I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.

I was going to show my daughter how to solder, and she got out the
kit, took out the sponge and wet it with water. Now that never
occurred to me (stuff like this is why we have females in our lives).

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station? My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://users.bestweb.net/~wkyee
Developer of Problem Knowledge Couplers for Psychiatry http://www.pkc.com
Webmaster and Guitarist for the Big Blue Big Band http://www.bigbluebigband.org

Willie K.Yee, M.D. wrote:

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station? My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://users.bestweb.net/~wkyee
Developer of Problem Knowledge Couplers for Psychiatry http://www.pkc.com
Webmaster and Guitarist for the Big Blue Big Band http://www.bigbluebigband.org


I always moisten that sponge. When it's wet, it works much better for
cleaning the crud off the tip while soldering.

--
Eric

www.Raw-Tracks.com

"Willie K.Yee, M.D."
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.

I was going to show my daughter how to solder, and she got out the
kit, took out the sponge and wet it with water. Now that never
occurred to me (stuff like this is why we have females in our lives).

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station? My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?



** The sponge needs to be kept wet - or else it will burn evertime you wipe
the hot iron on it.

That tray is made of stainless steel so it will not rust.





............... Phil

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote:

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

Yes.

I occasionally add a drop of dishwashing agent too, makes it even better
at cleaning the soldering iron.

My forst thought was that leaving that damp thing there is
eventually going to rust the tray, but what do I know?

My occasionally used and 30 years old Weller is still A OK.

Willie K. Yee, M.D. http://users.bestweb.net/~wkyee


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 02:00:00 GMT, tttttttttttttt
(Willie K.Yee, M.D.) wrote:

Now that never
occurred to me (stuff like this is why we have females in our lives).

More great .sig material.

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

And even stranger: leave the iron dirty. Clean (just) before use.
Yeah, I know, but it's true.

Good soldering,

Chris Hornbeck
"Conscious that we must have sprung from somewhere, we are
lured to the riddle of our origins." -Malcolm W. Browne

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.


i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never needs
water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )

"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.


i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never
needs
water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )

The downside to such a brush is that as you wipe the soldering iron on the
brush, the bristles spring back and fling little bits of molten solder at
you... wear your safety glasses..

Doesn't happen with the moist sponge...

Nowadays I solder so infrequently that the sponge is always dry and I got in
the bad habit of wiping the soldering iron on the leg of my jeans prior to
using it...

Cured myself instantly the day I wore a miniskirt - true story... blush

Carla

"TimPerry" wrote in message
...


"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...

I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.



i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never

needs

water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )


The downside to such a brush is that as you wipe the soldering iron on the
brush, the bristles spring back and fling little bits of molten solder at
you... wear your safety glasses..

Doesn't happen with the moist sponge...

Nowadays I solder so infrequently that the sponge is always dry and I got in
the bad habit of wiping the soldering iron on the leg of my jeans prior to
using it...

Cured myself instantly the day I wore a miniskirt - true story... blush

Carla




I keep a large glass of water next to my soldering station. I dip the
sponge into the glass of water when I turn the soldering iron on. I
still need to fill the glass now and then, but much more seldom than if
I had no glass and had to moisten the sponge all the time. If the sponge
is starting to get dry, I just dip it in the glass again. It's easy when
there is a glass of water right there.

Of course, my soldering station stays in one location about 99% of the
time, so this method is fairly easy to maintain.

John Hardy
The John Hardy Co.
www.johnhardyco.com

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 23:25:52 -0500, "TimPerry"
wrote:

i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never needs
water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )


But I like that sizzling sound... though I imagine Carla's sizzle
wouldn't've been nearly as...ummm... well, I was gonna say
entertaining, but I imagine, the cruel ******* I am, I'd've died
laughing.

Then empathized with her about the time a hot bolt from a leaf spring
I was cutting apart with an acetylene torch popped off and flew
through a hole in my jeans (outside of the thigh, luckily...).


jtougas

listen- there's a hell of a good universe next door
let's go

e.e. cummings

Hmm, moisten the sponge? Someone should have told me some years ago,
damn. The sponge I have at the moment must be at least 15 years old.
Never have washed it. Got a new iron about 3 years ago, though.

