[Coco] Sodering Iron

[Francis Swygert]

Not going to repeat it, but I'm with Andrew. 

I remember discussing this with Rick Ulland at a Chicago CoCoFest long ago! We shared a booth (mid 90s) and he was doing some repairs for people. Didn't take him long to desolder a couple chips. I commented about it, and he explained this simple tip: you can use a 15-20W iron (just a simple Radio Shack iron) and hold it on the component for a long time to build up enough heat to melt the solder, or you can get a 30-40W and touch it for a short time. Either way heats the component, and the longer you keep it hot the more likely to damage it. Well, something like that. Anyway, I got a 30W iron after that and soldering wasn't so frustrating! 
Exact heat control isn't that important when working with something as durable as the CoCo double sided board and components. Needs to be hot enough to melt the solder quickly, then remove heat source. If not hot enough you have to hold it on longer, and that can heat soak the component. A quick hit and done is better. I know a lot of people are going to disagree with the heat control. Some modern components are a lot more sensitive than the older ones and that might be an issue then. 

Also, I never had a lot of luck with solder wick. Learned to hate the stuff, although the hotter iron sure did help. I bought a spring loaded solder sucker and had no issues. Just as soon as the solder turns liquid move the iron and stick the tip of the sucker in the puddle and hit the button/trigger! Sucked it right up. Might have to do it a couple times to get it all. 

Rick also taught me to destructively remove chips, unless it was something you couldn't get a replacement for. A small pair of cutters and clip the legs. MUCH easier to grab the stub with a small pair of needle nose pliers and pull out of a hole once solder is hot. Then clean up hole with sucker first, then wick if it needs to be real clean or you have trouble getting it out of a hole. Just don't pull too soon or you could lift a land. 

All that works great on a sturdy double sided board like the CoCo uses, might not be as good on a modern multi layer board. 

Frank Swygert
 Fix-It-Frank Handyman Service
 803-604-6548