/diy/ - Do It Yourself

You can get a good soldering iron for $20.

You can get a good soldering iron for $15.

>>1606618

just get the 100 dollar hakko from amazon and not waste your money buying three soldering irons that are worthless before you eventually buy the hakko anyways

Get a chink station for 30 bucks. You don't need an expensive one unless you solder every day.

>>1606672
This, save your money - I started with dad's plumbing solder gun, then got a shitty non-adjustable iron, then a shitty power-adjustable weller, then finally a temp-controlled hakko and now I don't use anything else.

I'm a fan of Weller (the old models are un-killable), but at the price the Hakko 888D's are going for it's easily the best recommendation for a brand-name one. I'm definitely not of fan of that whole "Playskool" design that Hakko products have now though...

>>1606804
You can get a soldering iron with proper temp control for less than 20$.
You don't need a 100$ Hakko station for that.

i use a miniature fire bow and spin it real fast while my mom feeds the solder

>>1606618
Whatever you do, don't buy those shitty 20-30 W irons. They don't have the power to properly even melt solder, you're left with solder gunk that just gets in the way
Buy a decent, 60W iron. This is a lesson I learned too late too many shitty low power irons later.

>>1606834
If the solder isn't melting right than the temperature is too low, not the power. Or heat isn't transferring right because you didn't use enough flux.

Power (and thermal mass of the iron) is only an issue if you solder shit that can absorb a lot of heat (large cables, heatsinks, large multilayer boards, etc.).

This is the cheapest decent station you can buy:
https://www.banggood.com/YIHUA-908D-220V-LED-Digital-Display-Soldering-Station-Soldering-Iron-Kit-p-1059873.html
Takes 900 series tips, easy and cheap to find all kinds.
You can also look around for chink stations, there are many different types, with bigger/more stable base, 2 in 1 stations with hot air, whatever.

>>1606839
Ah yes you're correct, I did mean temperature
i have a 30W iron and its tip is not hot at all, i could literally touch the tip for a second and it doesn't even burn, but a few mm behind the tip is barely hot enough to melt solder

>>1606834
I can solder sheet brass (model making) with a 25W iron. If you can't "even melt solder" with one, you might want to figure out how to keep your tip clean.

Yep if it s just for hobby take a shitty welder between 20 and 30 euros.
And if you really like this hobby then buy a hakko.
But if you buy a shitty one you must sold through hole component instead or smd > 0805. Don t even think about solding other component. Otherwise it s a hell.
Personally I used a shitty welder for 2 years burn myself and all because of this shitty thing but I made decent pcb with big footprint.
But now I have a hakko and it s totally different and worth the price. I cab easily do small pcb footprint. You save tone of time.
But it s like playing the guitar. Buying the most expensive without even knowing how to do a proper chord is stupid. Better start on a shitty one and then if you like buy a decent one

>>1606834
>>1606672
>>1606847
why is everything so gay this days?!
my main iron is a 40 watts chinknesium that I bought 10 yeasr ago, I only changed the tip once (goot) I dont need a fancy "soldering temp controlled station" and I actually work in electronics for a living, I make custom amplifiers and general lab equipment service, yes fancy lab equipment, no I dont need fancy station because I know how to solder!....

BTW don't use anything more that 40 watts for electronics, 30 watts could be perfect if you work on surface mount components but if you know how to solder the 40 watts with a "pointed tip" is great for any work.

>>1606879
>BTW don't use anything more that 40 watts for electronics
Excess power never hurts when you have temp control.

>>1606860
I cleaned my tip, even filed it, but nothing helps. The solder does melt (barely so) on contact with the tip, but if the tip is touching a component or pad (say DIP resistor leg), the solder would absolutely refuse to melt. If I still persist for more time, the solder would turn into gunk and roll down, and sort of solidify around the tip
It is very painful, I blame my shitty chink iron, and rosin flux wire. I got like 7 rolls for free so i should not complain

>>1606879
If you get a cheapo 20-30W iron, you'll definitely not be soldering anything big. These are cheap $25 stations, it's not like you're paying out of the ass for unnecessary extras.
>>1606897
Do you have a very sharp/thin tip? Another reason could be poor contact between the tip and the heating element.

>>1606897
Okay yeah; your shitty chink iron might say 25W but I bet it's not producing the same heat as my Antex 25W. Like >>1606921 also says, it's probably got terrible contact between the element and the tip. You could also have a Chinesium tip with all the thermal properties of a dead skunk.

how do I remove smt components without a heat gun?

>>1608941
depends on how many terminals and if you want to retain the component

>>1608943
I want to remove it completely. A modchip should take its place.
I was thinking about protecting the board and chip underneath with kapton, taking some tweezers, and prying it whilst dotting each pad with a solder.
Want to do it neatly though.

>>1606618
You could buy a new temperature controlled hakko like the others said or another option is a Weller temperature control used from ebay or any other used goods site. A station with 60-80 Watts will be sufficient for the rest of your life.