Carla Fong wrote:
"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...

I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.


i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never

needs

water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )


The downside to such a brush is that as you wipe the soldering iron on the
brush, the bristles spring back and fling little bits of molten solder at
you... wear your safety glasses..

Doesn't happen with the moist sponge...

Nowadays I solder so infrequently that the sponge is always dry and I got in
the bad habit of wiping the soldering iron on the leg of my jeans prior to
using it...

Cured myself instantly the day I wore a miniskirt - true story... blush

Carla

jtougas wrote:

But I like that sizzling sound... though I imagine Carla's sizzle
wouldn't've been nearly as...ummm... well, I was gonna say
entertaining, but I imagine, the cruel ******* I am, I'd've died
laughing.

Speaking of which.. I once grabbed the wrong end. Must have been 20 some
years ago. Probably high or something.

I never did THAT again.

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 02:00:00 GMT, tttttttttttttt
(Willie K.Yee, M.D.) wrote:

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station? My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know? snip

Not really a stupid question, but one who works on electronic
equipment should at least know the basics of soldering.

Electronics grade solder (60/40) uses rosin flux, which is water
soluable. The flux is there to deoxidize the joint while the solder
is in a plastic state. After some use, it will start to cake on the
tip and will start to burn into a black/brown crust, which isn't heat
conductive. Eventually, you'll have trouble heating the joint and
will wind up making "cold" joints.

MIL-spec soldering required distilled water, as the calcuim and
chlorimines in tap water can also contaminate a joint, but for
everyday electronic stuff, it's fine. Just swipe the tip through the
wet sponge every time and the moisture will clean off the rosin flux
form the tip. Then, "tin" the tip with just a little solder to give
you heat conductivity. Placce the tip on the mechanically sound joint
(presuming the joint has been cleaned already with a "solder sucker",
solder wick or an orange stick) and heat. When the JOINT is up to
melting temperature of the solder, then flow enough solder to cover
the joint...done.

Rules: NEVER use acid core flux. NEVER use 50/50 or 40/60 (radiator
solder). Good idea: Have a tin of rosin flux handy and a little tin
of "Re-Tip"...keep that tip nice and tinned and prevent tip corrosion.

dB

Dropped the iron one time and it landed between my shoe and my leg. Made me
dance - and I don't dance.


"Joe Sensor" wrote in message
...
jtougas wrote:

But I like that sizzling sound... though I imagine Carla's sizzle
wouldn't've been nearly as...ummm... well, I was gonna say
entertaining, but I imagine, the cruel ******* I am, I'd've died
laughing.

Speaking of which.. I once grabbed the wrong end. Must have been 20 some
years ago. Probably high or something.

I never did THAT again.

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote ...
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top
of it is a metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I
thought it was asbestos or something to wipe the excess
solder off the tip.

It is only dry because you didn't moisten it. :-)
I've used damp paper towels out in the field when a
sponge wasn't available. As long as you keep it moist,
it doesn't have to be "fireproof".

I was going to show my daughter how to solder, and
she got out the kit, took out the sponge and wet it with
water.

Did she learn that somewhere, or did it just occur to her
out of the blue?

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen
the sponge while using the soldering station?

Yes, it was designed to work that way. It works MUCH
better wet than dry. Part of the effect is the steam produced
by the ~700F tip and the moisture in the sponge. Kinda'
"steam-cleans" the tip.

As others have suggested, leave the tip "dirty" until just
before you go to use it. Make it a habit to wipe it off on
the sponge just before soldering a connection and then
put it back (and shut it off to cool) "dirty". The excess
solder and slag, etc. on the tip protects it from rapid
oxidation at high temps.

Do NOT use a metal brush, file, etc to clean the tips. The
iron plating is not very thick, and if you wear through it,
the copper core will deteriorate rapidly.

My forst thought was that leaving that damp thing there is
eventually going to rust the tray, but what do I know?

I've been using them for 30 years and never seen a rusty
one. Likely made of stainless steel or somesuch.

"DeserTBoB"

Electronics grade solder (60/40) uses rosin flux, which is water
soluble.


