My dad just delivered my birthday present, despite my dad acting all wierd, I now have a digital temperature controlled soldering iron! But, it has some wierd solder with it. It's Sn60 Pb38 Cu2.... copper solder? Strange... Does anyone have any experience with this stuff? :?

Congratulations on your new soldering iron!

I have never used solder with a Cu content, but a little research shows that it has the same melting temperature range that 60/40 does.

When you use it up, get a big spool of small diameter eutectic Sn63/Pb37 or Sn62/Pb36/Ag2 (also eutectic) and that will hold you for a long time.

Take care,
-Peter

And you were all grumbly because your parents weren't there for your birthday!!  See, they WERE thinking of you. :wink:

Mark, my dad was kind of rude though. My girlfriend's brother opened the door and my dad shoved the package into his hands and walked off. I'm happy with the iron but my parents haven't gotten any more sociable. That's what was bugging me. And still is quite frankly, I was gonna ask my dad in for a cup of tea or something but Robin (brother in law) didn't get a word in.

I called my mom afterwards and she actually tried to tell me that I was the one being rude. :roll: She never even congratulated me & my girlfriend, she turned 17 today. A nasty affair with a very cool soldering iron I guess.... Oh well... I'm not going to take too much note of this, it's their own problem that they're acting funny in the end.

Hi.  I just finished a roll of 60/38/2 solder.  Round here they call it savbit (save-bit) because it prevents erosion of your tip.  Seemed to work - I used a 500g roll of it (built about 40 effects) without having to re-sharpen the tip on the iron.  

Stay cool, be true to yourself and kind to others.

Wow. I'm seriously going to have to try some of that solder! I go through more tips than I would care to reveal.

Cool. I still have 60% of a 60/40 roll over, but I think I'll try the 60/38/2 next time I solder anything... Y'know compare them and such... Cool

Now that you have a good iron, I would suggest buying a 500g spool of Sn63/Pb37 or Sn62/Pb36/Ag2. That will make work soooooooooooooo much easier. It really makes a huge difference. You will always need a second spool for your portable tool box. The 60/40 or 60/38/2 will fill that roll nicely.

Take care,
-Peter

Yeah I noticed everyone raving about 63/37 solder. I'll check it out after I get back from London.

I just read the manual it says that the soldering iron is 48W :shock: What's the absolute highest temperature that I can set it to? I did a short test-run yesterday at 275-300 degrees (centigrade), and that worked fine... but I'm curious.

I would avoid cooking it. My iron will go to 818°F, but there is no good that can come from that temperature.

The high wattage element is to make the thing heat up fast. The temperature is regulated just like a furnace in a home; by cycling on and off.

You'll want to use a temperature of between roughly 300°C and 400°C.

Take care,
-Peter

i'm intrigued by copper-content solder as well.  most of my suppliers don't even offer it yet... perhaps it's the wave to come.

as far as temp settings go, my assembler says he likes slightly cooler settings for small work, soldering leads onto pads around perhaps 650F, and higher settings for heavier work like switches and jacks, perhaps around 750F.  i hope i'm remembering the values correctly... it's late.  but the fire is beautiful and my cat is lounging in front of it purring like a fiend.

I use about 390 for jacks, plugs and other big things and about 340 for everything else.
In Fahrenheit thats 644 and 734.

Quote from: Peter SnowbergThe high wattage element is to make the thing heat up fast. The temperature is regulated just like a furnace in a home; by cycling on and off.

You're right, it heats up in about 20 seconds

Thanks for the recommendations guys, I'll check it out

I use 550°F for most small stuff, and I'll dial that up to about 650°F for medium stuff, and finally if I need to solder something really big I'll turn it up to 750°F for the duration of that work and then back down to 550 or 650 as soon as I'm done. If it's going to be a few minutes before I need to solder again, sometimes I'll turn it down to 400-450.

I'll let you do the conversions.

Take care,
-Peter

Thanks Wow you must have posted about 10 seconds after I did :lol:

I should add one more thing.....

If you are assembly line soldering.... the temps go up by 50-100°F. (i.e. 650-750 is my normal range)

i gotta say, those controlled-temp irons are amazing.  you can flip one on and be soldering in a matter of seconds... and the wellers automatically time-out after a bit and save the tips from frying.  great for late-night moments of sudden realization.

As far as I know they're also very expensive :mrgreen:

well once you've calculated the cost of replacing all of your fried irons, as well as driving time/money to get new tips, and if you ever end up repairing or building something for someone, i don't think spending $149 for a controlled iron as opposed to $39 for something that makes you struggle every time you need it is really that much of a difference.

you get what you pay for, but the real key is, know what you need.  8^)

FYI: The European Union will ban the use of lead and other toxic metals beginning July 2006, so you will have to use Pb-free solder sooner or later, at least here in Europe.

I've seen Sn96Ag4 solder, but it's bloody expensive, about five times as expensive as ordinary Pb solder. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff? Melting point will be somewhat higher I guess...