Soldering Iron Temp Advice

[Murray]

I just got my hands on a Weller WES50 with some new tips and have some soldering to do but have some questions since this is my first actual controlled-temp soldering iron.

I'll be using 60/40 tin/lead solder and probably this 1/16" screwdriver tip to solder some sockets onto some Genesis cart PCBs. What's the right temperature to use for that?

 

[Xian Xi]

I usually set time to 3.5 or so.

 

[Murray]

This thing has a range of 350F to 850F.

It looks like 675 gets pretty good results. Much lower and the solder takes a long time to melt. Much higher and it boils.

Is there some kind of guide somewhere to look up what temps are best for certain applications / solders? Or is it mostly trial and error?

 

[Xian Xi]

Most average leaded solders melt at 400F and lead free I think is around 450F so I wouldn't go passed 500F unless you are quick because if you sit there you can burn something quick.

 

[Murray]

I'll do some more experimenting with it at a lower temp. The nice thing about 600+ was that I didn't have to sit there. It took no more than a second per joint. But there's no point soldering quickly if I ruin what I'm working on, of course.

 

[Kyuusaku]

It's better to expose the joint to 700 for 1 second than 500 for 5 seconds and still do a sloppy job.

 

[Xian Xi]

It's better to expose the joint to 700 for 1 second than 500 for 5 seconds and still do a sloppy job.

Makes sense. I checked my station and at 3.5 mine is at 650F.

 

[xiao_haozi]

Yeah... normal stuff I use around 600-650F. If I'm doing anything surface mount than I usually go lower, like around 500-550F just to be safe.

Best thing to do, imo, is to get a broken component, say an old PCI modem or something like that, and practice putting on and taking off components and testing what temps work best for you and the solder you are using and the thickness of your desolder wick (if using that), etc etc...

 

[channelmaniac]

My Pace stations are set at 650F for both solder and desoldering irons. This is what was taught in the Pace training I went to back in the early 90s.