Temperature Control

[inefficiency]

Hey guys.

I just got a temperature controlled soldering station and I'm not too sure on what different temperatures I should use and for what purpose.

Any tips?

[negativefx]

I use leaded rosin core solder and run my iron at 700

[IvIark]

Dime it, it melts quicker
Passives can take quite a bit of abuse, I don't think I've ever damaged one due to temperature, so if you use sockets for transistors and opamps you're good to go.  The only thing I'd lower the temperature for is germanium diodes or transistors, or any IC I was soldering directly.

[inefficiency]

Yeah Mark, that's what I was thinking -Didn't fancy absolutely blasting my lovely old germs...

What kinda heat are we talking for stuff I wanna be careful with? Maybe just slowly turn it up until the solder is just starting to flow consistently?

I guess I can experiment, but it's always nice when someone else already has!

[Frank_NH]

This is the soldering station I purchased about a year ago:



Radio Shack Digital Soldering Station

It has a temperature control, and I use the highest setting for most work (around 620 F) with rosin-core solder.  I suppose you could drop the temperature if you had a different solder or were working on a component which was particularly heat sensitive.

And while people may scoff at Radio Shack products, for me this unit has worked extremely well.  No problems, and I haven't even changed tip on my iron!  The only upgrade I did was to cut a thicker sponge for cleaning my tip - and I constantly clean the tip while soldering.  

[Silver Blues]

It looks like a really good iron. Radio Shack used to carry really nice things. Sigh...

[inefficiency]

Nice.

I grabbed a Xytronic one. A few guys here say that their irons are really good and last a long time and that you get a lot for your money, so it seemed like a good one to go for.

I think its an 80watt and goes up to 896 F - I imagine that's too hot for most uses...

It was about time I made the upgrade. I'm sick of buying tips for my Weller one. It goes through them at a ridiculous pace.