[Elecraft] soldering tips

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

Hi John:

>I presently have some new weller soldering tips and they are the screwdriver
>and the part numbers arre c93 and c94. Some are long and some are short but
>they are 1/32 and 1/8. Are these the correct tips to do the majority of the
>kitbuild and/or should i look for some others?

Something in the 1/16" width would be helpful.

You want to try to use a tip which is about 80%-90% the width of the pad to 
which you're soldering. This way, you maintain maximum available 
heat-distributing contact with the pad, but have less risk of accidentally 
having solder flow onto a nearby pad as well.

You failed to state what model of Weller iron the tips were for, so I can't 
help by giving you possible part numbers.

Please note that it is IMPERATIVE that you have AMPLE, but not excessive, 
heat available to ensure that each individually soldered joint is as close 
to perfect as you can make it. I say this because I just finished repairing 
a PC board for a friend who HAS a temp-controlled iron, but was either in 
too much of a hurry, or used too low a temperature when he did his 
soldering. Many(!) of his soldered joints were either not 'well flowed' or 
he tried to use too much solder to make up for the lack of adequate heat in 
the tip of his iron. So, he didn't dwell long enough at the joint to ensure 
that the solder flowed into the hole AND onto the wire. If he had too 
little heat available (as a result of using too low a temp setting), he may 
have become a bit concerned about having to dwell too long at a joint, and 
tried to compensate by adding more solder. EITHER of these scenarios are 
the wrong way to solve the problem.

73 - Tom Hammond   N0SS