Well, it sounds like you got the job done with no
problems and that's what counts. I guess I'm a little
spoiled... Having been soldering on the bench for over
10 years (right out of high school, went to work in a
production line sweat shop) So, I've only used high
quality Weller irons...Even though I don't do that
stuff anymore (that was like 15 years since I stopped
that line of work my current job is way more fun...)
and I still only buy Weller irons (I even have a
portable Butane iron that I keep in the car that is a
Weller model) I guess it all comes down to what you
were brought up using.
Ed
web/gadget guru
--- Jon Shurtleff <jon.shurtleff@munich.netsurf.de>
wrote:
> Umm yes, I am aware that if it were an iron from
> Radio Shack or something
> like that that this might be a problem but this is
> not a hobby iron. It's
> grounded and temperature controlled from a well
> known manufacturer. They're
> not that expensive anymore. Alright, by the time I
> bought the fine tip it
> may have been $30. Besides with this kind of
> soldering it's more about
> technique that equipment. If you're only in contact
> with the component for
> a fraction of a second with a pretinned lead then it
> doesn't matter that
> much what the temperature of the iron is. If you're
> dwelling on it, of
> course it does. As I've suggested before when this
> has come up, use
> wire-wrap wire NOT the lacquer insulated stuff that
> PIX sends with the
> board. On the pads of the accelerator board itself
> you don't to be that
> careful. Cut the leads to length. Strip the ends
> and do those first. Then
> mount the board and coat the ends of the wire with
> solder. They're already
> silver plated so this is easy. Then just tack them
> to the components with
> the iron with the wire between the iron and the
> component. This takes some
> practice but you can get a very good joint this way
> by only touching the
> component very briefly. That means, of course, that
> you have to practice on
> something else before you try it on your Newt! I'm
> not suggesting that this
> should be done by the average hobbyist. Experience
> is important!
>
> Jon.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ed Kummel [mailto:tech_ed@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2000 3:02 AM
> To: jon.shurtleff@munich.netsurf.de
> Subject: RE: NTLK The Newton's successor?
>
>
> Do you realize how dangerous that was? A standard
> regular soldering iron that you "just plug into the
> wall" may not have the static shielding and voltage
> regulation to isolate the wall current from the
> Soldering iron tip. Also non professional soldering
> irons have a tendancy to have too large a
> temperature
> range. They fluctuate too broadly. I've seen some
> supposedly 20watt irons pull the traces off of a
> board
> becuase it was actually more like a 40watt iron.
> I would say you were either very lucky when you did
> that, or you were not near any sensitive
> components...Either way, spending $100 for casual
> soldering:
>
http://www.lashen.com/vendors/CooperTools/Weller_WES50.asp
> isn't too much to ask when you realize the
> alternative
> is $180 to fix the Newt!
> Ed
> web/gadget guru
> --- Jon Shurtleff <jon.shurtleff@munich.netsurf.de>
> wrote:
> > Well OK, I agree about the magnifying lamp and
> > steady hand but I did the job
> > with no problem with a $25 dollar 20W soldering
> iron
> > with replacable tips.
> > I used a very fine tip. Considerable experience
> > with soldering is highly
> > recommended though.
> >
> > Jon.
>
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