** No it is not water soluble.

Water soluble flux is a recent innovation used in large scale manufacture.

Normal solder flux dissolves in many alcohols and other chemicals like
trichloromethane.




............... Phil

"Phil Allison"


Normal solder flux dissolves in many alcohols and other chemicals like
trichloroethane.



** Dunno where the "m" came from - OE spellchecker strikes again ???



........... Phil

On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 23:15:23 -0800, DeserTBoB
wrote:

------------------------------------8---------------------------------

Not really a stupid question, but one who works on electronic
equipment should at least know the basics of soldering.

Electronics grade solder (60/40) uses rosin flux, which is water
soluable. The flux is there to deoxidize the joint while the solder
is in a plastic state. After some use, it will start to cake on the
tip and will start to burn into a black/brown crust, which isn't heat
conductive. Eventually, you'll have trouble heating the joint and
will wind up making "cold" joints.

MIL-spec soldering required distilled water, as the calcuim and
chlorimines in tap water can also contaminate a joint, but for
everyday electronic stuff, it's fine. Just swipe the tip through the
wet sponge every time and the moisture will clean off the rosin flux
form the tip. Then, "tin" the tip with just a little solder to give
you heat conductivity. Placce the tip on the mechanically sound joint
(presuming the joint has been cleaned already with a "solder sucker",
solder wick or an orange stick) and heat. When the JOINT is up to
melting temperature of the solder, then flow enough solder to cover
the joint...done.

Rules: NEVER use acid core flux. NEVER use 50/50 or 40/60 (radiator
solder). Good idea: Have a tin of rosin flux handy and a little tin
of "Re-Tip"...keep that tip nice and tinned and prevent tip corrosion.

dB

--Now this is a constructive advice. I'd add that wiping the solder
tip is a habit greatly adding to a correct and good solder joint. The
aim is to get a solder joint at a controlled temperature, normally 280
-- 330 degrees C for the most common 60/40 solder, and to get an
intermetallic connection by deoxidizing all surfaces in the joint
which is done by the flux. The lower temperature also prevents the
flux from evaporating too rapid so it makes a good joint look nice and
shiny. A drop-like joint or a blob is almost always a sign of an
inferior joint and is a possible cause of trouble. Normally, the
soldering eye with the leg of an installed element is heated
beforehand and soon after touching the eye to heat up, the solder is
added. The flux from the soldering wire core distributes evenly across
the joint, cleans the surfaces and at the end, leaves a protective
coat. After that, the soldering tip should be wiped off in a moistened
sponge. Weller has a sponge having orange-colored layer and this is
the right side for wiping off. The most of todays soldering tips are
plated by various metals, including iron and aluminium so at a right
temperature they can last quite a long time.

The key is the right temperature and cleaniness -- and never use any
of that flux products meant in fact for brazing -- even it says
"acid-free". It isn't acid free at all otherwise it wouldn't be a
flux. Such a strong chemicals will destroy the whole joint sooner or
later. A normal rosin flux will allways do, provided there's no
excessive oxide at the both of the wires/legs and soldering eyes.

Of course, this applies to hand soldering. In the industry, soldering
is done a complete different way.

Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia

Electronics grade solder (60/40)...

If you can find it (it's not difficult), you should purchase 63/37 solder. That
ratio is "eutectic" -- it has the lowest melting point of any tin/lead alloy,
and does not have a plastic state -- it goes directly from solid to liquid. Both
these properties reduce the chance of a "cold" or otherwise defective joint.

The difference in price between 60/40 and 63/37 is not great. There's no excuse
for not using the latter.

Many years ago I worked at a music store, and sometimes my duties involved
assisting the repair tech. Sometimes when I wasn't looking, he would
simultaneously touch his soldering iron to the wet sponge and a pencil to my
arm just so he could see my reaction. Funny guy.

"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.


i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never
needs
water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )

--Now this is a constructive advice.

Warning: I AM associated with this company...if a commercial plug is totally
forbidden, I apologize, and move along...there's nothing to see here.
Otherwise, this plug seems to be on topic.

