Soldering Iron Temp

[d1camero]

Hi all, I just purchased a fancy-schmancy soldering station that has temp control.  Now what temp do I run it at?

d1

[PRR]

> Hi all, I just purchased a fancy-schmancy soldering station that has temp control.  Now what temp do I run it at?

Same temp which worked good on your old dumb iron.

Make a few test-joints on scrap material.

Try 600F to 700F.

My non-controlled iron idled at 750F. That's rather too hot for most folks doing joints one at a time. But 650F was not hot enough for the way I work.

The Radio Sack iron that I whine about in another thread has to be cranked to 720F to do turrets, or indeed most anything large enough for me to see. I very much doubt it runs 720F at the tip. The sensor seems to be about 2 inches back at the heater.

I have no idea why it defaults to 350F every time it is turned on.

The numbers on those things don't mean a lot.

If they mean something: over 800F is sure to give trouble. That will burn flux and tin and give terrible results. 500F would be ample if it were in the joint, but the iron has to run hotter than the joint for heat to flow.

So start 500F or 600F and see how fast the joint heats, how liquid the solder gets. Don't be afraid to set the number to 700F or higher if you need to, but be aware that too-hot is worse than too-cool.

And remember: bead-up is good for car wax, bad for solder joints. How you get a wet joint is secondary.

[Tiny_Daddy]

For tube work just set it for 750 and try it out. I judge heat by the way the solder melts.

[d1camero]

Thanks for the info - it seems that about 700-750 is about the same heat as my old dumb iron.  Flux does is not burning.

d1

[Nigel]

Hi all, I just purchased a fancy-schmancy soldering station that has temp control.  Now what temp do I run it at?

d1

It depends on what and how often you are soldering.

If your doing lots of small joints then it needs to be hotter.
If your just doing one offs then not so hot.

If your soldering heft pieces of metal to wires then it needs to be hotter.