I upgraded to the Hakko FX-951 a couple years ago because I needed a
more reliable solder iron for the sm production I was
doing. Probably 60-70% of my work was doing sm vs thru-hole
soldering. I bought several different sized tips for handling
different work. I've found 670F degrees works well and I use the
"sleep" feature of the Hakko which automatically lowers temp to 400F
after a short period of no use which extends life of the tips. The
iron warms back to 670F in about 3-4 seconds which is announced by an
audible beep so you do not need to look away from your work.
In 2015 I built eleven transverters, five mmic preamps, and seven 2m
amplifiers; another five amplifiers in 2016. All this was for
customers so does not reflect working on my personal "stuff".
Tips:
T15-D08 is what I use most of the time as its 0.8 mm small chisel tip
works well with sm down to 0402
T15-D12 was my original choice 1.2 mm chisel but found it too large
for smaller sm (OK above 0805); I also use this for thru-hole or
where the thermal mass is a bit more.
T15-DL52 is a big tip (about 1/4-inch chisel) for soldering PL-259's
and sheet metal shields, large leads on power transistors, etc. that
require a lot of heat transfer that you want done quickly to avoid
overheating component.
T15-ILS conical tip has not gotten much use but handy for desoldering
pcb holes with use of solder sucker on back side of the board.
I just installed a 44-pin header and socket on a pcb (thru hole) and
each lead took about 1-2 seconds (leads .025 inch square so little
mass). Took me less than 10-min. to install the header and sockets
in their respective pcb.
I particularly like the wire tip cleaner vs wet sponge method of old
Weller irons as it does not cool the tip. Also very handy to clean
the tip before making every contact.
I have replaced the T15-D08 tip once since buying the iron (shows how
much work I am doing). Tip actually failed.
I still have a 20-year old Weller that I keep in the garage for
convenience soldering, and I use it for desoldering sm chips where
use of two irons works better at preserving the component. At 700F
it runs too hot for sm and too cold for big work. OK for occasional
wire connection but mostly gathers dust.
Ditto on having a good set of hand tools and illuminated optical
enlarger. High light level required to do good work.
73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
"Kits made by KL7UW"
Dubus Mag business:
[email protected]
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