Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
30 lines (21 loc) · 4.02 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

30 lines (21 loc) · 4.02 KB
Raw

About

My name is Luke and I am learning to make electronics. These are my notes as I go along.

In 2020 I have learned how to solder. Specifically I have learned how to solder well enough to assemble a Glasgow Hardware Debugger by hand one component at a time. This means that I'm now confident about soldering 0402 passives, 0.8mm BGAs, QFNs with ground pads, and so on. (I have also soldered 0201s and 01005s as a confidence-building exercise.)

I have a twitter thread of assembing my first Glasgow PCB with a series of video clips. I'm posting other mostly soldering-related images and videos on twitter too.

The core tools that I use for most of my soldering are:

  • JBC NASE 2C nano soldering station with iron and hot tweezers. This is my favourite piece of equipment. My favourite tips are the 1mm spoon and 0.1mm conical.
  • Quick 861DW hot air station for rework and for soldering BGAs.
  • Hakko FR-830 air preheater. This provides the extra heat that I need to work comfortably with lead-free solder and also makes tacky flux flow beautifully.
  • Stickvise to hold the PCB and Hakko Omnivse to raise it above the preheater.
  • Leica S9D microscope with 0.5x auxiliary lens and RaspberryPi HQ camera. Luxury microscope with 9:1 zoom ratio.
  • Gooseneck LED lights at ~45° angle for microscope lighting.
  • Quick 6101A fume extractor to suck in flux vapor and Levoit LV-H133 air purifier to catch excess.
  • Amtech VS-213-A-TF or NC-559-V2 tacky RMA flux. This makes solder behave properly: if I ran out of tacky flux I would stop soldering until I got more.
  • SAC305 lead-free solder wire with RA flux core and 0.015" (0.38mm) diameter. (I don't miss leaded solder since I started using a preheater.)
  • Misc: Sharp straight tweezers (cheap is fine e.g. BST-19), narrow desoldering braid (matched to soldering tip size), manual dispenser for flux syringe (ergonomic luxury), ESD rubber mat.

I have several other soldering irons that I use in parallel with the JBC NASE. The NASE doesn't have enough oomph for some work and then I use a larger iron (or hot air tool.) I have other JBC, Metcal, Hakko, and Ersa irons all running in parallel with different tips but this is absurdly excessive ("fear of missing out" on a better tool.) The micro/precision handpieces are almost as good as the NASE.

If I were starting over on a tighter budget I'd begin with an entry-level JBC with added precision handpiece. I'd also switch to the Atten 862D hot air station because people who know say that it's the same quality as the Quick 861DW at a better price.

I have a bunch of other tools too: micro hot air station, ultrasonic cleaner, vacuum pickup tool, 3d printed smd tape dispensers, solder paste, BGA reballing jig and solder spheres, automatic paste dispenser with air compressor. I'm not recommending any of them quite yet - I haven't even had a chance to use all of them - but feel free to ask if you are curious.