Soldering and other skills (was Re: QL-Quality (Was: ZX-81 Question)) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

30 Mar 2002

On March 30, Tony Duell wrote:
...
   All that
person needs to do is get a soldering iron, solder, some bits  
 Do uorself a favour and buy a good temperature-controlled soldering 
 station. It will make life a lot easier and do less damage. I am used to 
 a Weller TCP iron (this is a very common one, at least in the UK). A few 
 years back I attempted to use a friend's cheap non-controller iron, and I 
 found I simply couldn't work on multi-layer PCBs with it. I went back to 
 the lab where I was emplyed at the time to borrow a Weller TCP to do the 
 repair... 
  I strongly second this!  A cheap crap soldering iron (like the $7
specials that I used to by at Radio Shack when I was a kid) will
produce crap results for pretty much ANY person regardless of skill or
experience.  I used a Weller TCP like Tony's for many years; it was
wonderful in every way.  About 6-8 months ago I picked up a Metcal
iron (an SP-PW1-10), which is even a huge step above said venerable
Weller TCP...I recommend them very highly.  Try one and you'll
understand what I mean. :-)

  It really doesn't pay to use cheap soldering irons.  You'll save a few
bucks, but it'll cost you parts, boards, fingers, and the fun of
soldering!

       -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire                    "...it's leaving me this unpleasant,
St. Petersburg, FL                 damp feeling on my shorts..." -Sridhar