1. Be familiar with the soldering iron market
Beginners don't choose a electric soldering iron in poor quality, even if it is a pen-type single iron, choose a model with enough power, better heating core and soldering iron tip, the cheaper ones on the market are only suitable for casual repairs at emergency use.
If you need to soldering frequently, it is recommended to buy a soldering station with good quality. Don’t go to the electronic market to buy them. There are many less known brands and fake products. Some even cut corners which may cause electricity leakage, and the safety can not be guaranteed.
A poor soldering iron will bring you a lot of troubles when you start electronic debugging and soldering. Soldering the solder into mud and pile it up on the chip in a mess. You will be helpless and affect your work progress, which is not worth the loss.
2. Understand power and temperature control
The market shows how long it takes for the soldering iron to reach the desired temperature is based on its own power. For a soldering iron with a rated power of 25 watts, it takes about a minute to heat up to 660°F. On the other hand, an Aixun soldering station rated at 130 watts will get there in seconds. Soldering is more complicated than simply heating a soldering iron to the desired temperature.
When the soldering iron tip comes into contact with the PCB material, it will transfer heat to the relatively cold PCB solder pad, the tip starts heating to stable the temperature during soldering. Using a more fine iron tip means that the heat is relatively low, you can choose fine iron tip when soldering more precise components, iron tip of 25 watts can also reach the required temperature.
However, when soldering larger capacitors or repairing larger components, the low power soldering cannot adequately replenish the heat lost during the soldering process, which can lead to failure soldering or damage the soldering components. Because the soldering itself needs enough heat to melt the solder joint.
If you plan to soldering large components, you must choose a high-power soldering iron to do your job.
If you are soldering smaller components, a low power soldering iron is enough.
3. Know the shape of your soldering iron tip: which one is better for you?
Soldering iron heads are generally made of copper, and the basic shapes are sharp, conical, bevel, flat, and knife-edge.
Sharp soldering iron tip
A. Application: It is suitable for fine soldering, or small soldering space, and it can also correct the tin bridges generated when soldering chips.
Flat soldering iron tip
B. Application: Suitable for soldering that requires a large amount of tin, such as a soldering environment with a large soldering area, thick terminals, and large solder pads.
Bevel-shaped soldering iron tips are divided into: 0.5C, 0.8C, 1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, etc.
Features: Use the bevel part of the front end of the soldering iron tip for soldering, which is suitable for soldering that requires more tin.
C. Application: C-type soldering iron tip application scope: It is suitable for large soldering area, thick terminals and large pads.
0.5C, 1C, and other types of soldering iron tips are very fine, they are more suitable for soldering small components, or repairing tin bridges, tin pillars, etc. generated when soldering the surface of components.
2C, 3C type soldering iron tips, suitable for soldering resistors, diodes and other components, etc.
4C, for thick terminals, ground line on circuit boards. Or it is suitable for larger components that require relatively high heat.
Knife type and K type soldering iron tip:
Features: Use knife-shaped tip for soldering, vertical or pull soldering can be used, it is a multi-purpose soldering iron tip.
D. Application: Suitable for soldering packages, plastic chip carriers, standard workplaces, pin soldering, power supply, grounding components, correcting solder bridges, connectors and other soldering.
You will get twice the result with half the effort by choosing the right soldering iron tip according to your actual needs.
4. Understand the soldering iron that suits you in principle:
Soldering irons are divided into: internal heating type, external heating type and high frequency type.
A. Internal heating type: The soldering iron core is installed inside the soldering iron head, so it is called an internal heating type electric soldering iron. It has the advantages of fast heating, high heating efficiency, small size, light weight, low power consumption, and smart use. The smaller size limit the length of its heating wire, so the life is relatively short. Most of the power is not as large as the external heat type, it is more suitable for soldering precise components.
B. External heat type: It is called external heat type because the iron core is outside. It has a wide range of applications. Because the soldering iron core is external, its power is relatively large, which is suitable for both small components and large components. However, its heating core is outside, and the loss of heat is more, resulting in a reduction in thermal power. The power can be 25W, 30W, 50W, 75W, 100W, 150W, 300W and other specifications. The disadvantage is that it is relatively bulky, which is inconvenient when soldering small devices, but its soldering iron tip has a longer life.
C. High-frequency type: It belongs to induction heating. The high-frequency heating form is like the induction cooker we use at home. It heats up quickly. The heating core and the soldering iron head are designed separately. Sensitive temperature measurement, rapid temperature heat up, high-level positioning, higher price.
The above is about the working principles of several soldering irons. It should be helpful for you to choose a soldering iron. It will become easier to choose if combined with your own needs.
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