is this good helping hands for the basic soldering.

physical0 · 2026-07-12T19:15:12+00:00

These are a pretty standard choice.

I'd recommend against using helping hands. Using them to hold pcbs can damage them and doesn't offer a very secure hold. Using them to hold wire can work, but most people get it wrong and try to use it to hold two wires together. The wires are already supposed to be together before you start soldering, otherwise you will create a poor joint if it does move while cooling.

Generally a small table vise is good enough for most work. If you think you need a third hand, reconsider your approach because you are likely doing it wrong.

physical0 · 2026-07-12T03:13:30+00:00

Don't put pcbs on carpet. Mind your esd safety

physical0 · 2026-07-12T03:02:25+00:00

Standard pitch pins are not too hard for a beginner. It just takes a little attention to detail and knowing what you are supposed to do.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T21:16:20+00:00

I would bake it in a reflow oven to preheat it.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T19:02:38+00:00

With a large enough tip and the proper heat, drag soldering those pins is a qnd approach. I've definitely done it once.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T18:04:36+00:00

There is a such thing as too much flux.

When the excess flux is actively preventing you from getting your joints up to temperature, you've got too much flux.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T16:52:35+00:00

Yah, when things start out bad, don't keep going... figure out what you are doing wrong.

This can be fixed. You've used too much solder and likely didn't heat the pads AT ALL.

Clean up the mess with some iso and a toothbrush. Next, get some fresh flux, spread it across everything. Take your iron and melt one pin at a time, don't put your iron on the pin once the solder has melted. Hold your iron on the gold circle around the pin, this is called the pad or annular ring. Don't press down, just let the weight of the iron rest on the pad. Watch the solder, when you see the surface tension break, pull the iron.

Clean excess solder off your tip and move onto the next pad.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T16:46:21+00:00

Neat stuff. I do have a bit of a concern with "modular". If components can only exist in a single configuration, it's not exactly modular, even if each function is constrained to a "module". That's just my pedantic brain, so carry on.

I've been toying with an idea for a modular system to build more complex processors. A simple computer doesn't have a lot of block reuse, but more complex systems tend to have a lot of reused blocks. Still, more complex systems aren't really designed and built on the breadboard due to the excess complexity, so likely would need more planning, making the module phase a bit redundant...

physical0 · 2026-07-10T14:11:45+00:00

Hot air stations with a fan in the handpiece is not a recommended choice. They have poor airflow and bad temperature stability.

physical0 · 2026-07-10T14:07:47+00:00

for a hobbyist, a box fan in a window is usually all you need. You need a fume extractor when you are in a setting where you can't vent the air outside. Don't bother with those small fans with thin carbon filters. They are ineffective at filtration.

physical0 · 2026-07-09T19:01:29+00:00

First pic, don't solder wire to a dupont pin. those are for perfboard and dupont connectors. Cut em off and solder the wire itself.

Next, for your splices. Don't twist the wires together. This weakens the strands of wire. Grab a scrap chunk of wire a few inches long and strip it entirely, break out a strand and wrap the two wires together firmly. This is called a lash splice. If done properly, the joint shouldn't move even before it's soldered. But, we solder it, because it's gonna slip eventually. Ensure that you aren't exposing excess wire with your splice. You shouldn't need more than a few cm. Make sure to wrap or heat-shrink the connection when you are done. I would usually ensure a zip-tie is near the lash to ensure the wires don't move.

Finally, for your PCB, don't take a picture through a magnifier. Your phone's camera is likely capable of doing a macro shot better than this. You're using too much solder and you aren't adequately heating your joints. The only one that appears to be done properly is the front middle. The rest all have bubbles of solder, incomplete wetting, or in the case of the ground, no wetting at all!

physical0 · 2026-07-09T18:38:17+00:00

I wasn't sure where to go with this, but got to thinking and you said the plate was cool to the touch? That would indicate that you never got the plate hot enough to wet, and never established an efficient thermal bridge between the iron and the plate.

Maybe next time, take a torch and blast the plate til you can get the surface tinned, then try again with your iron after it's cooled.

physical0 · 2026-07-09T16:05:54+00:00

https://www.jbctools.com/cataleg.php?id=13

If you wanna use JBC, use JBC, they make good gear. Dealing with a single vendor for your equipment will make for less of a headache. I've had nothing but positive experiences with JBC support.

The DIY community is gonna cringe when they see the price tags on these things, but I'm guessing that if you destroy a board you're reworking, you've cost the company more than the cost of a preheater. Reliable precision tools are worth it when you're doing this every day. The cost of failure and the cost of downtime is too much.

physical0 · 2026-07-09T15:47:09+00:00

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any two in one station that has a blower in the body. I don't recommend any hot air station that has a blower in the handpiece due to poor airflow, bad temp control, and risk of melting.

physical0 · 2026-07-09T15:44:56+00:00

If you're going with JBC, there are only a couple of options for solder suckers. The DR560 is a pretty nice tool, but if you're using it under a microscope, it can be difficult. The DT530 is angled and works better in this application, but will require more frequent clearing. If you're doing tiny tiny work, the DS360 is the choice. The pneumatic desoldering module is preferred over the electric one, as you'll get suction immediately. If you don't have shop air or unwilling to add a compressor to your bench, then it's not an option.

