- Use
a 15, 18 or 25 watt soldering iron. The lower the wattage the better.
The SOLDRON MICRO soldering station is ideal for SMD work.
- The
tip should be a needle point. A copper tip can be filed down to a point.
Iron plated tips must not be filed.
- A
new tip should be properly tinned before it is used for the first time.
To do this, the iron is heated sufficiently and solder wire is applied
to the tip. The molten solder is then wiped off with a damp sponge.
The steps are repeated until the tip is uniformly coated with solder.
- The
tip should be wiped frequently with a damp sponge.
- The
sponge is of special heat resistant material. It is supplied with the
kits.
- The
use of good
solder is very important for SMD soldering. The solder wire should preferably
be flux cored and of a fine gauge, viz. 26SWG. The ideal tin/lead composition
is 63/37 which has a low melting point. This type of solder is supplied
with the kits.
- Both,
the SMD terminal and the PCB pad, should be uniformly heated by the
soldering iron. Each joint should completed in 3-4 seconds. Excess heat
will damage the components.
- The
solder wire should touch the pad for such time as to melt just the right
quantity of solder. In the case of SMDs this is very important as the
pad areas are very small.
- The
soldering iron tip should be removed within 3-4 seconds and the joint
allowed to cool without moving the PCB or SMD. This care is necessary
to avoid fine cracks in the soldered joint.
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