Best heat for soldering iron ?

ielectron

Member
at 280 degrees there is barely any corrosion on the tip, at 350 its much more usable but will corrode in like 10-20 sec, though if its covered with solder its should not be an issue, 400 or 450, tip is heavily corroding, in few seconds, it must be covered with solder all the time for sure.

So if u can solder fine at 280 use that, but when ur soldering ground on a motherboard u wont be able to melt, go up to 350, and only rarely to 450, only when really needed (will burn flux right away from the solder core), like i use 450 on a PS4 motherboard when soldering the HDMI legs connected to ground, but i always apply new solder to cover the tip, and right away dial back to 350 when soldering is done
 

G.Beard

New member
How much heat is the best for soldering ? in celcius?

thank you

The answer is, whatever works best for the job and the iron / station to hand.
It depends on the thermal mass of your iron, the thermal mass of the board area you are working on, how much solder is on the pad and how easily the solder mask or pads might scrape or lift... etc.
If your using a rework station then it would depend also on the air flow, the calibration of the station and many other variables.

Just have to get used to what your working with.
 

ielectron

Member
The answer is, whatever works best for the job and the iron / station to hand.
It depends on the thermal mass of your iron, the thermal mass of the board area you are working on, how much solder is on the pad and how easily the solder mask or pads might scrape or lift... etc.
If your using a rework station then it would depend also on the air flow, the calibration of the station and many other variables.

Just have to get used to what your working with.

no offence, but i always hated those "there u go grab the nothing" kinda advices

u can literally copy paste this to any question in any forums without helping anyone
 

SMMRepair

Member
That's true, but at the same time, you've got to experiment and get some actual experience in soldering different components, different boards, using different tips, etc. Nothing replaces experimenting and really getting a feel for how these things behave under different circumstances. Can't really provide an exact answer because there are too many variables usually. Minimizing the importance of all variables can be detrimental to learning. Not all stations are calibrated 100% properly, not all tips handle heat the same (size/shape/quality). It's a valid point--practice and experiment and see how things go.

If solder isn't melting well (ground plane, right next to a huge coil, etc), pre-heat or turn it up. If your tip is constantly needing re-tinning and burning away so quickly, turn it down. You shouldn't be replacing tips every other week. It's impossible to apply your answer to all situations; using a fine-tip will require much higher heat than a blunt/thicker tip because you're got to push the heat to the tip (dissipates much more). Similarly, using a lower-quality fine-tip is not the same as a higher-quality (identically-shaped) fine-tip. Genuine Weller LT1X will last 3-4 months if taken care of (eventually the tip will round off and need replacing) and requires less heat by ~10-20 degrees. The knock-offs will last maybe 6 weeks if you take care of them; they burn up in the center (not the tip) quickly and require a bit more heat (I imagine the core is smaller). I don't know a ton about tip construction and thermal mass, but I do know there's a difference in quality from a $28.00 genuine Weller tip and an $8.00 generic tip. Your specific settings apply to your specific setup. For example, I hang out around 380 with finer tips, and 340 for thicker tips. Your mileage may vary, so play with it and get a feel for what situations require which tips/heat/etc.
 
Last edited:

G.Beard

New member
no offence, but i always hated those "there u go grab the nothing" kinda advices

u can literally copy paste this to any question in any forums without helping anyone

Ok then. 350°C - 480°C on the iron and 550°C on the sation. Good luck.
 

Inwerp

New member
various leads have different melting points. if it is a lead-free board, you need 50-80° more. i usually solder with SnPbCu lead, so i'm tuning it down to keep it from oxidating too fast.
 
Top