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307
| | Posted on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 9:36 pm: | 
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Selecting A Soldering Iron
There is a very important fact you must take into consideration when working on a modification that you may be doing on your radio that requires some solder work and that is the type of soldering iron that you are using . There are many soldering irons to choose from but only a few are recommended for working on delicate electronic circuits . Some things to be cautious of are soldering irons that are NOT tip grounded . These soldering irons have the tip on them that some times has a voltage on them and will blow integrated circuits as soon as you touch them . If you are using one of these soldering irons and you can tell if you are by simply looking at the price (8 to 14 dollars) then you need to throw it away . Another thing to be aware of is the wattage of these cheap irons . Generally they are 250 watts and are not good for CB radios because typical heat range is very low and you have to hold the soldering iron on the component to flow the solder , but by the time the flow starts the component is already too hot and probably damaged .
Soldering irons that are recommended for this type work are Weller TC-201 irons , Hacko , Easy-Flow irons and several others . If you are doing a lot of work on a radio then you need to purchase one . The cost of a soldering iron that is recommended is any where from 125 dollars to 200 dollars and are "TIP GROUNDED" or "ESD" which stands for Electro Static Device Safe . I get radios that have huge balls of solder on them for just attaching a simple little wire and in a quick glance you can tell what kind of soldering iron has been used , the wrong ones .A rule of thumb is if the soldering iron you have has an external power supply then it is probably OK to use . If you have one that you plug in and the cord goes right to the iron and have to wait about 30 minutes to heat up , DON'T USE IT .
Another important fact to remember is the type of solder that you are using . Only use a solder that has 60/40 or 60 percent silver 40 percent lead . Other solders will not flow on to the components very well and will "ball" up . I have seen technicians using plumbing solder on radios and that is about the worst thing that you can do . Plumbing solder is solder that requires long high heat to flow it . When flowing solder the solder you are using will flow in and match up with the solder that exists on the component before you started . Make sure the solder you are using has "FLUX" that is built into the solder . Never use and external flux and remember when heating up a component always apply the heat just long enough to melt the solder and briefly flow it . Never overheat it . |
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