Soldering basics and choosing a cheap soldering iron.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มี.ค. 2016
- The soldering equipment on eBay is actually very usable. I test a cheap generic 936 soldering station in this video, including a look inside the unit and at the PCB, and exploration of the actual iron.
One of the nicest things about these soldering stations is the ready availability of cheap parts from the internal PCBs to the complete irons and a wide selection of tips/bits.
If you buy one of these soldering stations with a UK plug, make sure you check if it has a solid metal earth pin. If it has a plastic sleeve on the pin cut the plug off and replace it with a good quality one. The sleeve can prevent a proper earth connection in the socket.
If you enjoy my videos you can support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and solder at / bigclive - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
After binge-watching over 40 of Clive's videos so far I have come to a few impressions of him and one wish. Some of the impressions are that he is very thorough in his work, doesn't assume the viewer understands everything he mentions and so he explains in detail, very professional in his reviews of products he reviews and he has a very gentle voice and relaxing way of speaking which makes you want to listen to what he has to say. My only wish is that whatever he does for a living I hope he is getting paid what he is worth. Keep making these videos as I love them.
Aleatha... that was a very very nice comment about Clive. And I think you are very cute and with the same interests in the channels that we watch !!
@@BPantherPink LOL
@@m1chau007 Aleatha is a man. I nearly wazzed myself laughing LOL xD
@@extropy1 it's 2019 don't judge lol he might want the D ;)
Clive makes things for special effect things, and does electric matinence. So he is getting paid what he is worth.
I've soldered probably 25 times. I've very much enjoyed your channel, and it has helped me! I was helping a customer who customized his Mercedes cargo van headlights, spent many hours cutting holes in covers and zip tying wires and stuff, but in the end wouldn't go together. I got em working and pulled a spade wire off and not noticing broke the ground of connector. My curiosity and the knowledge I encountered:)
You forgot to explain how to hold the iron in one hand, the solder in the other hand, and the work-piece in the other hand.
Jim Fortune "PLAY!"
its called holding iron with 1 hand, solder with thumb and pointing finger, and project with pinky, ring and middle finger.
...you obviously hold the solder with your teeth. Only do this with leaded solder, the new fangled stuff is too hard and might chip your tooth! /s
So basically, how to grow a third hand? Cause to do what you're suggest, it really sounds like you'd need one.
@@tdark987 use a jig or clamp
I wanted to thank you again for the amazing content. I've been following you for a while now, and today was the day I finally picked up a soldering iron and gave it a whirl. I don't believe I would have ever done so without you and your amazing content. Thank you. I'm happy to be on the path to picking up a new skill.
You just taught me how to Solder.
I fixed the cold solders on my wonky RPM gauge circuit in my truck. Thank you Clive. Ive subscribed and am looking forwards to looking through your videos.
Cheers from Canada.
Nice, though I wish he would’ve explained that the cold solder joint on a thru-hole lead can bead on the lead or the pad. He only described what it looks like when it fails to wet the lead and forms an “apple” though it can also form a ball that sticks to the lead and curls under to just sit on the pad.
I’ve only ever used this exact Antex iron and I love it. When I’m finishing a soldering session I switch off power then dip it in tip tinner, stops it from oxidising. The other thing I’ve found that keeps my bits happy is never use the damp sponge to clean it, I only use a brass scrunchie.
Funny you mention this because I recently stopped using a sponge out of sheer slackness and I found I had absolutely no reason to bother ever using one.
I’d love to hear what advantage they gave over the scrunchy because I sure as hell haven’t missed having to use one.
I learn and learn again, as a rookie/novice Clive you’re videos can be so very worthwhile, thanks.
Bob
England
Clive i have ADD it takes me a while to take information in and its incredibly frustrating, ive always wanted to do electronics as i just love it and i have gone balls deep into Radio controlled activities, your Videos help me so much into understanding this subject way more than any book or Tutorials could have done, i just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge and putting things into a layman's terms. you are awesome, Thank you so much.
I am a novice as well and I do share your opinions, Clive has helped me a lot. I now own just about everything Clive uses and that’s great as Clive uses value tools in these videos! Love him!