Heathkit sells a Learn to Solder kit. It comes with a book, a handful of
electronic parts, some solder, and a circuit board. There's even a video
tape available, it's extra. If you regularly (or even ocassionally) need to
teach someone how to solder, this kit is probably a good idea. It might also
keep otherwise unoccupied interns busy doing something other than fiddling
with knobs. :-)

Model # EI-3133, $34. phone: 800.253.0570

-John O

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

Yep, soak it and wring out most of the extra water. A puddle is not good,
you just want it damp enough to wipe off the burned flux and other crud.

The alternative is to load up the tip with a bunch of solder and fling the
excess onto the floor. That gets a bit messy, and doesn't work well at home.
(the females will help with that decision, too.)

Have fun with that young lady. That skill is probably something she'll be
able to impress some slug-of-a-guy with someday. ;-)

-John O

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in
message

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

FWIW yes, but everybody already told you that.

My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

Will, you're my hero because you honor truth enough to subject yourself to
the potential indignity of asking a question like this.

Seriously, you're my hero for at least the day.

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote:

I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.

It's not asbestos for sure.

Yes, it is inteneded for 'tipwiping'.

I was going to show my daughter how to solder, and she got out the
kit, took out the sponge and wet it with water. Now that never
occurred to me (stuff like this is why we have females in our lives).

Your daughter is smarter than you !


So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

Yes.

My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

You know very little it seems.


Graham

Arny Krueger wrote:

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in
message

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station?

FWIW yes, but everybody already told you that.

My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

Will, you're my hero because you honor truth enough to subject yourself to
the potential indignity of asking a question like this.

Seriously, you're my hero for at least the day.

I like your response !

Might I say RTFM ! or even google
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...advice&spell=1


Graham

In article ,
Willie K.Yee, M.D. wkyeeATbestwebDOTnet wrote:
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.

I was going to show my daughter how to solder, and she got out the
kit, took out the sponge and wet it with water. Now that never
occurred to me (stuff like this is why we have females in our lives).

So, my stupid question is: Is one _supposed_ to dampen the sponge
while using the soldering station? My forst thought was that leaving
that damp thing there is eventually going to rust the tray, but what
do I know?

Yes. The tray is stainless or aluminum. Keep it damp all the time. It
is for wiping the gunk and dross off the tip.

The key to making good connections is to keep the iron as clean as possible,
keep the work as clean as possible, and use eutectic solder.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In article ,
TimPerry wrote:

"Willie K.Yee, M.D." wrote in message
...
I have a temp controlled soldering station. On the top of it is a
metal tray with a small dry sponge on it. I thought it was asbestos or
something to wipe the excess solder off the tip.


i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

i prefer a cheap brass machinist brush (it dosent cool the tip, never needs
water, and dosent make sizzeling noises )

It doesn't clean the tip anywhere near as well, though. And it very quickly
wears off the iron plating on the tip. You'll find tips last a lot longer
with the sponge. Same goes for the copper mesh stuff.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Electronics grade solder (60/40) uses rosin flux, which is water
soluable.

The wet sponge will remove rosin core flux from the hot tip, but not all
fluxes can be removed from the p.c. board with water after things have
cooled down. There are some solders that have water-washable flux which
can be wiped off of the p.c. board with a damp rag, or rinsed away under
a faucet if practical, though the stream of faucet water may get into
and damage some parts. Flux does not always have to be removed, but
things look so much better when it has been removed.

The only things that are hand soldered in my M-1 mic preamps are the
four voltage regulators. It is easier to add them after the heat sinks
are in place and everything else is lined up. I use solder with water
washable flux for the job. When I finish soldering, I dip an old cotton
sock (WigWam) in water and use it to clean the flux residue away. Looks
great.

John Hardy
The John Hardy Co.
www.johnhardyco.com

In article writes:

i leave it dry ...but i dont use it either

I sometimes wish I would take the trouble to hook it up to a water
line. I always have to take it to the bathroom and soak it, but it's
handy for wiping the tip of the soldering iron.

Oh, and it's not asbestos, it's a cellulose sponge. The water keeps it
from burning or melting. Perfectly safe.

