Robert, From the description of the tools you have been using I wouldn't even guess you are a "beginner" at soldering. You've made all the right choices and have spent some time learning the vast range of devices that will confront you. The .05 chisel tip is a good choice, especially for the Elecraft devices. It is helpful to make sure the tip has been been wiped clean on the sponge to get good contact with the surface. But, it is also important that tip have a small amount of solder freshly applied to the tip to enhance wetting contact and to improve the thermal transfer to the pad/wire. Not too much, not too little solder to wet the tip. A common error is to use a sponge that is too wet and to bury the tip in it. This chills the tip and may delay the readiness to solder. The three seconds is a pretty vague figure - I rather rely on the time it takes to cause the solder 'break and flow' causing the solder to wet the metal surfaces. Since the tip may not cause the solder to flow immediately, it is also likely there is not a lot of heat going into the component that would cause damage. If you can't get the solder to flow in a reasonable time 4 - 6 seconds or so, you may not have ggod contact and might need to apply a little more pressure while gently moving the tip around in a scrubbing motion. That has always worked for me. It helps to have a flat side of the chisel tip against the pad to increase the contact area with the surface. Working off the end of a fine tip, like you are writing with a pencil, may not provide for good heat transfer. One last thing - to get solder to flow to a surface and alloy, it must be hot, so make sure you have contact with the pad and the wire to get things moving right. Avoid movement that will fracture the semi-solid solder yielding what is sometimes called a "cold" solder joint. The have a dull granular appearance. A well done solder joint will reveal the features of the wire and the pad (not excess solder) and will have a bright shiny appearance. Commmon rubbing alcohol can be used to clean the solder of flux residue if you need to do a close inspection, otherwise I wouldn't do it. It's often needed after doing a remove and replace repair, becaus eof the buildup of flux. A cotton q-tip can be used for a small job, but you'll get cotton fibres that need to be picked off. A better choice is a small swatch of cotton fabric, like a piece of old t-shirt. You can also use that to dry off excess. Avoid synthetic materials, they are good static generators and can cause ESD damage. My choice is a natural bristle brush. You can use an "acid-brush" with pure bristle or boar bristle, but not plastic. They are usually about a 1/2 inch of bristle, but I trim mine to less than 1/4 inch to give it a little scrubbing strength. These can usually be found in auto parts and tool stores. Also, you can sometimes find detail brushes or artists brushes that have stiff bristles - they just cost a little more.
Remeber this is mainly for the fine work. If you get into 12 gauge wire and 1/4 inch terminals you'll need the 40 watt or larger iron with a 3/16 - 1/4 tip or the old trusty "gun". Hope that helps. 73 de WA6VNN Al ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
