🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <kk62c51rq1rhdq9he33du6t99nbjp1pqga@4ax.com>,
 Archimedes' Lever <OneBigLever@InfiniteSeries.Org> wrote:

> On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:21:13 -0700, Smitty Two <prestwhich@earthlink.net>
> wrote:
> 
> >In article <r7l0c5l9457i2ug2u6143cp6pllirtrauu@4ax.com>,
> > Archimedes' Lever <OneBigLever@InfiniteSeries.Org> wrote:
> >
> >> >As far as temperature, I agree with you. I've never found a need to 
> >> >solder anything at less than 800F. Smaller parts just require shorter 
> >> >dwell time.
> >> 
> >>   This one is off the mark.  Perhaps you meant "at MORE than 800�F"
> >> That would certainly be an upper max for me, and it is quite easy to
> >> solder at much lower temperatures.  Well over a 100 degree differential,
> >> and that is significant.
> >
> >Pardon my ambiguity. What I meant to say was "anything other than 800F." 
> >That's the upper limit on most fixed-temperature tips, or adjustable 
> >irons.
> 
> 
>  Yes, and despite most folks cranking the damned things up that high,
> basic soldering operations (pre-RoHS) were NEVER meant to be performed at
> that high a temperature.  Even on big 0.092" stock with lots of Copper.
> In that case, one should pre-heat the whole assembly a couple hundred �F,
> which will insure that all the solder joints wet well and flow through
> properly.

Uh-huh. I've personally hand soldered hundreds of thousands of joints at 
800F, and overseen the soldering of millions. Turning down the flame has 
only one result: It takes too damn long to build the board. It's sort of 
like the clock speed on a computer. It doesn't matter much if something 
takes 1 second instead of 1/10 second, but it makes a big difference if 
it takes an hour instead of 6 minutes. When I was a kid I built some 
Heathkit stuff and spent 30 seconds making every solder connection, 
because the iron was underpowered and I didn't know enough to know it.
Machine soldering is different, of course, but for hand work, 800 is 
perfect for everything and anything.