[dorkbotsea-blabber] Soldering station

[John Miles]

Ah, those are actually Metcal irons.  I'd never seen the OKI brand applied
to them before.

Yes, those are good.  The Weller will still do a better job on heavy ground
planes, though, because at the end of the day it still has more heat
capacity.  (At least that's true of my 80-watt Weller, which I still use as
a backup to my Metcal.)

-- john
  -----Original Message-----
  From: dorkbotsea-blabber-bounces at dorkbot.org
[mailto:dorkbotsea-blabber-bounces at dorkbot.org]On Behalf Of Wes Cherry
  Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 12:50 PM
  To: A discussion list for dorkbot-sea
  Subject: Re: [dorkbotsea-blabber] Soldering station


  Another advantage of the OKI irons is you don't have to set the
temperature higher than necessary to get reserve thermal capacity -- the
temp is set by curie point of the tip (550, 600, 650, 700 IIRC).    This
means that less flux gets burnt off and you get a better joint.


  -W

  On Jun 18, 2008, at 12:09 PM, Wes Cherry wrote:


    repost -- my original had an image which made the msg too big for the
listserv sw


    I love my Oki SP-800.    It uses a material at the tip that changes it's
magnetic permeability at it's curie point.   This means that you get super
quick and accurate temperature regulation, like +- 1 deg C.   Much better
than any sort of temperature feedback mechanism as used in other soldering
irons.    So when soldering a bigger part you'll still keep the temperature
within a narrow window with solder flowing.


    From the OKI catalog:
    SmartHeat®
    When the temperature of the heater (a copper bar coated with a
magnetised iron/nickel alloy)
    reaches a certain level (its Curie Point), it stops absorbing energy and
the temperature becomes
    constant. Energy from the power supply feeds a steady current to the
coil. This creates an electrical
    field from which the heater absorbs energy, turns it into heat and
transfers it to the iron/nickel
    alloy. When soldering has drawn heat from the heater to the extent that
the tip begins to cool, the
    alloy reacts by taking on more energy in order to reheat the tip. In
this way, SmartHeat®self-
    regulates the tip temperature to within ±1.1ºC of a set point regardless
of thermal load and
    without any need for adjustment.




    You can buy different tips with different geometries and curie points
for different soldering scenarios.   The hoof tips are excellent for
soldering SMT parts.  A simple drag across the pins solders one side of a
multipin SMT device.   Tip changes take seconds.



    http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/5635-0199/


    Definitely worth the $30 more than the WESD51


    features like auto-power off are great for saving tips (leaving the iron
on for a long time degrades the tips)




    -Wes


    On Jun 18, 2008, at 10:44 AM, <alex at alexcphoto.com>
<alex at alexcphoto.com> wrote:


      Any recommendations on a good soldering station,.. I am thinking
variable with digital read out this time,..

      back story,..

      Iv gone through 4 soldering irons in the last 6 months,.. (I solder
allot) I am tiered of cheep ones that die quickly, or have replacement
tips/parts that are hard to find,..

      At the moment I am considering a drive down to Frys tonight to pick up
this bad boy,..

      Weller WESD51 50W Digital Soldering Station
      http://shop2.frys.com/product/3598004?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

      like I said I am tiered of the cheep ones that die after a few months.

      But is this over kill?

      What about "Aoyue" iv never heard of them and I am worried ill not
find the tips locally,.. but this one looks interesting on a price point
side.

      http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000I30QB
W/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1213555205&sr=8-2

      Any recommendations would be appreciated, this inset exactly an item
that’s covered by consumer reports =)

      Alex..................................................................
.......
      .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with
electricity..........
      ..........................http://dorkbot.org..........................
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      ......................................................................
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