Ideal iron wattage?

[JACK98]

Whats the ideal iron wattage for cap change?.

[pandy71]

at least 60W

[8bitbubsy]

No!

For SMD capacitors, 15W is more than enough...
Don't use a 60W iron for SMD capacitors!

For through-hole capacitors, 60W is suitable ... Maybe a bit high, what about 30-40?

[Zetr0]

@8bitbubsy

I am sorry to say my friend, I dissagree with you,

A good 60watt variable temperature iron is what you need for pretty much anything.

A 15 watt iron will leave you with nothing but frustration - especially on jobs that have a large ground plane (like most through-hole stuff on an A500)

I would suggest at the minimum 45 watts - and this will struggle changing thought hole capacitors on the A500

Its also wise to mention that on the A600 ther are some large SMD ground plans that a 45 watt iron will strugle.

Remember the longer you have to keep an iron inplace the more likely you are to damage the components - its about temperature / thermal loss / time -

a quick action with a 60watt iron will do no damage compared to a protracted effort with a 15watt unit.

[8bitbubsy]

A 60w iron will break the pads much easier than a 15w. Generally removing SMD caps is easy with a 15w, but rather dangerous with a 60w one. At least if the tip is very big, as they often are on the big boys. Maybe it's just my 40w iron from the late 70s with a big tip that is too powerful... That's why I love my 15w

Regarding the ground plane, yes, that's where a higher-wattage solder iron is handy... But still, working with SMD components with a 60w iron is nonsense in my head.

EDIT: 666 posts!

[Zetr0]

@8BitBubsy

that seems to me my friend you have the heat to high - not the wattage. Try and seperate wattage and temperature from you mind at the moment - this will make things clearer for you.

remember you are best to use a varible temperature iron - the wattage of the iron is the amount of power available to reach the desired temperature - without a variable temperature controll I wouldn't bother with soldering to be honet.

Let me give some more wattage / temperature detail -

Now in your example it reads as though you are running to hot - because if you go over 280c you will run the risk of damaging the SMD pads - you see wattage has nothing to with the temperature you set - only in achieving the desired setting and maintaining it.

i.e. if you set a temperature of say 260c - although a 15watt iron will get to 260c it wont be able to maintain that temperature - hence struggle - in somecases the heat dissipation will be greater that the wattage of the iron - this happens on ground planes alot. because of this it can damage a local area as you are on that point longer than you should be.

The truth is any iron can cause damage if its not properly used the iron tips and temperature setting are very important - as is good qualtiy no-clean-flux -

to low temperature will cause as much damage as if set to high, the skill and experience comes in knowing what is right for the job at hand.

with 60 watts of power available - the iron can maintain the desired temperature for the proper length of time to get the job done.... not to long... and not to short.

I thinkyou can guess I have a 60watt variable here =D

[JACK98]

Thank you all for replies.and yes i came to same theory as zetr0 that if i spent too long trying to melt the soldier with low watt i would burn the other parts slowly.there is 60w with small tips available on the ebay.if they are good brand is another debate

[cosmicfrog]

hehehe
I have some 40 watt speakers will they work heheheh

variable heat soldering iron one day I might get one

so new solder dos`t have lead in any more is that right ??
but still got tin in

just done a bit of searching on solder and there melting points
from wiki

Common solder alloys are mixtures of tin and lead, respectively:

63/37: melts at 183 °C (361 °F) (eutectic: the only mixture that melts at a point, instead of over a range)
60/40: melts between 183–190 °C (361–374 °F)
50/50: melts between 185–215 °C (365–419 °F)

Lead-free solder alloys melt around 250 °C (482 °F), depending on their composition.

so wots in the new lead free solder then ??

wow just found out something I never heard of before

Tin wiskers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_(metallurgy)

[zipper]

I do all my soldering with an old 50W Weller, interchangeable tips with temperatures from 370 C to 480 C (!); pointy/sharp to 5.6 mm. Just pick the right one.

[Loedown]

You can't beat the old blue Weller irons, tip stamped with 8 is 800 degrees Farenheit perfect for caps including the through hole ones.

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by 8bitbubsy

No!

For SMD capacitors, 15W is more than enough...
Don't use a 60W iron for SMD capacitors!

For through-hole capacitors, 60W is suitable ... Maybe a bit high, what about 30-40?

Nope - solder with temperature stabilization has always the same temperature - 60W and 15W - but for heating, especially large ground planes (common situation during replacing elec. caps) even 60W can be not enough - general rule - soldering shall be as short as possible - 15W can destroy elements easier than 60W. Solder 60W with temperature stabilisation and few tips (for different jobs and elements) are more than sufficient.

This is decent Xytronic Soldering station - used as example - not my sale.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/80W-TEMPERATUR...item5ad5aa793e

[DH]

I totally agree with Zetr0 on this one, but the one thing I'd like to say is, if you're not confident enough to do the job, for fear of damaging the mobo or components, take it to someone who's had plenty of experience, it's also so easy to kiss goodbye to any surface mounted components too

[rkauer]

Even an unregulated 60W iron is good to replace capacitors, and it may struggle when the capacitor is attached to a large ground plane.

A 60W iron used for a short period of time is better than a 15W used for almost 5 minutes to melt a single solder spot.

[HonestFlames]

I think mine is a 25W, but it's variable temp.

It's years old and served me well. Took an age to desolder the extraneous leads from an ATX PSU, but it got there in the end.

Perhaps I should invest in a better iron, if I'm going to have ever more Amiga gear

[rkauer]

For temperamental solder spots I have my solder pistol: 120W of powah!

Yes, it's dead easy to destroy a copper trace with it.

[Anemos]

maybe is helpful video..
[ Show youtube player ]

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by rkauer

For temperamental solder spots I have my solder pistol: 120W of powah!

Yes, it's dead easy to destroy a copper trace with it.

It easy to kill IC's - there is always a kind of surge spike and a quite big EM field close to tip... good for "heavy" electronics (that works with quite big currents) but not for all that FET/MOS/CMOS used in computer IC's

[rkauer]

I don't use it near delicate components, just on large solder areas from the back side.

I also never turn it on near the boards I work on.