Clive has responded to every question I have asked by the way.
Bob
England
I once went balls deep in a jar of peanut butter when it suddenly occurred to me that I'm fu*kin nuts....
I've used quite a few over the years but right now I'm running an old Hakko FP-102 that I picked up after using similar models at work. I had to repair the cable and disable the key slot, but I have just loved the thing since.
I have shared this video with a FB group of quadcopter enthusiasts as I felt that you nailed it on so many points.
You even worked a project in for a practical demonstration because as I'm learning you sir tend to rock.
I think your brass pan-scrubber ashtray idea is so brilliant! I'm fairly convinced that the cold+wet sponge for cleaning glowing-hot tips contributes to the pitting of irons.
? I don't think he took credit for that idea. That's the only thing pro soldering has ever used. Wise to keep a hand one too. Like a wire brush with a handle, I mean. You can get at all the cracks and stuff fast. peace
Loving these intro to electronics ones lately
Watching you solder stuff is immensely satisfying
I've just brought one of these after watching this review, I love it!
Good honest reviews, thanks big Clive and keep up the good work.
I didn't realise that these bargain basement stations were actually pretty good. I recently bought a station on the advice of a colleague in our lab It was from a company called Metcal (an MX-500), and whilst it does the job, it did cost the best part of £100!
100 is not that expensive.... the upmarket thingies start at 150/200 base model
Have just purchased a cheap soldering kit for my eleven year old son and I to use on electronic build kits. The video helped us both immensely. Thank you Clive.
I enjoy watching all your videos Clive, and you would make a wonderful teacher as you explain everything so well !!
Great video! One of my first projects as a kid was the same astable oscillator you describe to flash two small flashlight bulbs, built it a from parts found in discarded devises. The solder joints were sketchy but amazingly it worked!
Great video! Been soldering since high school and love every minute of it! I have picked up lots of tips and tricks along the way and if I were to make a video for beginners it would look a lot like this one so well done!
Thank you BcDc, I could watch the tutorials all day.
The most soothing, hypnotic soldering ever.
always brilliant explanation and I like your bluntness ! if it's a fail it's a fail ...keep up this great channel ....
I struggled with a $15 iron from Radio Shack for years. Nothing but rotten apples. Couldn’t solder a headphone jack. Thought I was rubbish.
I had wanted to upgrade to a Hakko or a Weller, but I got a TS100 and it completely changed my ability and interest in soldering. So much fun.
The TS100 is a relatively expensive Chinese iron, but totally worth it. Get something decent and you won’t regret it.
Same here! I thought I was simply not able to solder, I had gone through a handful of Walmart turds. I decided to buy a Hakko F888D because of a wiring project I was doing. Best. Experience. Ever! I always love an excuse to use the thing.
Had a rechargeable two 'Wire' soldering iron like the the Weller Auto-trans. (just press the button), loved it (no wires)until the battery died, but couldn't bear to throw it in the bin. (It's still there, O' well back to Fireball XL5)
How is with the whole ESD problem? Is it grounded by the power source?
The TS-100 has a grounding point screw near the back of the unit, and you can connect it wherever you need to, to mitigate ESD problems. (Wrist strap, Mains Earth, etc..)
After watching this, I'm pondering fixing my telephone wall plate that was yanked off a while back. Thanks Clive!
I have been soldering since I was nine . I watched your whole video and I learned a lot .. thank you .
Very informative video and approachable delivery. I (ashamedly) am a complete novice in so many areas, this being one of them, and yet I felt like I had gained valuable insight after this short presentation. I am looking on ebay right now for the soldering station you used. Thank you.
Excellent tutorial mate
I wanted to say thanks for the awesome video! I ended up watching this a few weeks ago and it came in handy as i was randomly invited to go to a stain glass window making class a few days ago. Actually knew (mostly) what I was doing when I was soldering my stained glass fish piece together.
i love the squeaky creak of a fresh solder joint
I bought one of these a few years ago and I actually prefer it over my original Hakko. The original transformer (25VA) in my unit got a bit too hot for my liking, so i replaced it with a 50VA core I bought from RS. It barey went in the case, but now I have a "turbo charged" (IE less voltage sag) iron that has a pretty short warm-up time and a cool running transformer.
