Hi Paul, I have an Aoyue 937+ digital solder station. I bought it from SRA for around $50. It's a great value compared to the Weller units. It's also ESD protected. I'll use the same anti-static mat I used to assemble my K3 when it's time to perform the mods.
Anyway, I just ordered Kester 285 RMA 1# spools in .020 and .031 sizes from Mouser. Should be here in a few days. Thanks to all. 73 de James K2QI On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 11:04 AM, Paul Christensen <[email protected]> wrote: > > Anyway, I'm about to nervously perform the VFO noise mod and jumper mod > to > > my K3. I'm not looking forward to it. I have soldered other things > > together like the repair work on my SB-220, but I've never been happy > with > > the quality of my solder. > > Practicing on a scrap PC board with "vias" may instill some confidence in > the job. Ensure that the work area is well-lighted, and you're using a > solder station of reasonably good quality. Depending on your degree of > risk > aversion, you may also want to consider the use of an anti-static mat. If > the budget allows, purchase one with an adjustable, temperature-controlled > tip. Either a conical or very narrow chiseled tip will work well. Be > mindful of the tip temperature and clean the tip often on the wetted > sponge. > For wicking and extraction purposes, I generally set the tip temperature > between 750-800 degrees F -- and 700 degrees F for general soldering. For > use with 2% silver bearing solder, I inch the tip temperature up just a > bit. > > When you're ready to proceed, you may find that one or more vias as > described in the Application Notes may be filled with solder. I first > attempted to wick the solder by adding slightly more solder onto the via -- > and also tried using a Soldapult. However, the diameter of the via is > quite > small -- nearly the exact diameter of the component lead. Rather than risk > PCB damage, I pre-cut the component lengths, added a slight amount of > solder > to the via, then gently inserted the component's lead into the via while > keeping it hot with the soldering tip. That worked very well, although I'm > sure others will have suggestions for clearing out a via without the need > for an expensive re-work station. > > Moving on to the "K3 Extreme Signal Rx Protection Mod," I used #26 Kynar > (i.e., wire wrap) wire between the via and component pad. A hot glue gun > was then used to dab glue at the wire bend locations as shown in the > Application Note photos. This makes for an easy, fast and > professional-looking way of securing the wire onto the PCB. > > Paul, W9AC > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > -- 73 de James K2QI ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
