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Soldering iron

Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: DIY AUDIO
Forum Name: DIY Audio questions and answers
Forum Description: www.diy-audio-kits.com ... superb audio kits for experienced constructors
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5111
Printed Date: 29 Mar 2024 at 10:21am
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Topic: Soldering iron
Posted By: CageyH
Subject: Soldering iron
Date Posted: 21 Dec 2020 at 9:00am
I have just finished building myself a class AB power amplifier.
One thing I did realise was that a decent soldering iron may have been better than my adjustable 50W maplins iron.

What is a decent iron for non-professional use?

As posted elsewhere, I will be building a phono stage next, and then I may move on to a pre-amp.


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Kevin
European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France.



Replies:
Posted By: RichW
Date Posted: 21 Dec 2020 at 10:36am
A while ago I built a DAC kit & used a 90 Watt iron.
The design had internal ground planes & a low wattage iron struggled when soldering components
to it. The joint could be made very quickly with the high watt iron.
This might be irrelevant with your job.




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Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.


Posted By: gwebster
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2020 at 9:14am
Back in the day, one of the best irons around would have been a 30W Weller with the magnetic temperature control tips. These days a larger wattage iron with good electronic temperature control is your best bet. A couple of different size wedge or chisel tips are also handy.

My current iron is a 90W Ersa i-con Pico. It's great for through hole boards or SMT stuff.
I use a 3mm chisel tip for the SMT stuff and I've had no problems doing really small packages (TSSOP ones with 0.5mm pitch between pins). For larger stuff onto a ground plane, I'd change to a 5mm wedge tip.

If I was in the market for a new iron at present, I'd probably get a Haako FX888 70W iron.


Posted By: CageyH
Date Posted: 22 Dec 2020 at 11:00am
Thanks for the response.
I shall have a look at the model mentioned.


-------------
Kevin
European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France.



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