Hi Metcal’s are great soldering setups. They also are *expensive* soldering setups. I mumble and grumble each time I do a re-stock on tips. I know of several plants that tooled up on Metcal’s and then switched to something else after a few years. The issue was never performance. It always was cost.
Bob > On Apr 25, 2020, at 8:38 PM, Bill Notfaded <notfad...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I totally agree with the Metcal soldering station!!! I'll never go back to > anything else. I don't even use a scope. I bought some magnifying glasses > with 5 sets of different power lenses you wear like glasses. It has built > in led light and adjustable strap that hold it on your head off Amazon. > Works great. I can do all small surface mount stuff with them. Plus I > have my normal vision and hand eye coordination going that way. Soldering > under a scope or on a video monitor is a lesson all in itself! > > Bill > > On Sat, Apr 25, 2020, 6:15 AM Gerhard Hoffmann <g...@hoffmann-hochfrequenz.de> > wrote: > >> >> Am 25.04.20 um 13:41 schrieb John Ackermann: >>> I do have a microscope (cheap Chinese unit, maybe $400 with articulated >> arm and the works) and it does make things much easier. But as long as you >> can see the work, you can do the job. >>> >>> It's not that hard to do small pitch parts. I usually do the best I can >> soldering individual pins, knowing their will be bridges, then clean up >> with solder wick and *lots* of no-clean flux. You can never have too much >> flux. I've found a 1.6 mm chisel tip is a good all around size for SMD >> work, though I have a 0.8 mm chisel available for when things get tight. >>> >>> The hardest part is getting the first couple of pins tacked down so the >> part is square on the pads. After that it's fast. >>> >>> John >> >> I have about the same here, plus a cheap Chinese Ayoue852 hot air >> station. Exchanging the Weller for a Metcal was the biggest improvement >> after the LED ringlight for the microscope. >> >> In my quest to scrutinize the 1/f region, I have built some chopper >> amplifiers and the newest one will have GaN transistors that are nekkid >> chips with jut 4 tin bumps below. No case, just the passivated chip, 1 * >> 1 mm, EPC2038. Low channel resistance, even lower capacitance -> low >> charge injection. Resistors are 0603. >> >> Fearing I could not handle them, I made a minimum version of the switch >> itself as a test structure in an unoccupied corner of a different >> project. But soldering did take just 3 minutes, it was surprisingly >> easy. Just keep the air flow low enough, or you will have trouble to >> find the chips again. The thick-liquid flux helps to fix the chips in >> place. >> >> Legible part numbers on the board are hopeless at this scale. The board >> was made by PCBway, there were some discussions about having solder mask >> ON part of the pads, and some discussions with our German customs that >> you cannot buy 10 boards for $10 or so. >> >> The chips are the gray squares between the 2 vias on the left and the 4 >> huge coupling capacitors. >> >> Cheers, Gerhard >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com >> To unsubscribe, go to >> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com >> and follow the instructions there. >> > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com > To unsubscribe, go to > http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com > and follow the instructions there. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@lists.febo.com To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.