[Elecraft] Central Tendency of K2 PCB Solder Pad Widths?

[Don Wilhelm]

Jeff,

You may be splitting hairs, but I prefer a 1.60 mm ( 1/16 inch) chisel 
tip for most of my soldering.
The flat on the tip allows sufficient area to conduct heat onto most 
solder pads, and work well for me.

More important than the size of the tip is to heat both the solder pad 
and the component lead so you can see the solder flow out to an almost 
invisible edge on both the pad and the lead.  If that happens in less 
than 2 seconds, the iron is too hot, but if it takes longer than 3 
seconds, the iron temperature is too low.  The temperature required will 
vary depending on the surface area of the solder pad and the 'weight' of 
the component lead - the larger areas will conduct heat away from the 
point to be soldered more quickly and require a tip with more mass or a 
higher temperature.

Experiment a bit until you are comfortable with the task.

73,
Don W3FPR

Jeff T. Casey wrote:
> Hi gang,
>
> This document on the Elecraft web site,
> http://bit.ly/solderingtips
> says,
> "[Soldering iron] tip width will normally be in the range of 1/32" (0.79mm) through 1/8" (3.2mm), depending upon the width of the pad to which you are soldering. The width of the tip selected should be about 75% to 90% of the width of the pad."
>
> What would you estimate to be the median or modal (or just typical ;-) solder pad width on the K2's circuit boards?
>
> Or, to be more direct, which of the following soldering tip widths would be best for use in building a K2: 0.80 mm, 1.19 mm, 1.60 mm, or 2.40 mm?
>
> Or am I just splitting hairs?
>
> Thanks very much, 73 & 72,
> Jeff
> NE2J (formerly WB5GWB)
>   
>