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Soldering irons and solder recommendations in UK?

M

markp

Hi All,

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.

Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is
available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded
solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?

Thanks!

Mark.
 
N

Nico Coesel

markp said:
Hi All,

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.
Click to expand...

Farnell carries most of Ersa stuff. I use tips 832SD for regular
soldering work and 832PW (hollow point) for TQFP.
 
N

Nemo

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.

Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is
available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded
solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?
Click to expand...

I'm in the UK and I've been using lead free solder for fine SMT work
(hand assembled prototypes) for a few years.

Leaded solder - works well on everything, good for prototypes, but not
really usable any more for commercial products. For example most
professional assemblers refuse to use it in case it contaminates the
soldering machines; if customers who require lead-free detect lead
(which is relatively easy) they will be most annoyed. I keep some leaded
solder around for difficult-to-solder prototypes but try hard to avoid
using it.

Lead-free - I settled on silver loaded stuff a couple of years ago as it
had the lowest melting point of all ROHS compliant types. However as
I've moved to finer pitches I am not happy with it; compared to leaded
solder it sticks into large snot-like lumps. I suspect my soldering iron
is not hot enough despite the tip being allegedly calibrated by the
manufacturer - lead free solder melts at about 40C above leaded (which
can damage some more sensitive items like the metallisation on ceramic
substrates). Also I often have problems wetting joints. I posted some
queries here recently about fluxes / cleaning boards and discovered that
I probably need to use an active flux instead of the eco-friendly "water
soluble" ones I've been using: the halide-activated (acidic) flux burns
through oxidation on component legs and permits the solder to wet the
joint properly. The downside of acidic flux residues is they need to be
washed off properly, eg vigourously with acetone, to stop long term
corrosion of components; and I suspect the fumes from them are a tad
more choking than from water-soluble fluxes.

So I ordered some new bits and solders to experiment with the other day.
I can't recall the brand of soldering iron I use right now. If you email
me at paul.el - stitch these bits together - ectronics "at" furfur
-demon [co] uk, I'll probably have firm data about "what seems to work",
with Farnell part numbers, which I can summarise back to you within a
week or so.
 
M

markp

Hi All,
Farnell carries most of Ersa stuff. I use tips 832SD for regular
soldering work and 832PW (hollow point) for TQFP.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

Thanks, that looks quite a nice range.
It looks like the two tips you mentioned are not stocked though. Do you know
their tip dimensions?

Mark.
 
M

markp

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.

Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is
available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded
solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?
Click to expand...

I'm in the UK and I've been using lead free solder for fine SMT work (hand
assembled prototypes) for a few years.

Leaded solder - works well on everything, good for prototypes, but not
really usable any more for commercial products. For example most
professional assemblers refuse to use it in case it contaminates the
soldering machines; if customers who require lead-free detect lead (which
is relatively easy) they will be most annoyed. I keep some leaded solder
around for difficult-to-solder prototypes but try hard to avoid using it.

Lead-free - I settled on silver loaded stuff a couple of years ago as it
had the lowest melting point of all ROHS compliant types. However as I've
moved to finer pitches I am not happy with it; compared to leaded solder
it sticks into large snot-like lumps. I suspect my soldering iron is not
hot enough despite the tip being allegedly calibrated by the
manufacturer - lead free solder melts at about 40C above leaded (which can
damage some more sensitive items like the metallisation on ceramic
substrates). Also I often have problems wetting joints. I posted some
queries here recently about fluxes / cleaning boards and discovered that I
probably need to use an active flux instead of the eco-friendly "water
soluble" ones I've been using: the halide-activated (acidic) flux burns
through oxidation on component legs and permits the solder to wet the
joint properly. The downside of acidic flux residues is they need to be
washed off properly, eg vigourously with acetone, to stop long term
corrosion of components; and I suspect the fumes from them are a tad more
choking than from water-soluble fluxes.

So I ordered some new bits and solders to experiment with the other day. I
can't recall the brand of soldering iron I use right now. If you email me
at paul.el - stitch these bits together - ectronics "at" furfur -demon
[co] uk, I'll probably have firm data about "what seems to work", with
Farnell part numbers, which I can summarise back to you within a week or
so.
Click to expand...

Cheers Nemo, email sent.
 
J

Joerg

markp said:
Hi All,

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.

Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is
available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded
solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?
Click to expand...

I've always used Weller irons, in Europe as well as in the US. All you
really need is an analog station with a lone temp control knob. WECP-20
was the older generation and the new one is called WES51. Both very
good. Currently under $100 in the US but I don't know EU pricing.

For SMT I use a needle-point style tip called ETS. However, we are
nearly free from this <expletive deleted> RoHs nonsense over here so I
can't say much about RoHS soldering other than that I've wrecked ETS
tips doing it. But that was from boards with unknown types of lead-free
solder from clients. So it's best to keep a stash of tips on hand, they
are under $5 a piece.

Stay away from fancy digital stations, I've seen them die like flies,
got a dead one here (for scrap, in case I cinge or break the enclosure
of my analog ones etc.)
 
F

Frank Buss

Joerg said:
Stay away from fancy digital stations, I've seen them die like flies,
got a dead one here (for scrap, in case I cinge or break the enclosure
of my analog ones etc.)
Click to expand...