I'll be 40 this year, and I've recently soldered my very first kits - one was a simple oscilloscope kit and the other was a simple signal generator (to test the oscilloscope with of course :3) - and they both worked first time, thanks largely to this video (and others like it). So, thanks! =)
Hey how's the projects going?
Good for you...
Now you'll be hooked, and building MANY more projects. 😜
Clive, you saved my bacon. Just received a KSGER digital soldering station (same kind of soldering wand) and all it did was blink ERROR. After I looked at your pin out of the connector, and checked it with a DMM it was pretty obvious I had no continuity. Blink three times hard and a light began to dawn on marble head. The ferrule goes on after the heating element is inserted. DOH!
When this unit showed up at my door the jacket on the iron's cable was not under the strain relief. Not a big deal to fix but it makes you think what else didn't they get right.
Its working now. Thanks Clive.
My dad has had that exact same yellow Antex soldering iron for the last 30 years! Still works perfectly, same iron!
Good video. As a Weller-certified salesperson and technician, I very much approve of your explanation of basic soldering technique. However, standard lead-based solder is Sn60Pb40, so 60% tin, 40% lead. Even though it's called lead-based, it is, in fact, still mostly tin. You're going to have to annotate that.
That said, I very much stand by your comment about using lead-based solder as an amateur, for learning and beyond, as well. Not only is it a lot easier to use than lead-free solder(*), it is *a lot" safer to use, given people will not have access to fume extraction. The fumes from lead-free solder are a lot more acrid and the smoke particulates are a lot finer (and thus more readily absorbed in the bloodstream). I do not, I say again: DO NOT recommend extended use of lead-free solder without fume extraction equipment.
To clarify the RoHS (Removal of Harmfull Substances) directive a little: the main problem is it's very hard to recover lead from PCBs; it can't be done cost effectively as it can with the more precious metals. On the other hand, discarded lead will eventually accumulate to toxic levels in the environment/food chain. Therefore it was decided to stop using it commercially. However the RoHS directive still condones the use of lead-based solder, even in manufacturing (so no need to "stock-up* on lead-based solder, as it will still be available for the foreseeable future), provided one lables the product correctly and remains responsible for its safe disposal. Research at the University of Antwerp also indicates the recommendation of having seperate soldering equipment for lead-based and lead-free solder is redundant. Simply re-tinning one's tip when switching between the two types, brings one within the required specifications.
(*)Rem.: the main problem with lead-free solder is the rosins/fluxes employed to allow one to solder with what is basically pure tin are not as temperature resistant as those which are merely "good enough' for lead-based soldering. So now the problem one faces is one has a joint which requires more heat to properly form, but one can't up the temperature from where one usually uses lead-based solder at. In fact, experienced users will most likely have to lower their soldering temperature. At 380 centigrade, using lead-free, what's going to happen is the rosin/flux will be on your hands/baked onto your tip and your joints will be iffy at best, no matter how good you are at soldering. I find the maximum one can go is about the 315-325 centigrade range. Weller recommends 275-295 centigrade (talking temperature-controlled soldering stations here, obviously), but there is just no way one can get a soldering rythm going at such low temperatures, imnsho.
Oh, and one more thing: it's perfectly ok to repair something which was lead-free soldered with lead-based solder. However, one should never, ever repair a vintage device, which was originally lead-based soldered, with lead-free solder. It's not a matter of "will it come undone?', but "when will it come undone?'.
As a Weller fan I must say that I'm still surprised your company has moved its manufacturing to Mexico. Given that the main competition in the market, Hakko, still does their manufacturing in Japan I can't help but feel it was a minor mistake to outsource like that.
There are two solutions for lead harm to environment:
1) Stop manufacture useless electronic. This is mandatory. Make computers, smartphones and other tech who last at least a decade. Invest in software optimizing instead of cobbling together a ton of gargantuan function libraries with adding more RAM and storage when they become low. And so on.
2) Find another ROHS solder formula - more lead solder like with fast tinning which will not crumble and short all nearest conductors with tin whiskers.
