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Comment by Pr0ject217 | Hacker News Reader

Recommendations?

No particular channels or videos come to mind, but here are a couple good ones (with timestamps to skip the intro fluff):

https://youtu.be/0LSG5uIdqJc?t=190s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUyetZ5RtPs&t=40s

I would not call 2nd video "skillful", that SOIC was molested, not soldered :(

Fair enough, perhaps I'm easily impressed. :)

With the exception of a hot air rework tool, a soldering iron should complete a nice fillet within 3 seconds. Adjustable temperature kits tend to hide the skills needed to work with the thermal mass of the iron itself.

Soldering with an iron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvl_KYif9zA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RXugDd0xik

Drag soldering with a hoof tip iron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUyetZ5RtPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyele3CIs-U

Hot air techniques (mid size QFN, soic, and other SMD):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v58m-S35s24

Recommended equipment:

WE1010EDU for fine and medium work (remember the 3 second fillet rule)

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010EDU-Soldering-Education-...

A set of hoof and screwdriver tips:

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Weller-WE1010-Soldering-ETSET...

Flux and solder wick for cleaning pad areas on PCB:

https://www.amazon.com/Lesnow-Desoldering-Electronics-Disass...

CREWORKS 858D cheap hot air tool for basic SMD rework:

https://www.amazon.com/CO-Z-Soldering-Temperature-Desolderin...

1. never use metal wool to clean the iron tip coating

2. Before use, clean by dragging a hot iron across water dampened sponge (or paper) to smear off oxidized material.

3. Never use Bismuth solder, it was invented by fools for fools. Also, indium contamination can make you go bald.

4. Your iron should choose one (and only one) of the following

i. Sn63/Pb37 No-Clean eutectic solder for low temperature industrial machinery

ii. RoHS compliant SAC305 Lead-Free No-Clean Solder

5. No Clean means the flux core in the solder may be left on the work. However, it is recommended to clean it off with 99% IPA.

6. Fume extraction blows crud outdoors, and charcoal filters just makes crud smell nice.

7. Practice PCB kits are cheap, and getting 2 in case you cook something by inserting it backwards may be wise.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/soldered-electron...

Best of luck =3

Why not use brass wool? I've used it for a long time and not noticed any problems. My soldering iron tip looks and works great.

Brass wool is often just copper plated steel, and will damage the plating. Thus, pin holes in the tips iron, nickel, or chrome plating begin to pit the copper core.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/brass-sponge-has-rui...

Anecdotally, all wool seems to accumulate abrasive crud, various amalgamated solder waste, melted plastics, and trimmed bits of steel etc.

Best of luck =3

That's certainly a concern, but it's completely ameliorated by buying real brass wool.

The stuff that came with my (apparently genuine) Hakko 599B is non-ferrous (and is therefore not steel). Refills are Hakko part 599-029.

Soldering iron tips are usually made from copper with a thick iron plating. On Moh's hardness scale, iron doesn't care much about what brass thinks. :)

Was never a fan of spendy rapid PID based mini-heaters, but some people do prefer that design.

In situations where PCB ground pours removed thermal-reliefs for power handling reasons, mini-cartridge-heaters often simply don't have enough thermal mass to heat an area fast enough without the control-loop missing temperature ranges and or time limits.

Anecdotally, same reason good portable butane catalytic iron units are often superior to USB-C/battery operated units.

Note Zinc contact is restricted in some places, and that ban includes zinc-brass sources. Best of luck =3

Yes I've only used the one that came with my Hakko soldering iron, and I just got a replacement from Hakko since my old one is getting pretty full of solder bits.

The tip on my soldering iron is perfectly fine though.

The 599B is a Hakko assembly that combines a (kind of cheesy-looking) gold-anodized, thin, stamped, aluminum housing and one of their brass wool inserts.

AFAICT, it works well with all soldering irons. I certainly haven't noticed any detriment to my soldering irons over the >decade I've used it. It really seems to be fine and it sure is simple to use.

(I really have needed to buy new brass wool for a few years now, though. It works, but it is not nearly as slick-and-clean to use as it once was. Sourcing this from Hakko directly seems like a safe route and it's probably cheap-enough -- maybe I'll buy a few refills and have some for the rest of my life.)

Thank you!

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