Questions on Soldering tips, tip tinner and Sal Ammoniac blocks...

[Wyluli Wolf]

I've decided to retire my cheap $15 soldering iron and purchase a Hakko FX888D iron. I use leaded solder as from what I have read it melts much easier and I don't want to fry circuitry while fidgeting with lead free solder. I'll just hope I don't inhale enough fumes to kill me

 

My question is regarding tip tinner. Almost every tip tinner I see is lead free. Can I still use this to clean the tip even though I use leaded solder? Or should the two not be mixed?

 

What about using a Sal ammoniac block instead?

 

Finally, if anyone has a Hakko FX888D what specific tip do you use for soldering circuitry like eproms?

 

Any other tips or advice are welcome as well.

 

Thanks!

 

[+Stephen Moss]

There is nothing wrong with unleaded solder, provided you get the correct flux it melts and flows just as well as leaded you just need a temperature of about 330C as opposed to 280-300C. So provided you are reasonably competent at soldering and thus only heating joints for a few seconds as opposed to 10 seconds or more your should not cause any damage to components or the PCB when using unleaded.

 

Generally it is recommended to use like with like, so leaded with leaded, unleaded with unleaded partly as like adheres better to like but also for cross contamination purposes when it comes to recycling, i.e. something constructed as lead free should not be repaired using solder or components containing lead but using unleaded solder/components to repair items constructed with lead solder/components is ok as it will be treaded as a leaded product.

Personally I have used unleaded solder to repair items make with solder and components containing lead and not found any problems and used my tip cleaner designed for unleaded tip with soldering iron that are used for soldering with leaded solder and they are still usable afterwards, but if you are in any doubt go for the Sal ammoniac instead, I have not used it myself so cannot attest as to its effectiveness but it does avoid and potential leaded/unleaded issues.

 

I do not have a Hakko, I use a Weller at work but with (I think) a 0.7mm conical tip (and 0.7mm solder), that works for me as a general purpose tip on both standard devices/components and small SO8 style surface mount IC and 1208 or large surface mount components, it gets a little large for smaller surface mount packages.

[+frankodragon]

I have a fan turned on while soldering but don't have the air blowing towards the area I'm soldering. I also use a steel scouring pad inside an old soup can to clean off the tip. Don't use those sponges to clean off tips.

 

 

[Wyluli Wolf]

There is nothing wrong with unleaded solder, provided you get the correct flux it melts and flows just as well as leaded you just need a temperature of about 330C as opposed to 280-300C. So provided you are reasonably competent at soldering and thus only heating joints for a few seconds as opposed to 10 seconds or more your should not cause any damage to components or the PCB when using unleaded.

 

Generally it is recommended to use like with like, so leaded with leaded, unleaded with unleaded partly as like adheres better to like but also for cross contamination purposes when it comes to recycling, i.e. something constructed as lead free should not be repaired using solder or components containing lead but using unleaded solder/components to repair items constructed with lead solder/components is ok as it will be treaded as a leaded product.

Personally I have used unleaded solder to repair items make with solder and components containing lead and not found any problems and used my tip cleaner designed for unleaded tip with soldering iron that are used for soldering with leaded solder and they are still usable afterwards, but if you are in any doubt go for the Sal ammoniac instead, I have not used it myself so cannot attest as to its effectiveness but it does avoid and potential leaded/unleaded issues.

 

I do not have a Hakko, I use a Weller at work but with (I think) a 0.7mm conical tip (and 0.7mm solder), that works for me as a general purpose tip on both standard devices/components and small SO8 style surface mount IC and 1208 or large surface mount components, it gets a little large for smaller surface mount packages.

Sounds like I'll need to do some research on lead free solder, flux and operating temperatures. I have some old pcbs I can practice on with the flux/unleaded solder. Leaded solder flows very easy so I've never used additional flux. Is there a particular brand of solder and flux that you like?

Thanks!

[Wyluli Wolf]

I have a fan turned on while soldering but don't have the air blowing towards the area I'm soldering. I also use a steel scouring pad inside an old soup can to clean off the tip. Don't use those sponges to clean off tips.

 

 

I have one of those gold colored "scouring pads" that are made specifically for cleaning tips. I also have a fume extractor and I have to say these stupid things are pretty worthless. You have to hold the soldering iron within 3 inches of the fan or it doesn't do a darn thing. Maybe I should have the fume extractor on one side and a fan gently blowing from the opposite direction into the fume extractor....hmmm, thank you for that idea

I have trouble getting the tips on this cheap iron to tin. The solder just wants to blob up on one spot and roll right off, even on a new tip. I'm hoping the Hakko will work much better. Having temperature control should be beneficial as well now that I'm getting more into soldering pcbs.

[+selgus]

I've been using a Weller WESD51 digital soldering station for years now, and highly recommend one. Whenever I get the question about what kind of solder iron or tips one should get, I recommend staying away from these cheap irons from Radio Shack, etc. Get something that has high wattage (50 and above is a good range), heats up quickly and can be regulated.

 

There are people that say the wet sponges will damage tips with micro-cracks, other that say this is nonsense. I use Hakko solder tip cleaning wire and it works great, with no stress on the tips.

 

Also, use a good flux on your joints, and you will save yourself lots of grief trying to debug your circuits. As for tips, it really depends on what you are using the soldering iron for.. if you are soldering high-pitch parts, drag soldering SMD parts, removing large through-hole components from a PCB, etc.. each one of these I would use a different size/shaped tip.

[+Stephen Moss]

Sounds like I'll need to do some research on lead free solder, flux and operating temperatures. I have some old pcbs I can practice on with the flux/unleaded solder. Leaded solder flows very easy so I've never used additional flux. Is there a particular brand of solder and flux that you like?

Thanks!

Now that I am back to work I can tell you that the solder I use is manufactured by multicore, with a 96SC Alloy and Type 105 Flux incorporated into it. If you go for something else look for a low to medium activity flux as I personally found solder with high activity flux does not flow very well for normal electronic type soldering.

 

I have one of those gold colored "scouring pads" that are made specifically for cleaning tips. I also have a fume extractor and I have to say these stupid things are pretty worthless. You have to hold the soldering iron within 3 inches of the fan or it doesn't do a darn thing. Maybe I should have the fume extractor on one side and a fan gently blowing from the opposite direction into the fume extractor....hmmm, thank you for that idea

I have trouble getting the tips on this cheap iron to tin. The solder just wants to blob up on one spot and roll right off, even on a new tip. I'm hoping the Hakko will work much better. Having temperature control should be beneficial as well now that I'm getting more into soldering pcbs.

I believe those metal pad things are more of a replacement for wet sponges rather then for the removal of built up solder flux/oxidisation and re-tinning of the tip.

 

I agree that unless really powerful the fan type fume extractors that just sit on the desk can be somewhat ineffective (mounted above the PCB is better) although positioning can have some effect as thermals created by soldering and micro air current can direct the fumes away from the fan.

If you really want to avoid fumes then you need the type of fume extractor that operates at the tip of the soldering iron, personally I use fan extractor positioned above & behind the workspace and try to breath out while soldering (directing the fumes towards the fan) as I find the extraction tubes that need to be strapped to the iron for tip extraction get in the way for what I need to do and where I need to do it and I can't be bothered to keep taking the tubes on and off.

Edited January 9, 2017 by Stephen Moss