[Elecraft] soldering

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I agree, Jerry. I should have tempered my comment to mean "typical =
solder
pads", like 99% of the pads one finds in the radio. It takes developing =
an
awareness for how much "mass" there is to absorb the heat and planning
accordingly.=20

 For example, I find that 3 seconds is a LONG time for some of the small
pads on the option boards like the SSB module while it isn't going to =
hurt a
pad connected to the ground plane on the main board. Still, I seldom go =
over
3 seconds even on a ground plane, preferring a soldering tip with =
sufficient
mass to heat the joint properly quickly. As you said, it sometimes takes =
a
"bigger" iron, not a "hotter" one to do the job properly, and I =
generally
have more than one iron in use.=20

Of course, doing something like laying down a "bead" of solder is going =
to
take more time than soldering a lead sticking through a pad in the =
board.=20

Ron AC7AC
K2 #1289

 -----Original Message-----
The dwell time depends on what you are soldering...If you are trying to
solder the binocular cores to the board in the KPA-100, two or three =
seconds
isn't going to cut it, there is too much "heat sink" there...A bigger, =
NOT
hotter iron is needed here..An appropriate approach is to use a little
common sense...

Jerry, wa2dkg=20