-- No sponges have been killed to write this message.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

In article writes:

Normal solder flux dissolves in many alcohols and other chemicals like
trichloromethane.
^^^^^^^

Is this the principal ingredient in Usenet parrot droppings?

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Pooh Bear wrote:

You know very little it seems.

I'll wager he plays much better jazz guitar than you do, Pooh.

--
ha
"If you get one noxious piece of **** device in your signal chain,
you will get a bad result and there is no magic cure that will undo
this." Scott Dorsey

John Hardy wrote:
Electronics grade solder (60/40) uses rosin flux, which is water
soluable.

The wet sponge will remove rosin core flux from the hot tip, but not all
fluxes can be removed from the p.c. board with water after things have
cooled down. There are some solders that have water-washable flux which
can be wiped off of the p.c. board with a damp rag, or rinsed away under
a faucet if practical, though the stream of faucet water may get into
and damage some parts. Flux does not always have to be removed, but
things look so much better when it has been removed.

The water-washable flux sold as "organic flux" smells nasty, and it MUST
be washed off. In production facilities they basically run boards through
industrial washing machines to remove the stuff.

The only things that are hand soldered in my M-1 mic preamps are the
four voltage regulators. It is easier to add them after the heat sinks
are in place and everything else is lined up. I use solder with water
washable flux for the job. When I finish soldering, I dip an old cotton
sock (WigWam) in water and use it to clean the flux residue away. Looks
great.

I don't like the water-washable flux, because it doesn't flow as well as
the rosin stuff to my mind. But, if you are working on high-Z circuits
where the flux absolutely must be removed in order to prevent leakage
paths, the water-washable stuff is much easier to remove. The alternative
is to use nasty solvents... and now that TF is gone, the only ways to
remove rosin flux are with isopropanol and a lot of elbow grease, or with
something like Chemtronics Flux-Off which is a mixture of pretty nasty stuff
that requires a lot of EPA paperwork in a production facility.

I still like using rosin-core solder. It smells wonderful, and it flows
very well.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey wrote:



The key to making good connections is to keep the iron as clean as possible,
keep the work as clean as possible, and use eutectic solder.


I had been build electronic stuff for years in high school, and I had
NEVER seen eutectic solder; I *had* seen 60-40 and 50-50 and even 70-30.
When I took properties of materials as a 1st year engineering student,
I asked the prof why they didn't make eutectic solder, it seemed like a
no-brainer. His reply was that there was probably a mechanical reason,
perhaps to make a more rigid connection.

So when was 63-47 first marketed? I'm guessing it was long before 1968
and we were both just clueless. I was a kid, he was an ME, so we both
had an excuse.

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 08:26:31 -0800, S O'Neill wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:



The key to making good connections is to keep the iron as clean as possible,
keep the work as clean as possible, and use eutectic solder.


I had been build electronic stuff for years in high school, and I had
NEVER seen eutectic solder; I *had* seen 60-40 and 50-50 and even 70-30.
When I took properties of materials as a 1st year engineering student,
I asked the prof why they didn't make eutectic solder, it seemed like a
no-brainer. His reply was that there was probably a mechanical reason,
perhaps to make a more rigid connection.

So when was 63-47 first marketed? I'm guessing it was long before 1968
and we were both just clueless. I was a kid, he was an ME, so we both
had an excuse.

Sn63 has been around at least as long as they've been wave
soldering--Sn60 has always been a good bit cheaper. Probably was
restricted to wave applications because the wave machine had the
economics of scale and recycled the unused material.

Nowadays with BGAs, I'm fairly certain they use high temp alloys, but
I'm stuck in a 63/37 universe hand soldering, so I cannot say for
certain.

S O'Neill wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:

The key to making good connections is to keep the iron as clean as possible,
keep the work as clean as possible, and use eutectic solder.

I had been build electronic stuff for years in high school, and I had
NEVER seen eutectic solder; I *had* seen 60-40 and 50-50 and even 70-30.
When I took properties of materials as a 1st year engineering student,
I asked the prof why they didn't make eutectic solder, it seemed like a
no-brainer. His reply was that there was probably a mechanical reason,
perhaps to make a more rigid connection.

