counterintuitively I actually find a less fine tip (the normal fairly blunt-pointed tip I use for all soldering) is better, I got an extra pointy tip for SMD but the sharp end of it doesn’t actually heat up as much and it’s harder to use
for that matter, I bet 90% of people ITT who think they are bad at soldering generally just don’t have a hot enough iron
A few things I’ve learned. A good quality soldering iron is totally worth it. I replaced my no-name one with a mid range Hakko and it made a world of difference.
I’ve always hated using tin solder so I’d use lead solder instead because it melted so much better. I’ve found that silver core solder while being a little more expensive works really well. It has a nice melt like lead, but without being so toxic.
Also flux. Use lots and lots of flux. It’s a woefully underused tool. When working with small components or doing things like soldering ribbon cables onto pads it can practically be magical.
probably obsolete for any number of reasons, though.
QFT.
I use a Hakko 888D with a knife tip to reliably solder 0.5 mm pitch ICs:
I also have a fine conical tip, but it gets no real use- only if I have to reach in some extra tight spot.
Notwithstanding the declining eyesight, I’ve moved to 90% surface mount for my hobby projects, mainly for these reasons:
I still have a large amount of eutectic Pb/Sn+Ag solder, it’s impossible to get now but It’ll probably outlast myself (and no, eBay/aliexpress solder is not worth the savings).
I just have to remember not to chew on it.
When I was practicing soldering at home, back in the last century, I accidentally dropped the soldering iron. Instinctively I crossed my legs to pick up the tool.
It was a pretty hot mistake.
For real, this -
… and this -
solder iron technique frustrations are one of those few areas where blaming the tool is highly valid. It’s a reasonably complex topic involving thermal mass of the tip, thermal loading of the work-piece, conductivity of various parts of the stack (including the PC board, internal planes etc.) not to mention the ever-ongoing variable vs. fixed power level (misleadingly thought of as variable temp) solder iron debates. One of the biggest revelations I had - years into the craft - after soldering (poorly) with quickly destroyed tips - was to abandon the wet-sponge tip clean method. Turns out the sudden thermal shock causes delamination of the tip-coating and makes an (initially) invisible gap between the coating and the underlying metal - making heating spotty and inconsistent.
What do you use then? One of those metal coil thingies?
Changing to a temperature controlled Hakko with a readout of the actual tip temperature (versus a cheap one that only tells you what you set it to) was super helpful. You don’t even need an expensive rig. A mid-range Hakko can be bought for around than $100 and it’ll work amazingly well. (Be careful though, there’s lots of Chinese knock offs.) That, and changing to a slightly more expensive SnCuAg alloy which made a massive difference over more typical Pb-free SnCu alloys (which I learned are fine for industrial wave soldering applications, but lousy for hand soldering).
Yep - the “brass wool” is where it’s at, (i think that’s what it’s called). Major tip-life extender.
I have colleagues who swear by the Hakko’s, definitely high quality stuff - I didn’t know about actual temp display - good to know, that feedback definitely would make a big difference over open-loop power-level settings, (like old Wellers I used to use, always oscillating between over-cooked and too cold). Am now in the Metcal cult (microwave driven “curie-temp” fast cycling tech, the tip is locally heated (really fast) through HF induction and magnetically-quenches at a target temp (so no overshoot) - but the temperature can’t be varied, except by swapping out the tip) - they’re pricey but popular in industry so lots of availability on the surplus market - also Thermaltronics is a compatible cheaper compatible option (the company some employees launched after getting bought up by OKI).
Yep, same here. Our son put on a new tip and tried brass wool, and went directly from frustrated to fun.
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