons. :D


Yeah Bill, those Phat Cat P90's are really nice. I have then in an Ibanez AS73. The previous owner installed them. I use the GFS pups in my cigar box guitar builds. For the money, they're a pretty sweet deal.


I was worried that 500K pots would be too bright for a bridge pickup, but they are perfect. :D

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