Home Soldering

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Home Soldering
Georgia Institute of Technology
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Materials - Soldering Irons Conventional

• Temperature Controlled
• More expensive but not unaffordable
• Power controlled
• Watt rating
• 15W about right for small electronics even a
  bit hot in some cases
• Some are switchable
• Battery Powered
• Allegedly about 15W effectively
• Portable, no cord, light
• Heat conductive tip lowers risk of burns

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Materials Soldering Irons (cont.)

• Cold Heat
• Activated when low resistance on the tip
• Very heat conductive material on the tip runs
  small current until connection, then higher
  current
• Electrical resistance of solder and tip causes
  heat
• Different technique
• Battery powered
• Only hot when soldering or immediately after
• Not good for desoldering
• Fragile

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Materials Solder Kinds of Solder

• Cores
• Flux
• Improves flow
• Prevents Corrosion
• Can form salt no clean
• Types
• Acid
• Metalworking
• Can have poisonous vapors
• Rosin
• Common
• Electronics
• Water-Soluble
• Environmentally responsible
• Can be corrosive
• Removal
• More active, more salt
• Easier to remove
• Flux-free

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Kinds of Solder (cont.)

• Lead
• Slower solidifying
• Lowers melting temperature
• Reliability
• Poisonous
• RoHS
• Size
• Chemical ratio
• Unspecified and 60/40 or 63/37 -gt likely tin /
  lead
• Otherwise, typically not specified or materials
  namedbecause many other combinations exist

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Materials Accessories

• Grips
• Soldering involves attaching two metal parts
  together so there will always be 4 parts
  involved
• Object A
• Object B
• Solder
• Soldering iron
• Solution stabilize at least 2 of them (or 3?)
• Pliers
• Chip Clips
• Vice Grip
• Helping Hands

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Accessories (cont.)

• Surface
• Sponge
• Mousepad
• Heat Sink / Clip
• Stands
• Extension cord (!)
• Note low wattage
• Tips
• Size/Shape
• Wattage
• Connection

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Concepts

• Tinning the iron
• When first using the iron or when coating is
  wearing off
• Protects the tip from corrosion
• Better heat flow
• Too Much Heat
• Melt the solder
• May need to prepare surfaces
• Result not as solid, but often good enough
• Accessories
• Tips
• Lower Power
• Electrostatic discharge
• Everyone seen anti-static bags? Static
  electronics bad
• Try to avoid generating it (no wool socks, etc)
• Anti-static wrist straps
• Dont touch the iron!
• Many irons are already grounded

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You can do it!

• The end