@@KrotowXIf they could have found a better lead-free formula, they would have already.
Literally thought the drawings you made were NSFW for a second there. I'm at work, and it was like you were explaining the birds and bees via free-hand. hahaha, dammit!
My dad taught me how to solder by having a couple of high power resistors at hand to place on an empty circuit board, with the idea "You need to abuse those really badly heat-wise to actually destroy them, so they are good teaching material" and when I had the hang of it, we started soldering smaller components and then the kits.
"soldering is about feel" ABSOLUTELY. There is as much art as science, if not more. I personally go up in tip size before I kick up temperature if I can. My Hakko 951 seems to like 340C-370C depending on tip and what I'm soldering. Most of my soldering is point to point-- cables, lugs, sockets, (think valve/tube guitar amplifiers). This usually means you want enough heat to get in and out pretty fast before you bake a pot on an electric guitar, for example. Ironic, yes, but bigger tip and higher temperature means less total heat soak into the pot because it is faster. I do very little PCB work.
Also, I've really start to embrace the value of separately fluxing leads for tinning and such. Superior results over just using flux core, regardless of the solder used. (I used Kester 44 3.3%, Alpha Reliacore 3.3% and 2.2%, Alpha Energized plus 2.2% and Alpha Telecore plus 1.1%). Separate flux outperforms them all even when not doing PCB work. Also makes a great indicator of when you've got good heat.
You need liquid flux to use that solid solder he shows at about 10:10. Doing this gives you an element of control that you do not have with flux core and makes it much easier to get really good solder joints plus helps in soldering really tiny SMD stuff. I like to make a little pool of flux around the pads for a SMD part, tin the pads, hold part in place with tweezers and just tap the legs real quick to melt the solder. I suppose with the price of rosin core it makes no sense to buy solid but i still like to have some liquid flux and a spool of really thin solid solder around for small stuff.
THE ONE AT THE START IVE HAD IT 5 YEARS STILL WORKS FINE
WHY ARE WE YELLING
best how to video related to soldering bar none imo. I was a master technician with fomoco for 7 yrs and of all the classes I had to attend none of them actually showed you how to solder just "here ya go solder that joint, thanx. Even U.T.I. didn't do this.
i use a heat gun to a check the temperature on mine, when i solder. The heat gun is a great multi- purpose tool. Thanks for the excellent videos.The insight and info are greatly appreciated. You cover a lot of diversity of products.
Great video. I learned a lot. I used a $2.5 "60" watt iron for my first kit. It worked but I have a hard time getting the solder to melt sometimes. I suspect the "60" is not quite accurate. At any rate I love these new tutorial type vids!
It must be way off... a 15-watt pencil iron is enough for MOST general circuit board components, except large connectors, and components with heavy leads going into a ground plane.
i like my 936 - for that money it's really great
Great soldering tutorial Clive. The British Post / Courier must love you. Clive buys one soldering station, 3 spare soldering irons, multiple tips and extra's.Brilliant !
I spent 90 on my Hakko. I love it. It heats up super fast, and the LED gives me wonderful control of the temperature.
Hello from Australia!
Hello Australia.
Royann Greenwood Hello from the United States.
This was a great video and gave me quite a bit of insight on what I was doing wrong. However, there is one thing that isn't in this video that in my project is something I need to do quite often, and that's de-soldering components. I bought a whole mess of old Megadrive consoles from someone on Ebay and planned to mod them for S-video, PAL and NTSC controlled via switch and a modest overclock from 7.2MHz to 10MHz. Half the work is de-soldering leads from on-board ICs like the CPU or GPU and cleaning said leads and pads, and most of those that I did ended up with burnt circuit board. I used de-soldering braid, put it over the lead and just pressing it onto the braid directly, and that always just burned the board to literal death. (Like, 4 dead Megadrives.) I'd love to see how you handle basic de-soldering as you clearly know what you're doing.
