MOTM

At 10:58 PM -0700 06/10/02, Scott Evans, Gen Mgr wrote:
>
>Hello all!

Hello, :)

Just to let you know, questions on soldering kits are not off-topic.

Btw, for which team are you General Manager??  Many years ago, I used to
work for Bobby Valentine.

>I have just started my first PCB project with the Kester organic water
>soluble solder. Having been used to rosin core solder for 35 years or
>so, I am finding it a bit difficult to determine the proper technique
>for this stuff. I have the soldering iron set to about 700 Fahrenheit,

Yes, 700F is the correct temperature.  I use a WTCPT with a 700 degree tip.

Why do I use the WTCPT instead of an iron with an adjustable temperature??
I'm a synth guy, and synth guys love to play with knobs!!  This way it's
always the same whenever I turn it on, and I'm not tempted to tweak some
knob when I should be paying attention to soldering.  I also believe that
the WTCPT is a simpler design and therefore more reliable.

>as I was used to production line work when working as a technician. The
>solder does not seem to "flow" as well as the rosin core solder. Can I
>achieve better results with a lower temp? Or is this just the nature of
>the product? I don't seem to be getting the flow of solder through to
>the component side of the board. Any hints would be appreciated.

You are right, it's not as thin as other as other types of solder used for
PCB work, but it is much more fluid than the "no clean" solder included
with the kits.  What I do, is solder the PCB "upside down" so that the
component leads are sticking up (I use a board holder).  That way, gravity
is working in my favor.  This also assures that the leads are properly set
and crimped prior to soldering.  Perhaps a tiny bit of wiggle is OK, but if
they lift when the board is inverted then they do not have a proper fit in
the first place.  As you know, soldering isn't welding, it shouldn't be
relied upon to make connections in and of itself.

Paul suggests holding the iron for a couple of seconds before moving on to
the next connection.  I tend to hold it a bit longer than that, perhaps
because I'm also used to using rosin core for electronics.  My thinking is
that the components used are designed for wave soldering, so they are built
to handle much more heat than hand soldering.  For IC's, I "dance around"
so that I do not solder adjacent pins one after each other.