Advice needed: Soldering Iron specs to do a couple of repair jobs

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Advice needed: Soldering Iron specs to do a couple of repair jobs

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1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2164788 21-Jan-2019 14:44

Kiwifruta:

Just realised that so I know where the fault is, I'll need a multimeter too.

Jaycar have a good range. You want silicon wires (ie very flexi) on the probes
Or Trademe . MM's are dirt cheap & worth nothing to sell , so bargains galore .
Ive a bit of a collection from when I was an electronic hobbiest, they arnt worth selling :-)
Could possibly send you one for free , if in NI .

To test a bass speaker, just connect a 1.5v AA batt across it . Easiest way without a meter .

Replacing a speaker, in theory they need to be matched to the xover design & box design.
In practise it doesnt matter too much if not too fussy.

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2164946 21-Jan-2019 18:59

I recently purchased this little multimeter for $25. It is an excellent little meter. I compared measurements with my fluke and was very happy with the results.

There is a lot of advice for professional grade soldering irons here, but if it's just a couple of odd jobs, you don't need that.
As for the advice for "at least [a vlaue > 30w]" I disagree.
Sure if the iron is temp controlled then you go for a high wattage iron because it gets to temp faster and maintains it better. But cheap high wattage irons just get too hot, my cheap 25w iron gets too hot after a while. Too much heat means you risk lifting tracks, melting insulation, and generally destroying stuff.
The Jaycar iron linked previously looks like a pretty good balance, about the right heat, with the option to boost it if you need to.

solutionz

589 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#2164951 21-Jan-2019 19:19

andrewNZ:

There is a lot of advice for professional grade soldering irons here, but if it's just a couple of odd jobs, you don't need that.
As for the advice for "at least [a vlaue > 30w]" I disagree.
Sure if the iron is temp controlled then you go for a high wattage iron because it gets to temp faster and maintains it better. But cheap high wattage irons just get too hot, my cheap 25w iron gets too hot after a while. Too much heat means you risk lifting tracks, melting insulation, and generally destroying stuff.

I disagree, higher is better.

Firstly the cheaper irons can be overrated so as someone mentioned you find some of them can barely melt the solder (especially lead-free).

Secondly it takes a certain fixed temperature for the solder to properly "wet" the metal surfaces (i.e. form a bond as opposed to the simply clumping on the surface). The faster you can get the surfaces to this temp the better and less time for heat to travel and damage other components. e.g. Often lower power irons have to be held on the surface for longer and begin melting insulation etc before the solder even begins to run.

So generally speaking higher temp / wattage is better than lower obviously up to a point - so long as you are quick in and out.

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2165193 22-Jan-2019 10:11

We are talking CHEAP irons here.
These arnt temp controlled . There will be BS in the specs . Some wont actually be usuable , at all .

Actual temp at the tip , and more importantly thermal capacity will be 100% a crap shoot.
Some irons loose too much tip temp as soon as you try & use them, making soldering near impossible on anything but the thinest of wire
Some irons dont even get hot enough to melt solder (Ive had a couple of those)

He wants to solder wires to tabs , not do repairs on PCB's . More power is better than not enough .
Its a case of spend $30ish and just hope it works. Or spend $100++ .
:-)

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2165239 22-Jan-2019 11:17

I have one of these:

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/20-130w-turbo-soldering-iron/p/TS1554

Press button for boost to 130W. Works fine, locking collar on the barrel / tip comes loose in transport (I chuck this in a tool bag in the back of my ute for occasional jobs) so I need to check that it's tight before turning it on or the tip won't get hot but the collar will - and then it's a bit hard on the fingertips tightening the collar...

I see they also sell a 1mm tip (standard tip is 0.5mm). Probably worth getting if soldering heavier cables etc.

Works fine for all I use a soldering iron for these days - I've been using a soldering iron since I was about 6 or 7 years old, so it's probably second nature for me now - I could probably solder many things adequately using a cigarette lighter and a copper nail.

Edit - I see now that it was already suggested / linked above as looking "pretty good". I agree - it is pretty good.

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2165370 22-Jan-2019 13:47

I got this multimeter - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/VICI-VC97-3-3-4-digital-multimeter-voltmeter-ammeter-AC-DC-voltage-current-Resistance-Capacitance-frequency/32669670428.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.21996f90hHCypJ

seems fine to me, and does what I need it to do.

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