So, based on my (sad) experience, i guess you didn't use flux. It reeeeally helps. Apply a bit of flux where you want to dessolder, them use the iron. Also, there are some really shitty brands, both for flux and braid, might wanna look into that
Also, have you tried using a "sucker"? (Dunno if the name is right, at least, that's what it's called here in Brazil)
You an inspiration for many people go on like this and we learning a lot from you thank you so much greatings from Bernhard from Holland
I started with a Weller Iron in 1980 & struggled on with that for too many years. Never got around to getting my own Antex. Now use soldering stations exclusively.
Love your channel Clive - Keep those videos coming.
Mike, S Yorkshire. 🤓
When soldering, it is easier to use the side of the tip, where there is more surface area on the tinned part of the iron to heat up the joint.
Also, try to use 600 Fahrenheit at most, do not use Acid core solder and always use Leaded flux-core solder. These will help your tip last for years, instead of it being eaten away into the interior copper core of the tip, where it is softer.
I don't use a wet foam pad either, I tried the brass tip cleaner stuff and I'm never going back. When I solder I do it in the same way, but I usually put a bit of solder on to the tip first, not to "take the solder over to the board", it just helps transfer the heat better from the tip to the board (or whatever is being soldered at the time).
+CoolDudeClem
That's how you are meant to solder, it's called creating a heat bridge.
+DNA Electronics It is called wetting, or tinning.
Still rocking my Hakko 936 going on almost 2 decades. You are correct about the 5 pin DIN plug for the iron too.
I could watch big Clive all day great watching
I'm guessing they ignore the sleeve because of manufacturing tolerances.
These usually have components manufactured by many random manufacturers and then someone just assembles the whole thing and ships away.
The size of the components can vary a lot...
A better way to see the flux core is to instead of cutting it, fatigue-break it by wiggling it back and forward.
3:55 Glad to hear my suspicion was pretty accurate: I've only recently gotten back into electronics (I used to do it as a teen) and the bit in the iron I've had for about 15 years (which used to be my father's everyday iron) has definitely reached the point where the wear on the coating causes it to be mostly ineffective - by the time you desolder a component, you find that it's still hanging on even with no solder left on the connection. It softens the PCB! It then only lasts about 15-30 mins before becoming 'dull' again, even if you clean it before you solder the next connection.. I'm looking forward to getting a new (but affordable) soldering station this week. I appreciate that there are so many experienced electronics guys on the net, who offer useful tips they learned via experience.
A bit of sand paper works for me make it shiny and add a bit of soldier and the heat transfers lovely
Perfect timing. I did some soldering after watching this. It's like Randy's obsession with the food network. I can't stop soldering now.
How do you typically solder pin headers? I hold it like any regular component like you do while I solder, but I was so stupid and forgot that the the pin header can transfer heat.... Burned my freaking fingers.
would you mind posting some ebay links to the station and the irons?
My sacrificial device for learning soldering was a Sony WM-F77. I kind of feel sad to think how nicely made it was only to have me botch a repair, but I stripped all the useful parts off and saved all that I could and practiced recapping on the dead board.
Those Sony Walkman service manual diagrams are a work of art.
I recently got a butane one from home Depot. It uses normal lighter grade butane, has a gorgeous sharp and thin jet, has a basic fuel control (which is also a temperature control by proxy), and can be used as a hot air blower and lighter. I love it, and it's fully portable. Only $20,and the butane lasts about a week per refill for me, especially if you don't just keep it on
Its a benzomatic
chistine lane I bought a cheap blue one from eBay for 5 euro. I love it. It has an attachable metal bit and can be used to solder on PCBs. It heats up fast and is great for quickly fixing something.
You'll probably find the difference in temperature between the irons is due to the cold junction of the T/C being in the handle of the iron. If it was inside the unit (the T/C conductors would need to run the length of the lead[more expensive]) I suspect it would be much more accurate between irons. Alternatively, they could put the amplifier in the handle (also more expensive) which would also solve it. You should be able to get an accuracy of about 0.1C with KType but you'd have to either use a micro-controller or make the amplification a little more accurate ans specific to the temperature range.
It would be interesting to see if they are the same with a cold handle and hot handle.
