New Soldering Station

Rocketmaniac

I just received my new soldering station. It’s a Velleman VTSSC40N. My old soldering iron just wasn’ cutting it. It was only 25 watts and I had messed up the tip long time ago. I plan to use the new station to solder small PCBs and Basic Stamp projects.

So, now with this new station, I’d like to setup it up right (pre-tinning?) and take care of it for the long term. What recommendations do people have for getting started? I am planning on buying a tip cleaner soon, but in the mean time would an old wet sponge be ok? Or should I just wait to get started until I have the tip clearner? To clean up parts before & after soldering, is alcohol or acetone better? Or something else?

And once I start soldering, what temps are recommended? My new soldering station is digital and is suppost to be fairly accurate in temperature.

Thanks in advance,

Randy

Franklin

A damp sponge/paper towel will work just fine. Depending on the tip cleaner you bought it may be more efficient but for hobby soldering it probably will not make much difference. Temperature will depend on the wattage of the iron size of the tip, solder you are using and size of the junction you are trying to create. Use the lowest temperature you can to make your joints easily. I tend to load the tip with solder before turning it off and remove the excess after the iron heats up the next time.

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- Stephen

Rocketmaniac

For an update;

The new soldering station I've got is a 48 Watt station.

The tip cleaner I am getting is this http://apogeekits.com/solder_tip_cleaner.htm

I did get a couple of extra tips in case I totally mess it up while I am learning how to use my new station. Here's the specs on my station;

http://apogeekits.com/soldering_station_digital.htm



Randy

Franklin said...
A damp sponge/paper towel will work just fine. Depending on the tip cleaner you bought it may be more efficient but for hobby soldering it probably will not make much difference. Temperature will depend on the wattage of the iron size of the tip, solder you are using and size of the junction you are trying to create. Use the lowest temperature you can to make your joints easily. I tend to load the tip with solder before turning it off and remove the excess after the iron heats up the next time.

Paul Baker

Try to use de-ionized water for moistening the sponge, if you can't get your hands on it, use distilled water. This prevents build up of minerals from the water. Use the brass scrubbing pad after every use of the iron. When the tip gets dirty quickly, scrub it with the brass-pad, then use a tinning pot to resurface it (some people prefer to replace the tip at this point). Lastly if you are just soldering for yourself (and you live in the US), consider lead based solder. Lead based solder melts at a lower temperature (which reduces the oxidation of the tip) and the flux in the solder is less caustic. My personal experience is tips last 5-10x longer when using lead based solder over RoHS solder. I personally use low temp solder when I can (lead based solder that has ~7% Bismuth, which reduces the solder temperature even lower), this protects sensitive components and extends the life of the soldering tip even longer.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Post Edited (Paul Baker (Parallax)) : 10/21/2008 6:28:37 PM GMT