new soldering station

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
Hey guys, My wife bought me this kickass soldering station for xmas. its an xytronic lf-369d.... http://www.xytronic-usa.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=17 ... my old station just has a temp knob that goes from low to high and its only 25 watt so it just stays at high and sometimes isn't hot enough to get the job done. I really like to use the .032 standard 60/40 rosin core solder. My station goes to almost 900 degrees faranheit.What would be a good temp for this solder?? Ive never had anything with all these options either. any tips on what this baby can do?
 

Metalmann

Joined Dec 8, 2012
703
Looks good.

I usually keep my temps in the 400-650 F range. Depends a lot on the material I'm soldering to......thicker material, higher temperature; so I can get in and out quickly.
 

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
thank.. I haven't even tinned the tip yet. don't want to get it to hot and it not get wet or something. when I first turn it on, its always set at 685 no matter what I had itat whaen turned it off.. but this station has memory sets and password temp lockouts and all kinds of stuff..
I just wante to solder a couple of ne555's to some protoboard to break it in. are yo u familiar with this station? I incuded a link. is ti any good as far as hobbieasts like me go?
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
when I first turn it on, its always set at 685 no matter what I had itat whaen turned it off.. but this station has memory sets and password temp lockouts and all kinds of stuff..
Oh great, a soldering iron with a microprocessor that always reverts to the temperature somebody in China wants. If I had one of those, I'd hit it with a hammer, but that's just my opinion of putting a microprocessor in everything you can fit one in.
 

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
I think its pretty cool.. mainly because its 45 watts and my other is 25.. Ive had more than one instance where it just wasn't hot enough.. I think im not just setting it right because it has 5 different presets. I haven't done much but tinned the tip. I really need to set it up... Im just confused about what temp to use for my solder and for my surface and component being soldered. I have no experience in this. I went from a 40 watt 10 dollar radio shack iron, to my old station to this one. so I think im moving up in the world. any thoughts on temp settings for basic things. like I said, the solder I mentioned before is my favorite size, I use it for almost everything exceot when silver solder is necessary.
 

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
Oh great, a soldering iron with a microprocessor that always reverts to the temperature somebody in China wants. If I had one of those, I'd hit it with a hammer, but that's just my opinion of putting a microprocessor in everything you can fit one in.
and xytronic is American made
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I do hope you can train it to behave as you like.
I bought a 35 watt Weller a very long time ago and have never wanted for anything else for basic assembly like circuit boards or soldering a wire to a pot or a switch. (Something about getting good at using a tool you are familiar with.) It doesn't have a temperature meter, so I'll have to let other people tell you the right range.

Good luck with your new tool.
 

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
thanks guys.. ill play with the temps and such to find what works with me.. I was just curious what temps others like to use and if each type of solder has a different temp range to liquefy right. and #12 your right, If I cant get it to turn on with the temp I like, My old station may just come back out of the "sometimes" tools cabinet.. have you looked at the link I gave to it? does it look like a solid station? Its the same manufacturer of my hot air station and I love it, but the only thing I can choose on that is the amount hot air, I can adjust to a trickle of air to a damn jet.. lol.. I really enjoy everyone heres opinions and in the last 6 months I have came a long way. and I love my old station, but it has let me down a few times by just not getting hot enough to certain things like for example, it wouldn't get hot enough to tin the tip of a 12ga. wire to my desk lamp. had to pull out the snap-on butane iron for that job.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
From the advertising, I gather that you can force it to a certain temperature, "with a password". I just hope you don't have to enter the password every time you turn it on.:rolleyes:

Can't quite see in that picture where you park the business end, but you're in a better position to say if it feels like quality. You have it in your hand. It looks like it came with a brass, "Dobie pad" for cleaning the tip. I use a damp sponge. Plugging in the iron automatically triggers a, "wet the sponge" reaction.:D

When you start getting into house wiring size, I usually pull out my Weller 140. 35 to 45 watts is borderline not enough for 12 gauge wire, especially if there is 2 of them trying to get together. The old one was 25 watts? No wonder it feels weak. You're never going to sweet talk that into doing 12 gauge wire.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I was just curious what temps others like to use and if each type of solder has a different temp range to liquefy right.
Every different mixture of metals has a different melting point, but they aren't very far apart if I remember correctly. The "lead free" types might be significantly different. It seems more likely to me that you might have to adjust the temperature upwards when you need to solder something with enough mass the suck up so much heat that the temperature of the tip drops below the melting point. For me, that would be attaching a terminal strip to a PC board. The larger than usual copper space and the metal backer for the screw amount to a lot more mass than a resistor lead on a soldering pad.

Soldering a ground wire to a chassis is beyond the range of pencil irons. You either use a crimp connector and a screw or you haul out the big gun.

Edit: Here's a chart of temperatures:http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/solder.htm
 

Thread Starter

adamclark

Joined Oct 4, 2013
472
the part that holds the brass pad has a holder for the iron itself. Ive got it to turn on on the temp I set so that's good.. All the password feature does is keep somebody to turn the temp past the max temp I set (which is 650 degrees faranheit) it goes to like 895 or something, but Im not sure why I would ever need it that hot. and it only asks for a password if I try to turn it up past 650.. as far as in hand feel, It feels really solid. one thing I love about it is the handle stays cool.. after soldering for more than a half hour with my old one the handle felt like a wrench that was left in the summer sun all day. I used this one for over an hour last night and it never even got warm. So if the electronics and heater stay good, I would have to give this a 4 out of 5 star rating. its losing the 5th star because the wire from the base to the iron is only 2 feet. I would have liked that to be a little longer. And #12 thanks for the chart. Im sure ill use it. but right now Im set at 525 and its performing pretty well... thanks for all the replies
 
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