I love your videos BTW, I think I've nearly watched them all. Thank you!
haha eevblog looked at the Yihua (same inside as the WLX) and tried to rip it apart but when disassembled there's nothing really wrong or unsafe about it at all... it's a great purcahse for 15 dollars.
two thumbs up, Big Clive. Found your channel today and it's exactly what I was looking for to get me started with hobby electronics. Keep up the good work. I'll be adding my dollar a month contribution in the AM.
Your videos inspired me to learn to solder. I'm ordering a baby's first solder kit right now.
No its a tig welder, you tap with the iron!
duh.
Jeff Schefke That vid was pretty funny!
Every time I watch your videos I always end up spending a small fortune on fleabay
I have an Antex too for over 25years. But the Antexat 25W struggles in cold weather in a cold shed. I bought a Lytool station, made in PRC, and it's a dream! I looked at a AIXUN but I couldn't justify the extra.
Thank you for such detailed and comprehensive reviews !! Cheers from Malta
you could colour code the separate irons and mark those colours on the dial after dialing in a constant value...
+Andrew Ballard
Why bother, they're not that far apart. How accurate do you really need the temperature to be?
If you were really bothered, you could write a sticker on the iron that says "runs 5% high" or something so you know to turn the station down a little.
KX36 Yes maybe
I had a look at soldering stations when you demonstrated the iron and the heat gun in a previous video but was put off by the sheer number of different ones available, so I appreciate a pointer towards a good unit. Can you get any of the cables for the 936 with silicone leads like the Antex one? Thanks for the video!
+Matt Tester (UKMatt2000) I'm not sure if they are available with silicone leads. The ones they have a still very flexible despite being PVC. I don't find them an issue.
bigclivedotcom Thanks.
+bigclivedotcom I have the Maplin branded 60w digital soldering station, which has a very similar iron, and it has a silicone lead. Be interesting to see if the digital one you have coming is similar to it.
+Matt Tester (UKMatt2000) One thing that does put me off with the 936 clones is the range of available ones. Some are real horror stories inside. The lack of silicone leads is disappointing too.
Silicon leads are more important for irons where the cable runs directly from mains. Here the voltage is stepped down to 24V, plus if you damage the lead you can buy another iron for a few dollars
Merry Christmas from New Zealand! Thanks for this video Clive, very helpful mate. My son and I are both just learning to solder.
Your the all-time best Big Clive mate
Slightly off topic but regarding your degrees comment at the end - I thought that Celsius is the correct word to use as centigrade refers to the type of scale. Eg degrees Celsius and degrees Kelvin are both centigrade scales
Even more complicated, the kelvin isn't actually a degree, the unit is just a "kelvin"
Celsius and centigrade are interchangeable. The clue is in the name, centi = 100 basically. Century 100 years. Centimeter is 1/100 of a meter. The scale of Celsius/centigrade is based on the properties of H2O; 0 is freezing point, 100 is boiling point. Kelvin is its own scale. Fahrenheit is its own scale. Centi-grade is your 100 scale. Kelvin starts at 0, you can't go negative, as it it bottoms out at absolute zero (~ -273C/-460F). Boiling water is 373K, freezing point of water is 273K.
So you can say water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius/Centigrade, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, 273 Kelvin;
it boils at 100 degrees C, 212 degrees F, 373K.
Just so people who see this can get the info without looking it up (but please do instead of just trusting me if you need to!).
I have been soldering microphone leads, speaker leads, guitar pickup wiring to potentiometers, resistors and capacitors and various other stuff for over 45 years, this kind of work is almost impossible to do with out using a 'heat sink';; soldering plain wire is simple ( as long as you first 'tin' the components);; soldering co-ax wire is a different matter, you can melt the plastic on the core wire and cause a short circuit.
'Spring Release Tweezers' (Reverse action tweezers) are what you use as the 'heat sink' -- they prevent the heat of the soldering iron travelling down the shield wire and melting the plastic coating on the internal core wire --- and yet these very necessary 'heat sink' tweezers are NEVER included in any Soldering Iron Kit??
* If you don't have Reverse action tweezers, a small crocodile clip can be used instead -- but it's not ideal.