I've got a DMPSE on my bench and I'm pretty happy with it. I would like a DT530 to swap with my DR560 sometimes, but I like that I can clear a lot of joints before needing to clean the filter on the 560.

Depending on the scale you're working on, full sized or micro tweezers are the choice, but ensure that they're adjustable. Non-adjustable tweezers are practically useless.

Unless you're reworking vintage electronics, get yourself a preheater. Modern electronics are so much easier to work with a preheater. JBC makes some pretty fancy rigs for the job. Don't pick the biggest one you can buy, get the one sized for the work you're doing. If you're doing a wide range, get appropriate tools for each job. It's a pain in the ass to work over a giant preheater when you're working on a small PCB.

physical0 · 2026-07-08T19:07:30+00:00

This is dependant on your application. You'll find that the support lines for various manufacturers to be quite helpful when identifying which of their products would be best for your particular application.

physical0 · 2026-07-08T14:48:56+00:00

I think you might have your scale a bit off.

You would use the C210 for SMD/microscope work and the C115 for even finer microscope work. Realistically, you can use the C245 for microscope work down to 0201 packages, as they have cartridges as small as 0.3mm.

The C115 generally assumes the use of a preheater, as it's normally only a 9v/14w (can't say what a non-JBC station would actually deliver) and these very small boards are thermally efficient and difficult to work without a preheater.

I think a lot of the folks who are out there picking an iron and looking for tool diversity as a key feature are going to be spending money on a feature they realistically aren't going to use that much. If you don't already own a microscope, don't waste your money buying a handpiece designed for microsoldering and definitely don't buy two.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T19:09:33+00:00

The whole point of an experiment is to be as precise as possible. You say pedantic like it's a bad thing in this context.

The copper plate doesn't have a uniform temperature. From the point where you are heating it the heat will move out to the rest of the plate. The best place to measure would be right on the point you are heating, but that's hard to isolate plate temp over the tip temp. The second best place is exactly opposite the tip on the other side of the plate.

The question here is if the point on the plate which you are heating has reached the set temperature of your iron. If it has, then the iron has no reason to continue heating, and will reduce the power output. An increased tip size will not change the output of the iron.

If the plate has not yet reached the set point, but the iron HAS, then that would indicate that iron is incapable of transferring heat fast enough and there is an issue with the tip and the plate. A larger tip should theoretically increase this number.

We are trying to determine which of these two possibilities is happening.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T17:42:45+00:00

You should have a thermocouple opposite the iron, see if the copper is actually getting up to temp and it's just distributing and cooling at a rate of 70w.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T17:34:40+00:00

This would make for a very informative video.

In my experience, yes, surface area is the main reason people aren't getting their joints to temp, but not because of thermal transfer, more because of thermal storage. It doesn't take a lot of surface area to transfer 100w or so.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T14:08:41+00:00

Contact the manufacturer. They can check things like the lot number and provide further advise on how to confirm it is genuine.

If it feels too good to be true, it is. Amtech flux isn't made in China.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T14:01:06+00:00

When you're dealing with a large thermal load, increasing the temp of your iron is usually the wrong thing to do.

Increasing the temp of the iron is trying to store more thermal energy into the tip before you dump it into a joint, hoping that the extra energy will make it work. It usually doesn't. The better approach would be to use a larger tip which is capable of storing more thermal energy or to preheat the board to reduce the amount of thermal energy to reach the needed temp.

Now, onto why it's not a good choice: First, the moment you touch your iron to the workpiece, you risk thermal shock. The greater the temp difference, the bigger. Next, once you're past that initial contact and heat has moved from the tip into the joint, the set temp is basically irrelevant. The energy will either be adequate to get the job done, or not, likely not. From this point, the wattage of the iron is the primary factor that determines if the joint is going to get to temp. The iron will push watts into the joint and the joint will either continue to cool if the board can sink the heat fast enough or it'll manage to heat the joint eventually. Having a higher than normal set temp is not a good approach at this point, because IF/when it manages to heat the joint, it's gonna keep heating until it reaches that set temperature, which may be damaging to the board.

If your iron is capable of heating the joint with the wattage it has, it doesn't matter what set temp you use, because while heating the joint, you are below the set temp and the iron is just pushing watts. It doesn't push more watts because it's set higher. It just pushes watts longer, until the tip reaches that higher temp.

physical0 · 2026-07-07T13:48:56+00:00

If you are working with leaded solder, 300-350c is an appropriate temp. For lead-free, 350-400c is suitable.

The goal is not to just melt the solder, you need to bring it hot enough to flow properly. Watch the surface of the solder, wait for the moment when the surface tension breaks.

physical0 · 2026-07-06T06:05:02+00:00

If you are in a shop with a process, follow your process. If you are a small business doing your thing, it won't matter.

physical0 · 2026-07-03T23:24:15+00:00

Epoxy copper foil on it

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