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Got told my soldering iron tip was way too hot for modern boards
A guy at a repair meet in Austin looked over my shoulder and said, 'You're cooking those pads, turn it down to 650.' I was running at 750 for years, thinking more heat meant faster work. I dropped the temp and started adding a bit more flux. The change was instant, no more lifted pads or that burnt smell. What's your go-to temp for small SMD stuff these days?
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west.henry1mo ago
Yeah 650 is the sweet spot for smd, maybe 700 for ground planes.
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graygonzalez1mo ago
You're right about 650 for SMD work. I found going to 700 on a ground plane makes a real difference for heat transfer. It keeps the solder from cooling too fast and making a bad joint. The extra heat soaks into that copper mass much better. Just be quick to avoid lifting a pad.
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adam_lewis1mo ago
That makes sense about the extra heat for a ground plane. How quick is "quick" before you risk lifting a pad? Is it more about the total time the iron is on the joint, or does the tip temperature itself make the pad more likely to come up if you linger?
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