G+_Erik Ellsinger Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Gone buy a new soldering iron before my first real quad build and saw that they sell a 25W and a 40W version, I'm guess the 25W will be enough? Or should I get the 40W? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Peter Q. Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Yes 25 watts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 If you are going to be doing 12 gauge and heavier, get the 40W. (temp control is a nice plus.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Erik Ellsinger Posted May 8, 2015 Author Share Posted May 8, 2015 Ok, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Phillips Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 If money is no problem then go variable, Or look at getting two different wattage irons, (cheaper option) It all depends what you want to do, I would just get the 25Watt and see how you go, you may find it's all you really need! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I do LOVE my Weller P2C butane iron. I have two. Use one for soldering and the other as a heat gun for heat shrinking. (an open flame is janky) They work nice on PL 239s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Phillips Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 For delicate work like on pcb's i would prefer 25w every time, As you can be over heating the components too much and shortening their life with a higher wattage iron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Phillips Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Yeah i hear ya, but just remember that not everyone is a power user. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 Higher wattage shouldn't hurt PCBs. You might be confusing watt and temp. Think of it as watts is how fast you can heat something up; temp is how hot its going to get. (But yes, for most PCB work 25watts is quite ample.) Higher wattage can actually be a plus. If you need to stay on more then a few seconds to get the solder to melt/flow, you need more watts. You are heating up everything, and the heat is moving via capillary action. (copper is a FANTASTIC conductor of heat (only surpassed by silver then diamond) High heat fro short bursts is better then lower for longer. (one of the reason for TIG welding, very how concentrated heat) Read a datasheet. They will stated the max soldering times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_David Riley Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 I have a 30W and a 60W iron. I prefer the 30W one as the 60w one get's solder hot too fast. I don't agree with Bryan about spending heaps on a soldering iron.... you may only use it a few times. Get a $15 one with a nice tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Charlie Nancarrow Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I have several irons I bought over the years. Several crappy 25w irons, a 60watt monster and a 80W Soldering Station. By far the best money I have ever spent was on the Soldering station. You will get much better joints and much lower frustration using a temperature controllable, quick heat recovering Soldering Station. By allowing you to set the temperature, you can help ensure you are not cooking components. By learning the correct temperatures for different tasks, this will also help. Many people set their irons too high. 260C to 280C is the ideal temp for leaded solder (60/40). If your iron is not melting the solder correctly, then it is losing heat and not recovering quickly enough. Whilst turning up the temp might overcome this, you run the risk of the following — Damaging components Oxidising and damaging the iron tip Melting insulation, masking on the PCB Lifting tracks on the PCB Burning off flux Causing the lead in the solder to Vaporise Oxidising the tracks, pretinned components etc All of which actually makes the soldering process harder. The flux is needed to do the wetting. The lead is needed to slow the solidfying process as it cools, so that a good joint is made. You also don't want to be inhaling Vapourised lead. You really don't. Having a damaged tip, stops it being correctly wetted. The flux overcomes some of the problems of oxidising, by helping clean the junction where you are soldering and acting as a wetting agent to allow the solder to flow. Boiling this off by using too high temperatures is the biggest cause of solder joints not working or solder not flowing. Some people just keeping boosting the temp of the iron, only making this worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Charlie Nancarrow Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 plus you usually get a better range of tips with a good soldering station, which is difficult on the cheaper irons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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