iron not good enough?

[pentium]

I started re capping my K7KX-A today and came upon a rather big problem.
I am using a radio shack wand-type soldering iron that uses 35 Watts.

The negative solder connections melt no problem but the positive connections don't melt or just barely melt. The board warms up too.
I am guessing that there is a plate that is absorbing the heat, right?
How can i fix this?

[davmax]

Re: iron not good enough?

Did you read through the procedure? At https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=485The iron should be 40Watts min at 450C or about 800F. That is HOT. You need a temp controlled iron so that as the heat is extracted it is replaced rapidly, thus keeping up the heat input. Typical low cost temp controlled would be a Weller, where you change the soldering tip. The tips control to a defined temp.

Hope this helps.

[Rainbow]

Re: iron not good enough?

Try adding a bit of solder when heating up.

[willawake]

Re: iron not good enough?

if you are adding solder and still having very long heating, be careful you may damage the board. best to get a better iron.

[pentium]

Re: iron not good enough?

oh dear, i must of missed the wattages.
Luckily I Knew not to keep the iron on too long and I mignt of spared the board. I own those old wellers that looked like a gun...but that is waaay too powerful and will destroy the board. I know someone however who does have a much better (and expensive) soldering iron. I can go see him on wednesday and try his iron. On another note, I have noticed that my iron tip is in pretty sad shape and the steel shroud around the coil gets much hotter than the tip. I might need a new iron all together.

[kc8adu]

Re: iron not good enough?

imho 40w is absolute bare minimum.
i have a 50w temp controlled station that sometimes needs the board preheated a bit with a heatgun to do the really stubborn ones.
i have an old 75w i added a ground to just to have "heavy artillary"
file that tip to a usable shape,tin it,and try again.

[willawake]

Re: iron not good enough?

my 60w ersa station only works well with the standard chisel tip, none of the fine tips were getting hot enough. its nice also to have good wattage for general usage if you are using the iron also to do household electrical or making stereo cables etc.

still its not neccessary to get an expensive station for a few boards, just a corded iron with good wattage. a stand with sponge cleaner is pretty essential though i think, necessary to keep the iron clean for a good job.

[Rainbow]

Re: iron not good enough?

I wonder why my 25W iron works

[willawake]

Re: iron not good enough?

what brand is it? must be a very efficient design

[pentium]

Re: iron not good enough?

I wonder why my 25W iron works

That must have been what mislead me. Some one else mentioned the same thing about using an insanely low wattage with no problems.

[willawake]

Re: iron not good enough?

i have modified the FAQ to be a more in depth explanation, although it was clear previously.

[willawake]

Re: iron not good enough?

lol its your birthday dude? have a good one

[kc8adu]

Re: iron not good enough?

I wonder why my 25W iron works

likely has lots of mass to the tip/heater assy.short and thick tips hold and transfer heat well.

[pentium]

Re: iron not good enough?

I will just try to sweet talk my friend into letting me use his.

[linuxguru]

Re: iron not good enough?

You can barely manage with a 35W, if you add a bit of 63:37 low-melting solder. It will still give problems on large power planes.