When I was taught soldering at school in the 80's/90's we used elastic bands on plier handles as a heatsink. It wasn't until TH-cam got into the swing that I realised you don't need to with most components. Still, I never had heat failed components on any of my teen amplifier projects, or the memory upgrades in my Atari ST, so it was no bad thing to be more careful than necessary, other than in lost time, which is largely irrelevant to the hobbyist anyway. Now I have a handy resource for soldering tips and tricks so I can check a component out first and get a datasheet, where that was often tricky pre-internet if you weren't in that specific sort of hobbyist club or network. Though I don't much like what successive corporations and social media have done more recently with the Internet I loved so much, that encouraged free speech, free thought and knowledge sharing.
Been doing same thing for 30 years, never used a heat sink. Never had an issue at all. Still, for people learning, it makes sense to use one. Proper soldering technique and understanding is the most important thing to prevent damage to components.
When I started soldering 50+ yrs ago, soldering irons were relatively high wattage. They were made for soldering point-to-point connections like terminal strips and tube sockets, and passive components the size of a small child's finger. Heat sinks were essential when soldering small semiconductors, thin PCB's and smaller hook-up wire. As IC's were introduced, irons got much smaller (no more dual-headlight Wellers) and heat sinks became superfluous.
Nowadays, I solder 0201 passives and 64+ lead IC's under a microscope. I have to apply paste flux with a needle, and slice shavings of .015" solder to avoid applying too much. Irons have changed a lot, too. My current favorite is the Metcal iron, which uses RF induction heating and Curie point metallurgy to control the temperature. While not $25 dollars, when I set out as a consulting technician, I dropped $100 for an used early edition Metcal on Ebay. One of my tech friends saved the used tips (his procedures required changing the tips regularly, whether it was necessary or not. ) While it's a bit expensive for most hobbyists, it's more than worth it, and if you treat the tips right, you can get a lot of life out of them.
A good lesson to learn. Our company has been using e-Design's soldering iron kit for some time. That's great!
Excellent, full of information and love your skills both in execution and style...Thank you very much.
i learnt to solder back when the lead/tin wire and the flux paste separately . you had to apply flux, heat up the connection and then bring molten soldering onto the connection. at some point, i moved to a different continent and, apparently, a different century as well because now i couldn't find flux paste anywhere, and lead/tin soldering wire came with a flux core.... nobody cared to tell me what had happened, people looked at me weird and didn't know what i was talking about when i was asking for flux paste (the language barrier didn't help either), etc etc. it was before the days of the interworldtubewebs and back then information was as rare and difficult to find as pope's shit. i did struggle with bad soldering on various projects for quite a while.
You can find FLUX just about everywhere
Go to the *Plumbing* section of your hardware store. (Copper pipes)
About your tip to apply the iron and then add solder, nowadays instructors teach a different order: start with holding the solder in the spot where you're going to put the iron. As you then apply the iron, the solder melts and quickly increases the contact area between tip, pad and lead, leading to a good join in the least amount of time.
You may not be aware of it, but look back the vid and you'll see that on many joins, you actually do it that way.
To those commenting on the pronunciation of solder: yes, the British say solder with the l, and so do the Dutch in "solderen". But the French say "souder" and the Germans use a word that's not even similar: "löten". But in the end: does it matter?
Clive's method is correct: you heat the pad and lead until it melts the solder.
NEVER heard of that method. It would not work as the leads/pad have to be hot enough for the flux/solder to work. YOUR way evaporates the flux making it useless. Do you have URLs from creditable sources or is this something you pulled out of your @ss? WATCH MORE CAREFULLY - you are also wrong on your observations.
Out of boredom i turned on subtitles on the video. This gives BigClive's accent another level of awesome :P
I'm glad its not just me. I always used to get told i was heavy handed, but sometimes leaving a brand new tip on heat for a few hours, it's easily dented or molded.
You need to go Jedi and use the best parts from several irons and build your own.
11:11 - that just might be the saddest story I've ever heard.
Thank you I learned a lot. I'm an absolute beginner in this soldering.
Thanks for the video. I've been more curious about soldering for a while now and frequently seeing soldering irons on massdrop
Regarding DIN plugs and sockets:
DIN means "Deutsches Institut für Normung" (German institute for standards), former "Deutsche Industrie-Norm" (German industry standard).
for standardisation*
Plus, those aren't DIN plugs and sockets, those are GX-16 plugs and sockets.
