Another just important piece of advice - "Don't use too high a temperature soldering iron"

All a high temperature does is turn flux into soot - so don't!

The important thing is to energy to the intended solder joint and using a hot iron only damages PCBs and components.

I use temperatures as low as 260 deg C for SnPb joints and slightly higher for Pb free. (And never more than 300 deg C).

Doing this attenuates the risk of damaging stuff and it allows you to apply heat for longer without any undue ramifications.

A soldering iron with a very fast recovery time or using a Tip with a large thermal mass helps a lot!

Avoid using really narrow soldering tips (e.g. 1.0mm or less) unless you can't avoid it because of

A preheater definitely helps - preheat the workpiece to say 100 deg C first and the touch the solder joints with the iron to initiate the solder reflow.

One you have defined a proven process document it and use it repeatedly.

Gung He Fut Choy!

Hi COMPACT!

I don't know that applies to everyone, my normal tip temperature setting (leaded solder with 180 deg or so melting point) is typically 330 or 340 deg C or higher. The temperature will drop as heat is transferred into the join, and then the iron will be compensating by pumping more power into the tip to bring the temperature up again.

Ask a dozen people and they give a dozen best practices with soldering : ) I guess whatever works best comes with experience and the tools we use, and will be different for us all.

Since there is a desire to make the join and get out of there fast! my ideal setting is 330 deg C. (or sometimes higher - e.g. if soldering connectors despite swapping to a bigger tip - the behaviour won't be exactly the same so the best temperature from experience per tip and type of target, in my case the temp is increased to 340 or 350 with these larger joins).

Regarding tip size, since most work is surface mount, my all-rounder tip size is 1mm ellipse-shaped conical slice, personally I find it difficult to use the tinier tips with points, but others may excel with them, would be interesting to know.

Although I should swap out, at 1mm if I'm lazy on a particular day : ( I keep using it with stripboard too.

Hi COMPACT!

I don't know that applies to everyone, my normal tip temperature setting (leaded solder with 180 deg or so melting point) is typically 330 or 340 deg C or higher. The temperature will drop as heat is transferred into the join, and then the iron will be compensating by pumping more power into the tip to bring the temperature up again.

Ask a dozen people and they give a dozen best practices with soldering : ) I guess whatever works best comes with experience and the tools we use, and will be different for us all.

Since there is a desire to make the join and get out of there fast! my ideal setting is 330 deg C. (or sometimes higher - e.g. if soldering connectors despite swapping to a bigger tip - the behaviour won't be exactly the same so the best temperature from experience per tip and type of target, in my case the temp is increased to 340 or 350 with these larger joins).

Regarding tip size, since most work is surface mount, my all-rounder tip size is 1mm ellipse-shaped conical slice, personally I find it difficult to use the tinier tips with points, but others may excel with them, would be interesting to know.

Although I should swap out, at 1mm if I'm lazy on a particular day : ( I keep using it with stripboard too.

Hi Shabaz,

Most persons thought the universe was earth centric or flat and that's the case with soldering temperatures as well.

The drop in temperature of the energy source when soldering is the reason why one should use a large mass tip or an iron that can deliver energy on demand.

Another way to address this via thermal relief pads on PCBs. The thermal reliefs are stop the energy escaping into unwanted areas such as power planes (and dropping the joint temperature).

When using lower temperatures there's actually no rush to remove the iron from the joint and its further assisted with flux paste.

The lower temperatures also extend tip life.  (Another way to extend tip life is to get an auto powering down soldering iron).

Here's another hint, Don't use conical tips unless there is a good reason!  Chisel and double chisel tips are the way to go and for SMD work you may want to use a single chisel well tip.

Chisel tips provide a large contact surface area to the solder joint.

Many soldering equipment manufacturers supply their soldering stations with conical tips to force the consumer to by additional tips (chisel tips).

Conical tips make good dart heads.

Here's a thought experiment for you - what would you expect to happen if you wave soldered a PCB with the molten solder fountain at 350 deg C or higher ?

Some manufacturers recommend a solder pot temperature of 271 deg C which is in the same ballpark as the temperatures I use (i.e. < 300 deg C) so why have it +80 deg C hotter?

And remember "Controlled Surface Tension is your friend"

Have a look at this video. Notice that there are no burnt bits of flux formed, use of FLUX PASTE and chisel tip and the slow pace of soldering.

Since it is Pb free soldering the joints never look glossy like SnPb.

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