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Soldering Question


Dave A

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Talking to a tech savvy friend of mine today and he was horrified I would work on crossovers with an AC Weller soldering gun. He says he was taught that any solid state component, and he included Zenner diodes in this group, could be damaged by the electrical field of the soldering gun. He says he only uses a butane soldering iron for this reason on basically anything outside of lamp cord. I had never heard this mentioned on the forum before so I ask is he right?

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30 minutes ago, Dave A said:

I had never heard this mentioned on the forum before so I ask is he right?

If he is right, then we are all in a world of hurt, and it doesn't matter whether you spend $4 or $40 dollars on a capacitor, cause they are now crap.

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33 minutes ago, wdecho said:

I agree, use a decent iron for electronic soldering. I would never use a torch. Torches are for plumbers and a gun is used mainly for repair work in the field. 

He's not referring to a torch like a plumber uses for soldering.  He's referring to a butane heated iron.

 

Pro 50 Butane Soldering Iron Kit (#7971)

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My friend is pretty smart and I used to watch him maintain a whole commissary operation right down to repairing PC boards but I figured he was not right on this one. I had never heard of such a thing so I asked. I figured he had specific instructions for a delicate piece of equipment and projected that to everything else just to be safe.

 

  I like the Weller, quick to heat up and quick to cool and works well. Kind of like TIG welding where too little heat means higher total BTU input into the work piece as you struggle to melt metal I find the Weller does the job quick and the field is no different than the bench as the end result is the same and so is the purpose. 

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Electrical field of the soldering gun? I think your friend may have confused what he heard. ESD is certainly an issue when working on sensitive circuitry. I use an ESD safe soldering & desoldering station, as well as an ESD mat (properly grounded) and an ESD wrist strap. That is what's required to work on sensitive components. Electro-Static Discharge can cause latent damage to occur within components that will not cause immediate failures, but will cause failures down the road.

 

Crossover components for Klipsch speakers? Nope, your Weller is fine, as long as the wattage, temp, and tip are appropriate for the components you're working on.

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39 minutes ago, wdecho said:

Lead free solder is available but no fun to solder with. It takes more heat to flow. I never use lead free. I feel the danger from such a tiny amount used for soldering is not going to do any serious harm but if you are concerned purchase lead free.  

Or get a soldering fan.

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If you're fretting it, how's about something like this:

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/WSA350/WSA350-ND/1130559?WT.mc_id=IQ_7595_G_pla1130559&wt.srch=1&wt.medium=cpc&WT.srch=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_dPr89nQ2AIVkK_sCh3yZA7rEAYYAiABEgLCNvD_BwE

We use all types small to big around here at work to exhaust the fumes.

 

 Sorry don't know your kitchen:)

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----------------------------------------------------------------***********************************************************-Make sure you get Electrical solder, not plumbing type as the latter cases corrosion in time. A good 60/40 will work, even better with a 2% or 4% silver.

Obviously solid silver is a no go. Takes way too much heat to melt, think brazing. Ever find a spool and it's not labeled.. a good test to find out what it is..

Leaded solder will leave a shiner joint than the lead free which is dullish looking. Remember to get your parts to fit together as good as possible before you solder.

Solder is made to just fill in the gaps and not be treated like a glue, jb weld etc  

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6 hours ago, Blvdre said:

Electrical field of the soldering gun? I think your friend may have confused what he heard. ESD is certainly an issue when working on sensitive circuitry. I use an ESD safe soldering & desoldering station, as well as an ESD mat (properly grounded) and an ESD wrist strap. That is what's required to work on sensitive components. Electro-Static Discharge can cause latent damage to occur within components that will not cause immediate failures, but will cause failures down the road.

 

Crossover components for Klipsch speakers? Nope, your Weller is fine, as long as the wattage, temp, and tip are appropriate for the components you're working on.

 

Yep, ESD is what he is thinking of, especially if he works with surface mount stuff.

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