A lot of people still prefer 60/40 solder because it flows much more easily
than 63/37. 60/40 has an easier time holding onto a surface. Also, of
course, if you are doing rework and you mix two kinds of solder, you are
going to get something weird with unknown characteristics.

So when was 63-47 first marketed? I'm guessing it was long before 1968
and we were both just clueless. I was a kid, he was an ME, so we both
had an excuse.

I don't know. I know that in the late sixties it was being used in military
work. But for the most part, I didn't see it outside of the military until
rather recently.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:56:04 GMT, "John O"
wrote:
-----------------8--------------------------------

Heathkit sells a Learn to Solder kit. It comes with a book, a handful of
electronic parts, some solder, and a circuit board. There's even a video
tape available, it's extra. If you regularly (or even ocassionally) need to
teach someone how to solder, this kit is probably a good idea. It might also
keep otherwise unoccupied interns busy doing something other than fiddling
with knobs. :-)

Model # EI-3133, $34. phone: 800.253.0570

-John O


-- And there is some other useful info at Cooper tools' webpage:

http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brand...ions/index.htm


The "Better Soldering" booklet is worthwile downloading. Weller
published an excellent book decades ago, while the company has been
still German, and the book is in German too as far as I know. But some
chances are it has been translated in English too: "Loeten und
Entloeten in Elektrotechnik" [Soldering and Desoldering in
Electrotechnics] as I can remember the title.

{And I don't have any connection with Weller/Copper Tools albeit I
almost cant' solder wirhout soft ticktack of my ancient TCP station
hehe}.


Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia

hank alrich wrote:

Pooh Bear wrote:

You know very little it seems.

I'll wager he plays much better jazz guitar than you do, Pooh.


No contest :-)


Graham

Scott Dorsey wrote:

S O'Neill wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:

The key to making good connections is to keep the iron as clean as possible,
keep the work as clean as possible, and use eutectic solder.

I had been build electronic stuff for years in high school, and I had
NEVER seen eutectic solder; I *had* seen 60-40 and 50-50 and even 70-30.
When I took properties of materials as a 1st year engineering student,
I asked the prof why they didn't make eutectic solder, it seemed like a
no-brainer. His reply was that there was probably a mechanical reason,
perhaps to make a more rigid connection.

A lot of people still prefer 60/40 solder because it flows much more easily
than 63/37. 60/40 has an easier time holding onto a surface. Also, of
course, if you are doing rework and you mix two kinds of solder, you are
going to get something weird with unknown characteristics.

So when was 63-47 first marketed? I'm guessing it was long before 1968
and we were both just clueless. I was a kid, he was an ME, so we both
had an excuse.

I don't know. I know that in the late sixties it was being used in military
work. But for the most part, I didn't see it outside of the military until
rather recently.
--scott

Hmmmm.

You haven't seen the recent upcoming lead free legislation obviously ?


Graham

Scott Dorsey wrote:

The water-washable flux sold as "organic flux" smells nasty, and it MUST
be washed off. In production facilities they basically run boards through
industrial washing machines to remove the stuff.

Yeah, the water-washable flux smells really bad when hand-soldering. I
use a water washable flux with my wave solder machine, making flux
removal fairly easy.

I still like using rosin-core solder. It smells wonderful, and it flows
very well.

I agree. I miss that smell, and still use that type of solder in some
situations.

John Hardy

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 19:39:08 +1100, "Phil Allison"
wrote:

Water soluble flux is a recent innovation used in large scale manufacture.

Normal solder flux dissolves in many alcohols and other chemicals like
trichloromethane. snip

Phil is correct. However, rosin flux may be cleaned up in its plastic
state with water, as can acid flux. Leave the acid flux for radiators
and such, however!

dB

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 01:21:01 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

The difference in price between 60/40 and 63/37 is not great. There's no excuse
for not using the latter. snip

The problem with using 63/37 on a hand soldered joint is that it is
not easy to work with on some joints, due to its change from solid to
liquid without a transitory plastic state. However, eutectic solder
is prefered for wave soldering and the like, and when applicable,
generally turns out a better joint than does 60/40. However, if
someone is skilled at soldering and knows how to properly clean and
heat a joint, there should be no functional difference.

dB