DIN plugs on the back of the commodore 64 and midi connectors etc proper old skool, those gx16 plugs are old skool cb radio mic connectors lol. also found on welding equipment.
fur Normierung
@@stoatrepublic Correct, I have wired many "Ham radio operators" mics .. Ham radio is not what it once was!
12:05 - Lol, there's that "Chinese Export" label as AvE calls it.
Thanks for the review, Clive.
That kit pcb looked familiar. I still haveit and it still works. I have the one with rotary knob also. Repurposed it and reprogrammed to play with pwm and motors. Much fun. Keep up the good work.
First world problem - having to use a different soldering iron to take apart your soldering iron... :D
+frollard I was just thinking that! Replacing many of the parts on one of these requires another soldering iron, which is somewhat reminiscent of those scissors you could buy which were zip-tied into their packaging :D
Lmao I just had that problem
My Hakko FX-888 iron does not have a sleeve. The ceramic heating element mates directly to the bit. However, it is a VERY precise fit.
+Euro Bum Same with my 937D+ because it uses a Hakko heater. The purpose of the sleeve is to ensure the element is properly centered in the handle. The only issue with these (and Hakko stations have a similar problem) is breakdown of the Bakelite hardware used to secure the components of the handle.
+Euro Bum Interesting. Maybe that's so it can give a super-accurate temp reading? Great iron, regardless.
Hello Clive, This video is very informative for me, thank you.
I have taken apart one of these soldering irons of my 936 (exact same one) just this morning for my first time! What a coincidence :D
Note the "L" in "solder", Americans.
And here i'm sitting still insisting to only use Weller for soldering.
Can't go wrong with Weller, my oldest Weller soldering station is no 30 years old. And still going strong.
+djteac Weller and Hakko.
i've never owned or used a Hakko i think, but i've heard only good things about them.
Pfft. How about ERSA?
Siana Gearz Pfft. How about JBC?
Антон Южаков Yeaaah the difference is, ERSA is actually affordable. More affordable than Weller, as it happens in my region. Hakko? Never been available, if you get one, it's not gonna cost an arm and a leg, but you're totally screwed on replacements.
I have officially watched all of your videos. I have to say that I feel just a bit smarter after. Thank you
Very nice video, lots of info, even for somebody that inhaled soldering fumes for several hours already. Thnx for the video Clive
Ony 13 degrees? Holy cow. You must have really high metabolism. I really don't feel too good below 19.
+rchandraonline When the AC in my lab is set to 17'C, we start wearing coats under our lab coats. It doesn't sound that cold but you really feel it 8 hours into a 12 hour shift, especially when there's a fan blowing it down your neck. I don't know how Clive manages it.
+KX36 I suspect the beard keeps his face warm :)
bearded guy here, beards do keep face very warm.
He's Scottish. Up here you get dunked in the North Sea at 3 months old and if you live then you get kept. I can't stand heat, put me in a fridge or a cellar and I operate at peak efficiency.
@@krashd i live on the pacific coast of north America, in one of the cooler regions, and I'm the same way, but my problem is my asthma flares up worse in the cold than the hot, so i wear a mask so i can breath easier but stay cold.
21:48 Can't believe in this day and age we're still discriminating against homosexual connectors. :-(
+Jeremy Morton It's not possible to use homosexual connectors with these irons as they are too promiscuous and get lubricant all over the place.
+bigclivedotcom ohhhh cheeky
@@bigclivedotcom "I wanna go home now, please"
@@bigclivedotcom FWIW, I've been using one of these for years now since having the same Antex price issues. cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-929b-89-2926/soldering-station-esd-bs-plug/dp/SD01113?st=duratool%20soldering%20station Replacement parts are dirt cheap and it's a damned good iron.
@@bigclivedotcom The comment in the video was funny, but this is gold xD
Thanks BigClive for this great video. I hope you will get soon digital version of this soldering station and your next video will be as good as this one.
Thanks man, just the boost I needed, much appreciated!