>>1608950
I'll probably just get a Hakko 888D as one anon said. Seems to be the best bang for the buck.
I also could use a pcb holder and magnifying glass, will those cheapo ebay helping hands suffice? I'm not trying to recap a macbook here.

>>1606879
>I only changed the tip once (goot) I dont need a fancy "soldering temp controlled station" and I actually work in electronics for a living, I make custom amplifiers and general lab equipment service, yes fancy lab equipment
Something doesn't quite add up there...

Temp controlled is really useful, there are times when it's important for the components and a heat sink up stream isn't enough or impractical, or if you're working on substrates other than FR4. I wouldn't say that the Chinese Hakko clones are terrible tho, but you want to make sure you've got something where you can change the tips out easily at the very least. If you never change a tip you will eventually find at the very least you're contaminating your solder and the joins get very brittle. You can do maintenance to bring them back, but there is an end life to this and it's shorter than 10 years for anyone who solders a decent amount.

I did a lot of soldering for quite a long time with a hacked to death iron you'd use for stained glass, it worked but it's nowhere near ideal. You're not being manly, just being an inefficient fuddy duddy.

>>1608952
>will those cheapo ebay helping hands suffice?
They're not great for PCBs, more for attaching wires to other wires especially if you use a washer as support. I would rather use almost anything else, PCBs need pretty rigid support and just pliers or a blob of Plasticine is better. PCB vise is maybe what you're looking for.

>>1608945
You are not taking that off neatly without a heat gun.

One of those $40 Ebay fire hazards (atten 858D), some lead solder and a pair of tweezers ought to do you. Tin the pads with leaded solder before doing the heat gun so that you lower the melting point of the solder, then apply some flux and heat it with the heat gun set to about 400 C.

Listen here my friend. I'm a serious autist about my tools, and I am only satisfied when everything works perfect and nothing annoys me. I spend a crazy amount of time researching new tools online and when I come across something interesting, I buy it to test it out. I like soldering a lot, so no compromise will be made here. Recently, I added pic related to my addition. Two times actually, so that I would not have to change tips. I could not be more satisfied, this Quicko T12 works extremely well. Here are the links:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MINI-T12-OLED-soldering-station-electronic-welding-iron-2018-New-design-DC-Version-Portable-T12-Digital/32839523934.html
(Buy the bare station without any accessories)
This handle is good:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2018-New-Arrival-T12-Aluminum-alloy-handle-for-OLED-LED-Digital-Electric-Soldering-station-for-T12/32925815648.html
Write the seller a message to include a KF and a C4 tip. They will send you an extra bill and ship everything together.
Those tips work extremely well for fine and bigger joints.
You can power the station from any generic 19V Laptop power supply.
I smile whenever I get to use these things, they feel and work so much better than the price suggests. Get this, you won't regret it.

>>1606618
>to start hobbying,
For $13 on amazon you can get a 60W/110V iron with temperature control and a starter's kit - spool of solder, tweezers, bunch of other shit. By the time it breaks down (mine still hasn't), you will have long since justified the cost.
Leave the $70-$100 faggotry for later

>>1609136

sounds too good to be true. did you get one of these?

>>1606672
I made a $15 iron last 6 years with regular use. They're fine if you take good care of them.

>>1606618
Get a Weller in the $30-70 range. That'll be satisfactory for a beginner, and you won't have pissed a bunch of money away if you end up not using it much.
Hakko is fine, their stands are retarded though. Also, with Hakko, ALWAYS check that the attachment you buy is compatible with your particular station.

>>1609078
thanks. I've decided on this instead of the Hakko. Has great reviews.
https://m.banggood.com/KSGER-V2_1S-T12-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Soldering-Station-Soldering-Iron-Tips-T12-K-p-1338117.html?rmmds=detail-bottom-alsolike

>>1609671
any feedback on this?

>>1609671
$50 is pretty expensive for a nobrand chinkshit soldering station, even if it has all the (useless) menus and settings.

>>1610028
It's still half the price of equivalent brand name controllers, plus it accepts T12 tips.

>>1610037
That just means that you'll have spent 150$ when it dies and you buy the hakko anyways.
False economy

>>1610046
why would it die? Internals look solidly built.

>>1609139
I got #9 recently. Works great and has everything I needed, and more.

>>1606618
>I've never held a soldering iron before

>>1609258
>Get a Weller in the $30-70 range.

Worth noting is that only the peofessional (blue) wellers are good quality, their hobby line (red) aren't that different from standard chink products.

>>1606618
You should just go to >>>/lgbt/

>>1609058
>fire hazards
>i left the heat gun plugged and went out for a hour
you should never count on any protection no matter the brand. if you are dumb enough to leave a fucking blowtorch plugged, you deserve your shitshed to burn down to ashes

>>1612729
fuck you buddy

>>1606618
Get Hakko FX-888D , accept no substitutes, it's not the cheapest, yet it's not a toy. Whatever you do in life, get proper tools, instruments from getgo, doesn't have to be most expensive ones, just proper. You won't regret it.

