AVR-Chat

Hi Larry,

On Wed, Sep 08, 2004 at 06:23:40PM -0700, Larry Barello wrote:

> Ok, I work almost exclusively with AVR, but I have a question about solder!
> 
> Of the various choices at Digikey, what is a good, general purpose, solder
> to use on small electronic assemblies?
> 
> The no-clean and water soluble sound good to me.  I just want to be able to
> lay down SMD parts with minimal fuss.  I use a flux pen before hand, so I
> suppose the %flux and type isn't that important..
> 
> Currently I use .030 no-name solder that I got years ago (it doesn't take
> much on small assemblies...) So I am looking at 3.3% flux .020 solder.

I typically use 2 sizes, 0.025 for through hole work and larger
surface mount parts, and 0.015 for smaller surface mount parts, i.e.,
the smaller parts on my MAVRIC boards.  Specifically, I've been quite
happy with these:

      0.025" : Kester 24-6337-2601 (Digikey part KE1521-ND)

      0.015" : Kester 24-6337-8806 (Digikey part KE1405-ND)

Both of these are "no clean" which basically means any flux residue is
cosmetic, but I clean anyway, especially if it is a board for someone
else.  Each also are 1 pound rolls and will last quite a while.  I do
a _lot_ of soldering and I've had mine for at least 6 or 8 months or
so - my 0.025 roll will probably need replaced in a few months, but my
0.015" roll looks almost new, so I think I'm good for a while there
:-)

-Brian
-- 
Brian Dean
BDMICRO - ATmega128 Based MAVRIC Controllers
http://www.bdmicro.com/