11 Sep
2011
11 Sep
'11
4:47 p.m.
On 11 Sep 2011 at 22:52, Rob Jarratt wrote:
I have a Weller 40W iron, not temperature controlled.
What I don't
understand is why this makes life difficult, if it melts the solder
what makes it hard to use? The only thing I can think of is damage to
the board and/or components if the temperature is too high. Is there
something else about a non-temperature controlled iron that makes
things hard?
Could you cook with a gas cooker (kitchen range) whose knobs had only
a full-on setting? I suppose so, but it wouldn't be much fun and
would take a considerable amount of skill and a lot of ruined food in
the learning process. On the other hand, a TC iron is sensitive to
its surroundings, dumping more heat into a joint that requires it,
but otherwise throttling down.
Sometimes my TC Weller doesn't have the heat to handle soldered-on
TO220 packages or sheet-metal shields. When that happens, I reach
for my trusty old Ungar 40W iron and attempt to augment the heat of
the Weller TCP. Somtimes it works.
But even that may not be enough. What do you use when soldering
cable shield braid to the shell of a D-sub connector? I use my
trusty Weller D550 soldering gun. The right tool for the job.
--Chuck