Soldering Iron Heat?

[MarkBrown]

I received an adjustable heat soldering station a year or so ago.  I never really learned what tempurature to use for what.  Before I start soldering away to build the circuit for the $50 robot, I was hoping someone could give me a tip as to which to use.

Thank you,
Mark Brown

[pomprocker]

http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/How_To_Solder

[MarkBrown]

Thank you very much.  That is exactly what I was looking for.

Mark

[Brandon121233]

Well I do almost everything with surface mount so I use solder paste and a griddle, but if I am soldering I usually check the data sheets of the components and check what the maximum soldering temperature is then set my iron to or below that. If I'm having trouble getting a nice joint then I will raise the temp like 10 degrees or so.

[MarkBrown]

Excellent advice, thanks.  I have experience in soldering, but it is mostly made up of wiring Deans connectors to batteries or wires to motors and such.

[Admin]

I tend to find hotter is always better.

The one exception is that hotter usually increases wear and chances of damage to your soldering iron tip.

[Brandon121233]

who care about the tip, they cost like $1 you can find those in cracker jack boxes, most of the smaller SMD stuff is really sensitive to heat too like MCU's, FETs and voltage regs, the data sheets are usually very conservative but that stuff will fry.

[Admin]

I meant the really nice tips

I know its counter-intuitive, but the longer you keep the iron on a part, the more the part will heat up. So with a really hot iron, you can get the job done much faster. My rule of thumb is 'hot enough to solder in under 3 seconds' for the hard stuff and under 2 for the rest.