Re: Soldering SMT Components

qrk wrote:
On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:33:40 -0700, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Leon wrote:
On 14 Apr, 19:49, jd_l...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
I'm looking for Do-it Yourselft articles on soldering surface mount
components. I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board
houses use. I'm particularly interested in soldering the new ROHS
components that require lead free solder. The lead free solders
require higher temperatures. Also, do board coatings prevent problems
with tin whiskers that grow from the lead free solders?
I do surface mount assembly with an ordinary Metcal soldering station.
I solder Rs and Cs using a small tip cartridge, and fine-pitch devices
by drag-soldering with a mini-hoof cartridge.

Metcal, ordinary? Those are the Mercedes-Benzes of solder stations. They are great but the ones I have used at clients were well north of $500.

Metcal has a cheap iron for about $180 (PS-800). Tips are about $8 or
$9. I use the 650 deg 0.016" tips for most of my work (0402 size and
0.5mm pitch parts). I like the small footprint of the station.
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/5635-0199/ has
pretty good pricing.


Thanks! That seems like a good place to buy tools. They've got good pricing on Hakko as well. So I bookmarked them. But I can't use a fixed temperature iron here in the lab because as a consultant I have to deal with widely different technology.


For soldering those pesky ICs with the heat slug under the part, I use
a waffle iron. The waffle iron I have has dual purpose plates, one
side for making waffles, the other side is flat for, I'm guessing,
grilled cheese and soldering.


My wife would not approve and I might not get waffles anymore ;-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Soldering SMT Components
    ... I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board ... I'm particularly interested in soldering the new ROHS ... components that require lead free solder. ... The waffle iron I have has dual purpose plates, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Soldering SMT Components
    ... I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board ... I do surface mount assembly with an ordinary Metcal soldering station. ... The waffle iron I have has dual purpose plates, ... by now you can also buy them in Europe but at more than 3x the price. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Soldering SMT Components
    ... I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board ... I do surface mount assembly with an ordinary Metcal soldering station. ... I solder Rs and Cs using a small tip cartridge, ... The temperature is determined by the cartridge, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Soldering SMT Components
    ... I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board ... I do surface mount assembly with an ordinary Metcal soldering station. ... The waffle iron I have has dual purpose plates, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Soldering SMT Components
    ... I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board ... components that require lead free solder. ... I do surface mount assembly with an ordinary Metcal soldering station. ... The waffle iron I have has dual purpose plates, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)