Thanks; agreed. I do indeed have the magnifier There must be some trick on getting the iron close to the point of contact before you pick it up. I try a slow motion movement but the spatial aspect is shot. That risks hitting the PCB (for example) with the iron , and not where you want it. Is there some sort of jig that is helpful in holding the iron close to the point of contact(heating) before you actually move it in for the contact heating? 73 Chip W1YW
I do the lay and dab method, lay the solder across the pads and touch it with the iron, job done. Using a 3mm chissel tip. And just rotate the board so im always soldering from the right. Left hand holds the solder or tweezers with the part if placing it. Thinner solder on finer pitch parts. Like 0.3mm for ics and 0.6mm for passives.
Practice Its a matter of retraining the brain. Somewhat like changing from bifocals to progressive lens. The Magnifier is easy to adjust too. Under an inspection microscope is harder. A camera is great for inspection but a nightmare to do touch-up or rework under. Graham VE3GCX
Look at usb microscopes. I bought a cheap celestron to try it out and it made a huge difference using a 24" monitor right on the bench in front of the work. I bought a better one with higher resolution and use a machinists flexible clamp to position it. You can put it in any position over the work to get the view you need. I found surface mount near impossible using a magnifier and switching to a video microscope solved all my issues.
That makes a lotta sense. One of the problems I have with the magnifying ring-light is it constrains hand motion--at least for me. How do you light the board --from the opposite side of the scope? 73 Chip W1YW
There are two ways of doing this: magnifier close to the board, face further away from it. That gives you a large magnification but less control and the effect you describe. The other way is to move the magnifier further away from the PCB and your face closer. That will give you a wider viewing angle and more control when "homing in on the PCB". I even put on +3 reading glasses to I can almost lay face down on the magnifier for the best and widest view. That gives me a vision and hand-eye coordination as if I'm 18 again On the other hand, when I was 18, components were much larger... But this setup allows me to hand-solder 0.5mm pitch TQFP packages.
LOL When I was 18 parts were a lot bigger. I have been doing this for 50 years and yes I still will watch a video for beginners. You never know what neat trick you might learn. I may be an old dog but I love to learn new tricks. My biggest problem these days are some of my meds cause mild shaking so I have to have a firm surface vary close to rest my hand on to stabilize it. Just another New challenge in life. Let's keep those instructional videos coming. Good work!!!
Another way to apply the solder is to have a syringe of solder paste (small solder balls suspended in a flux) and place a small dab on each pad place the part onto the paste. For caps and resistors uses fine tip to heat the part and pad. For flat pac ics a bar tip works well. Problem is that paste solder is expensive and tends to dry-out fast. The lead type paste needed to be 2% silver for sm and has a higher melting temperature than 63/37. graham ve3gcx
Used to do the drag method till a friend showed me air soldering, Invested in a reasonably priced unit and never looked back. Great for resoldering surface mounts devices also. The drag method works if you haven't drank coffee or returned from a night out.
You dont like the bright white light from the LED's? Or is yours an older version that came with a bulb?
The Luxo magnifying lamps like that uses a T9 Circline fluorescent tube. I think Philips is only company still making it. If your local hardware store doesn't have it it is available on Amazon. There is even a LED replacement available but you will need to modify the lamp by removing or bypassing the ballast. 73s Graham Ve3GCX
It came with a bulb, it's one I "inherited" from an ex-roomate about 25 years ago, and it was old THEN!!