One exception is the Ersa i-CON. Very good soldering station and no
problems for years for a client in their service workshop (they have some
of the big ones with desoldering tools, but I'm happy with the i-CON1 at
home).
 
K

krw

I've always used Weller irons, in Europe as well as in the US. All you
really need is an analog station with a lone temp control knob. WECP-20
was the older generation and the new one is called WES51. Both very
good. Currently under $100 in the US but I don't know EU pricing.
Click to expand...

I use what's on the bench. ...often after some mumbling.
For SMT I use a needle-point style tip called ETS. However, we are
nearly free from this <expletive deleted> RoHs nonsense over here so I
can't say much about RoHS soldering other than that I've wrecked ETS
tips doing it. But that was from boards with unknown types of lead-free
solder from clients. So it's best to keep a stash of tips on hand, they
are under $5 a piece.
Click to expand...

Our stuff is all RoHS, so I have others do the soldering on production
stuff. I'll still work on prototypes but screw RoHS soldering. A
good connection looks worse than the worst cold solder joint.
Stay away from fancy digital stations, I've seen them die like flies,
got a dead one here (for scrap, in case I cinge or break the enclosure
of my analog ones etc.)
Click to expand...

Your designs go "*phut*", why wouldn't we expect the same from your
tools? ;-)
 
J

Joerg

Frank said:
One exception is the Ersa i-CON. Very good soldering station and no
problems for years for a client in their service workshop (they have some
of the big ones with desoldering tools, but I'm happy with the i-CON1 at
home).
Click to expand...

Ersa is a good brand but we can't really buy it over here. So I got a
150W Ersa from Germany for heavy duty stuff and run it from the 230V
line in the lab. It is possible to design a good digital station but
IMHO Weller clearly didn't succeed with that back in the 90's. Inside of
mine are alumina hybrids so I guess they had stuff that ran rather hot.
Maybe too hot. It worked for a few minutes, then the LED display went
blinky-blink. A technician at a client told me they lost most of their
digital Wellers with the same fault pattern. It would still regulate,
you just didn't know what temperature. I prefer the analog ones, mankind
doesn't really need more than some temperature labeling around the
control knob.

It's like the fuel gauges in fancy cars that show gas mileage, how many
miles left in the tank and lots of stuff that a driver really doesn't
need. Then on a really cold day ... nada ... zilch ... LCD almost
invisible. If it's not your car and you don't know how much fuel is
inside you'd be driving to the next gas station with white knuckles,
only to be embarrassed when the pump shuts off right away because the
tank was full. There I prefer a simple analog gauge with liters or
gallons on it.
 
J

Joerg

krw said:
I use what's on the bench. ...often after some mumbling.
Click to expand...

So do I but there have been cases where I brought in my Weller. A couple
of recent clients then ordered some for themselves right afterwards.

Our stuff is all RoHS, so I have others do the soldering on production
stuff. I'll still work on prototypes but screw RoHS soldering. A
good connection looks worse than the worst cold solder joint.
Click to expand...

I had the "pleasure" to resolder a complete RoHS VME extender board with
leaded solder, all pins. There was a real "solder stench" in their lab
when done but now it worked.

Your designs go "*phut*", why wouldn't we expect the same from your
tools? ;-)
Click to expand...


Nope, I get other folks' stuff to re-design so it doesn't go *phut*
anymore :)
 
N

Nico Coesel

Joerg said:
I've always used Weller irons, in Europe as well as in the US. All you
really need is an analog station with a lone temp control knob. WECP-20
was the older generation and the new one is called WES51. Both very
good. Currently under $100 in the US but I don't know EU pricing.

For SMT I use a needle-point style tip called ETS. However, we are
nearly free from this <expletive deleted> RoHs nonsense over here so I
can't say much about RoHS soldering other than that I've wrecked ETS
tips doing it. But that was from boards with unknown types of lead-free
solder from clients. So it's best to keep a stash of tips on hand, they
are under $5 a piece.
Click to expand...

Thats the problem with Weller: they make money on their soldering
tips. Their needle pin tips are the worst. I always considered them
one-time-use only (this is before the whole lead-free thing). Needle
pin tips are hard to use anyway because they can't transfer enough
heat to the solder joint.
 
J

Joerg

Nico said:
Thats the problem with Weller: they make money on their soldering
tips. Their needle pin tips are the worst. I always considered them
one-time-use only (this is before the whole lead-free thing). Needle
pin tips are hard to use anyway because they can't transfer enough
heat to the solder joint.
Click to expand...

Mine always last forever until that one day where I have to tackle a
lead-free board from a client. If you have to lift and resolder
individual pins on a TSSOP they are really great.
 
M

markp

markp said:
Hi All,

I'm a consultant designer here in the UK and build my own prototypes. I'm
looking for a decent soldering iron (maybe Pace or Weller or clone) that
have a range of bits suitable for SMD down to 0.5mm TQFP and also for
through hole components. I don't want to spend too much.

Anyone have any recommendations and where I can get one form? It should be
temperature controlled and I should be able to easily purchase inexpensive
bits.

Also, any recommendations for solder that gives easy solderability and is
available in thin gauge? Lead free would be best, anyone use silver loaded
solder and is it better for fine pitch soldering?

Thanks!

Mark.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all who replied. I'm seriously looking at the Ersa range, but the
key I think is finding a decent set of tips with a decent low temperture
ROHS complient solder. I'll update this when I've decided on something!

Mark.
 
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