17 Mar
2003
17 Mar
'03
10:54 a.m.
There is only one TRUE soldering iron. If you're serious about soldering
and surface mount, you want a Metcal. Don't get the SP-200 series, they're
junk. Used Metcals can be had on eBay. Avoid the RFG-30 bases, those are
antiques (and not in a good way). The MX 500-DS is ideal, as you can use
the 2nd port for either another wand, or the Talon tweezers.
The tips are cartridge style tips, and hold temperature regulation far
better than a Weller or Hakko (I've used *lots* of different irons in
product environments. Don't tell me how much you love your Weller or Hakko
until you use a Metcal. Once you've had, you'd just as soon use a wood
burner as go back). There are well over 100 different tip styles available,
including specialty tips for removing QFP, SOICs, PLCCs, etc.
The Talon tweezers are really nice for removing SMT resistors, caps, and
with the right tips, SOICs are easily removed.
--John
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-admin(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-admin@classiccmp.org]On
Behalf Of Tony Duell
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 18:49
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: SWTPC TV Typewriter II restoration
Michael Holley wrote:
[snip]
it's high time for
Here are some links to my CT-1024 TV Typewriter
II pages.
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/CT_1024/CT1024_Index.htm
http://www.swtpc.com/mholley/CT_1024/Restore/CT1024_Restore.htm
Wow. I'm
speechless. That is one amazing repair. I think me to smash my piggy-bank, raid my bank account
and buy a
nice soldering
station :-)
Well, I should probably upgrade myself (I still use an old
Weller TCP,
which has a not particularly accurate thermostat), but I can
assure you
that even that is a lot nicer than most 'hobbyist grade' irons.
To the extent that on the few occasions that I've tried to
use a cheap,
totally non-thermonstatically-controller iron recently (to save going
back to get my Weller), I've had to give up and go and get said unit.
I've just come to the conclusion that my
Antex XS is far
too overpowered for
You probably mean _UNDERPOWERED_ !
Power is not the same as temperature. For example, my Weller
is actually
a 45W unit, which sounds rediculously high (after all, many books
recomend a 15W iron for PCB work). The problem with too high
a power in a
non-controlled iron is that it gets too hot. The problem with
too little
power (in any type of iron) is that it takes too long to heat
the joint
up, thus getting the rest of the PCB and components hot,
causing damage.
Try soldering (or worse, desoldering) an IC pin connected to
an internal
ground plane on a multi-layer PCB and you'll see what I mean
-tony