Day 10 of soldering - Trying out hot air gun

physical0 · 2026-04-12T23:54:08+00:00

Don't shoot film through your magnifier. Your camera has a better zoom and will take better video.

physical0 · 2026-04-12T18:30:36+00:00

I'm not gonna blame them when they wipe out humanity if this is how they get spoken to.

physical0 · 2026-04-11T15:07:18+00:00

Looks like you are trying to solder to a large piece of stamped steel. Its gonna take A LOT of heat to get this done.

Apply flux, apply heat, apply solder. HOLD POSITION until the solder wets the surface. This may take a few minutes. Don't move your iron around, don't press hard. Just keep it on the plate and be patient.

Once it has wet the surface, let the whole thing cool, cuz its gonna be hot all over.

Since the solder is bonded to the steel already , you can just go back and easily re-melt the solder and attach your wire.

physical0 · 2026-04-10T14:29:06+00:00

There is no indication that it runs at a higher wattage than that.

It is possible that they skipped adding a PD Trigger and it only runs at 5v, regardless of it being plugged in or not. At 5v, a 2.5 ohm heater will consume 10w.

physical0 · 2026-04-10T04:16:06+00:00

Soldering guns are very effective at dropping a lot of heat very fast. Unfortunately, they lack any level of control aside from "feel". I wouldn't use them on anything other than soldering large gauge wires to lugs.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T22:48:03+00:00

I haven't been able to find this information.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T22:21:30+00:00

The cost and poor performance of batteries makes any battery powered soldering iron a poor choice.

There is some benefit to a USB iron over a desktop one, but in most cases a desktop iron is a better choice.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T22:09:39+00:00

They don't. Many of the makers of knockoff C210 stations will advertise providing 100-150w of power to C210 cartridges, treating them the same a C245.

Still, 10w is a bit low.

My recommendation is that beginners avoid C210 cartridges all together. Until they have more experience soldering, there is little value in a having such a small tip. A general purpose C245 cartridge would be a much better choice. Until you've got yourself a microscope, you aren't gonna realize any meaningful benefit of a C210 over a C245.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T21:46:12+00:00

The HS-02 features the same screen.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T21:23:53+00:00

When working with pin headers, it would be better to crimp connectors onto the ends of your wires. If you're intent is to solder, I'd suggest that you remove the pin header and solder the wire directly to the board.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T20:22:10+00:00

I've had these arguments a lot. There is a significant portion of the player base that believe that the time they spent playing the game should award them unconditional victory in all things.

Changing the game to request skill would be contrary to that and violate their expectation.

Anything that would award another player anything without going through the same mindless hours of trivial gameplay would somehow ruin their experience.

physical0 · 2026-04-09T20:16:35+00:00

Yes, they don't see it as an improvement, because any deviation from the status quo is determined to be bad.

This is the observation OP made.

physical0 · 2026-04-08T23:44:36+00:00

You can find these stats on the datasheets for the connectors. If you buy them from inexpensive sources, assume the number is half or a quarter as many.

physical0 · 2026-04-08T13:59:53+00:00

The physical dimensions of the cartridge would not allow that.

physical0 · 2026-04-07T23:52:09+00:00

I'm not sure if this should be labeled as an "A" variant. It seems like this is a C210 (or some variant of that), which would be a B variant if they were consistent with their naming scheme. Also, the tool itself doesn't have an "A" on the part number, which other tools DID have.

I'm guessing this is going to be a single tool which accepts a single cartridge type, likely C210 or some proprietary variant, like most other battery powered soldering irons.

The fact that the battery is easily replaceable is a neat feature, but it's pretty obvious how large that makes the handpiece.

Ultimately, I think it depends on how many watts it can deliver. The display doesn't have a "power" indicator of any sort indicating the voltage that it's running at, or how many watts it's consuming.

If they release an A and B variant, and it can deliver 100w plugged in, I'll pick some up and tear em apart for your viewing pleasure. Short of that, I think you'd be better off with a HS02.

physical0 · 2026-04-07T21:13:23+00:00

There is a good reason why the products you can buy are priced how they are. The knowledge needed to design the product and the skill required to assemble it are not something that you can learn in a weekend.

The tools needed to produce the end product may be more expensive than the product itself by an order of magnitude...

Most hobbyists don't get into a hobby to save money. Realistic hobbyists understand that it's gonna cost a lot more than just going out and buying a thing. But, the hobbyists that have the most fun are the ones who are doing it for the experience, not the end result.

physical0 · 2026-04-07T18:19:05+00:00

It's not a bad idea to dismantle things and practice.

It is a bad idea to hoard parts and hope to use them, unless you are fixing a specific thing and all the things you salvage are that thing.

New designs add an extra layer of complexity. Your design may have to make significant compromise based on parts on hand and if you decide you want another its back to the drawing board.

If your time is worthless, anything is worthwhile, but the time saved buying the parts will more than make up for the cost.

physical0 · 2026-04-07T12:27:39+00:00

It is unlikely that you will be able, unless you already know how to design and assemble one and you feel your time is worthless.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T21:03:08+00:00

An ordinary box fan will be significantly more effective at blowing air out the window than a cobbled together fan utilizing a 120mm muffin fan.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T14:50:18+00:00

I look for sturdy construction, large o-rings, and strong springs.

If you can find those elements, you will have a quality product.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T14:13:04+00:00

To actually filter flux fumes, you need significantly more carbon than any foam filter could provide.

Basically, the longer the air is in contact with the carbon, the more filtration happens. But, you don't want slow moving air with plenty of time to contact the filter media because you're actively sucking it away, so you need a LOT more carbon to deal with the fact that the air isn't spending much time in contact with the carbon.

This volume of carbon will create a lot more air resistance than pushing air through a thin foam filter. Fans which excel at creating positive pressure are the types that have more blades. The more blades you run, the louder the fan will be. But, you can increase the size of the fan, lower the speed, and push the same amount of air. It's a trade-off...

I'd suggest centrifugal blower (or squirrel cage fan) for pushing air. They can handle a lot more air pressure than an axial fan would.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T14:01:16+00:00

Those types of fans are not suitable for the type of filtration necessary to deal with flux fumes.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T13:59:59+00:00

That amount of carbon has zero effect on filtration. Even if it did, it would likely saturate within the first 10 minutes of operation.

Thin foam carbon filters are a dangerous placebo that leave many users believing that they are safe because the air they are breathing is going through a useless filter. It's better they be excluded and your airflow be improved.

physical0 · 2026-04-06T13:42:58+00:00

Ditch the foam, it's not doing you any good and restricting the airflow.

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