And if you don't need it, someone actually might buy it off from you.

best cheap irons are prob the chinese smt32 based that go for around $30 or so. Hakko price is 50% just brand name and newer ones have horrible user interfaces.

>>1606618
Get a chink one for $10, then DIY JBC station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYIiOkr6x9o

Sorry to intrude. But can you melt old solder with a lighter? Or atleast soften it?
For some reason I suspect that from years of leaving my TV on for hours has loosened the RF cable connector.
>Pic related.
You can kinda see it's not connected fully so it's giving me really bad signal.
All I did was bump the RF cable and it's been acting funny since. Pretty sure the cables fine so I think it's the TV connector. What do you think?

>>1614807
>can you melt old solder with a lighter?
>What do you think?
Do you not have a soldering iron?

>>1614829
>Do you not have a soldering iron?
Nah. I'm just fucking with shit I have no idea about.

>>1614807
Use the lighter to heat a wire, use the wire as a soldering iron. ezpz

>>1606618

if you are looking for technique I have never seen anyone come close to this woman

take notes here

>>1606672
I don't think he needs to spend 100 for hakko, I have weller, and its great, i've had it for 2 years now.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=17Q5OGUS7UGOE&keywords=weller+soldering+iron&qid=1558490832&s=gateway&sprefix=waller+solde%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-3

>>1614994
I have the same model, somewhat older version but still 40W, it is a piece of shit. Held on to it for too long because I didn't know better.
Then I finally bit the bullet and got the Hakko and the difference was like night and day. The Hakko heats up faster and cranks up the heat quickly when I need to solder bigger stuff. I just solder and move on where I had to struggle with the Weller cooling down and ending up with a hideous dry solder joint. The Hakko tips are also much nicer, clean easily while the Weller tips get alloyed into the joints slowly, the tip gets worn out after a month.
Weller is a piece of shit, even more now that the chinks bought out the company. Hakko definitely worth its price and will stay with you for a long time.

>>1614807
You can desolder and reflow BGAs - usually pretty old BGAs though and it's of course spotty - with a naked flame, yeah. I remember hearing stories of some small scale parts recyclers in China using candles about 10 ish years ago.

>>1615362
Also just ask around and you'll probably find you know someone with an iron that'll do it for you.

>>1615362
I think you're quoting the wrong guy.

>>1615362
Problem is I tried that>>1614819
>Cause I applied a flame directly to it for about a minute and it didn't even soften up. It just went black.

>>1615369
>I think you're quoting the wrong guy.
I think he answered my question but added bits pertaining to another

>>1614994
>red weller
>ever

>blue weller after they cheaped out and their quality went to shit in 2008

Buy the hakko and dont look back.

>>1606879

I agree with this person. A decent/cheap 30-40 watt iron is all that most hobbyists would ever need, as long as they take the time to learn how to solder correctly.

This whole conversation reminds me of the topic of shaving.

There are those who want to make it an experience. You have to have the creams to properly treat your face before shaving, then the proper razor, then the proper hand mixed shaving cream, followed by a towel at the right temperature, followed by the cream afterwards to treat your face. These are the type of people who would spend $1000 for a shaving kit and then convince themselves that they are getting a better shave and that people notice this sort of thing.

Then there are the practical... they buy a cheap ass razor, shave in the shower, and their face is just as whisker clear as the faces of those who spend an hour doing the whole "presentation" routine.

We're talking about soldering. If you are soldering electronics to a board, you can do it well with a 30-40 watt iron; and anyone who argues otherwise is trying to compensate for a lack of technique.

How do you properly solder socket pins? Do I solder a bit on the top so it stays in place and then solder the rest on the bottom?

>>1615563
Bad analogy.
Its more like buying high end Gillette Razors with the articulating handle and head, 5 blades and large lubrication strips. Or you can buy single bladed dollar store razors.

You think the dollar store razor is ok even though it causes razor bumps and massive razor burn and even ingrown hairs. You feel like through technique you can make do with it.

But it's really just because you haven't used a proper razor yet. Objectively better which yield better results easier.

>>1614908
impressive technique. such amazing skill and lazer focus

>>1606672
i use a 20 dollar amazon soldering iron
the only diffrence is theres a knob to control temperature instead of buttons and it doesnt have a screen telling you temps
it also doesnt go into retard sleep mode

>>1615661
You don't need to solder it on top, you can just wet your tip, hold the socket against the board with your finger, tack two diagonal corners to hold it in place. Once it's held in place you can properly solder all the pins.

>>1615665
>But it's really just because you haven't used a proper razor yet. Objectively better which yield better results easier

A feather safety razor?

>>1615665
A 5$ classic safety razor gives me a better shave than an expensive Gillette.

>>1609671
Nice. This should probably work just as good as the unit I recommended. Sometimes, the temperature is not calibrated perfectly. If you happen to come across some pure lead, cut it to small and long shavings. Lead melts at ~330°C, so calibrate it in a way that when you dial in 330°C the lead shavings just barely melt.