Re: gEDA-user: Re: Soldering irons

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@neurotica.com>]

On Sep 26, 2004, at 8:18 PM, DJ Delorie wrote:
> >    The small stuff is actually the easiest.  I do it by putting a blob
> > of solder on one of the pads, then pick up the part with tweezers, 
> > melt
> > the blob, place the component, then solder the other pad.  After 
> > you've
> > done a few of them, it really only takes a few seconds.
> Even though this was my first time, I still did them in batches.  All
> the blobs, all the 1 kohm reflows, all the 39 ohm reflows, all the 182
> ohm reflows, all the second pads.  It went quickly.
  That's pretty much the same procedure I follow.

> The part that slows down through soldering is constantly flipping the
> board over, and the extra time it takes to heat the through plating,
> the larger pin, and to reflow enough solder in.  IIRC I switched to a
> larger diameter solder for those.
  Yeah.  Something like a Panavise helps, but it's still a pain.  I 
hate through-hole soldering anymore.  I used to love it, from when I 
was a kid, but SMT is so much easier that I've just lost my taste for 
it.

  Don't get me wrong, it still beats mowing the lawn, but still. ;)

          -Dave

--
Dave McGuire             "...it's a matter of how tightly
Cape Coral, FL             you pull the zip-tie."       -Nadine Miller