Soldering Iron - Need advice.

[bansal98]

I want to put together a USB DAC by sourcing the components and then soldering them myself. The last time I soldered something was in college so my skills are a little rusty but I can manage. I need advice on buying a soldering iron. I have no clue which one is good for doing DIY projects. I have been looking at Hakko 936 but not sure if it's available in India.

Please advise. Thanks!!

 

[gobble]

I want to put together a USB DAC by sourcing the components and then soldering them myself. The last time I soldered something was in college so my skills are a little rusty but I can manage. I need advice on buying a soldering iron. I have no clue which one is good for doing DIY projects. I have been looking at Hakko 936 but not sure if it's available in India.

Please advise. Thanks!!

I got Goot Japanese one for Rs. 350/- recently. It will do the job nicely.

Regards

 

[Hari Iyer]

If you are soldering USB components do not buy a soldering iron which is more than 25Watts as higher watts soldering iron will damage the components due to heat if not soldered quickly.

Also go for reputed brands which is earthed and a good handle grip. Indian brands like Soldron will be good enough for your kind of application.

Also go for a silver solder (if possible as they are expensive) and a lower guage solder if you are soldering ICs and SMDs if the cost permits as it does not attract carbon and does not get black in the long run (avoid all chinese brand solders) and has minimum contact resistance. Invest in a de-soldering wick (made of copper stranded wires) if you need to remove some components from the board due to wrong insertion etc.

Best Regards,

Hari.

 

[gobble]

If you are soldering USB components do not buy a soldering iron which is more than 25Watts as higher watts soldering iron will damage the components due to heat if not soldered quickly.
Best Regards,

Hari.

What are the perceptible effects of heat stress on audiophile capacitors and components?

Regards

 

[bansal98]

If you are soldering USB components do not buy a soldering iron which is more than 25Watts as higher watts soldering iron will damage the components due to heat if not soldered quickly.

Also go for reputed brands which is earthed and a good handle grip. Indian brands like Soldron will be good enough for your kind of application.

Also go for a silver solder (if possible as they are expensive) and a lower guage solder if you are soldering ICs and SMDs if the cost permits as it does not attract carbon and does not get black in the long run (avoid all chinese brand solders) and has minimum contact resistance. Invest in a de-soldering wick (made of copper stranded wires) if you need to remove some components from the board due to wrong insertion etc.

Best Regards,

Hari.

Thanks Hari. Do I need to ask for a particular tip for Soldron? The regular ones are pretty huge, I think.

 

[bansal98]

^^ Almost every TH component can take 10 seconds @300 degrees. Some SMDs can also take this level of heat, but the heat transfer has to be over a relatively small area (only the joint). The problem with SMDs is the high conduction of heat between the substrate and connector.

FWIW, I have four soldering tools: a Soldron for everyday work, a SMD low-heat iron, a 125 watt sheet metal iron for binding posts and stripping enamel and a hot air gun that I never use. Ordinary lead solder, lead-free silver solder and Cardas silver loaded lead solder all find a place in my arsenal. The Soldrons are fine but are readily killed by power surges and brownouts, good thing is they're cheap to throw away and replace. Always have a backup unit in place.

Can you please let me know the exact product names? I am looking to use it for soldering USB DACs etc.

 

[gobble]

^^ Almost every TH component can take 10 seconds @300 degrees. Some SMDs can also take this level of heat, but the heat transfer has to be over a relatively small area (only the joint). The problem with SMDs is the high conduction of heat between the substrate and connector.

FWIW, I have four soldering tools: a Soldron for everyday work, a SMD low-heat iron, a 125 watt sheet metal iron for binding posts and stripping enamel and a hot air gun that I never use. Ordinary lead solder, lead-free silver solder and Cardas silver loaded lead solder all find a place in my arsenal. The Soldrons are fine but are readily killed by power surges and brownouts, good thing is they're cheap to throw away and replace. Always have a backup unit in place.

Thanks. What is TH?

So a heat stressed component will still appear to work with a good solder joint (but overdone on the heat application part) , but the neurotic audiophile will "hear" how the SQ is affected negatively ... ?

Cheers

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I bought a soldering iron in Singapore, recently. I have never done much electrical soldering, and I am not very good at it --- although I can do fine jewellery work at red heat with a blow torch! I take my hat off to those who can do good, neat, electrical work, especially on circuit boards.

I also bought some cable and plugs, and was mentioning my poor history with such soldering (eg plastic part starts to melt before solder flows) to the cable-shop guy in Sim Lim Square. He said that the secret is to avoid low-power irons; a high-power iron gets the heat to the spot where you need it before it has spread all over. I think this advice agrees with what cranky just said.

Oh! Now I can't find where I put that iron --- but I think it was 60 watt. Definitely Chinese though.

 

[kaushik]

bansal98,
soldron although highly popular somewhat reliable is not better than goot 350Rs iron , this one comes with Al tip which is corroson free, needs less cleaning lasts long. The heater is very good too .

even old fashioned Tony 10W was better than this that i bought at 30Rs.

soldron has many fakes .... u can PM me to join in sproad i can spot the fakes .
The original soldron i have , this one got loose a little at the handle part and tip gets dirty fast, even i changed with soldron AL tip same problem, I use a AMTECH flux and WBT silver solder (these are not reasons for the deposits on the tip ).

 

[bansal98]

bansal98,
soldron although highly popular somewhat reliable is not better than goot 350Rs iron , this one comes with Al tip which is corroson free, needs less cleaning lasts long. The heater is very good too .

even old fashioned Tony 10W was better than this that i bought at 30Rs.

soldron has many fakes .... u can PM me to join in sproad i can spot the fakes .
The original soldron i have , this one got loose a little at the handle part and tip gets dirty fast, even i changed with soldron AL tip same problem, I use a AMTECH flux and WBT silver solder (these are not reasons for the deposits on the tip ).

Thanks Kaushik. I'll be buying Goot one then. Can you please tell me which one to buy from this page?

Goot Japan ? Lynx - The Audio , Electronics & Computer Online Superstore In India

If it's not available here, can I buy it from SP road?

 

[kaushik]

grab goot from dashan at sp road , 30w i think

what chip u have in your dac , is it smd ? then u need fine tip soldering iron like the ones mobile technicians use.

 

[vdbhatt]

hello,
this is my first post to all the protons revolving around the elcetron(ix) !!