[mythtv-users] Soldering iron vs. soldier gun (was: Help with a semi-busted hard drive))

[Clyde Stubbs]

On Mon, Feb 13, 2006 at 07:21:28AM -0500, JDeGraw wrote:
> You will need a variable soldier gun to fix it. The average run of the
> mill soldier gun does about 30 watts of power. This will melt everything
> around it and damage the board. You need about 15 watts I do believe.

A soldier gun?? We're trying to fix the thing, not shoot it!

Don't even think about using any kind of gun, solder or soldier, for this work.
A soldering iron is the correct tool.

Also, it always puzzles me why various wattage ratings are tossed around as being
the "correct" value for various applications. The only type of soldering iron
you should use on something like this is a temperature controlled unit, like
the Weller TCP. I have no idea what its wattage rating is, probably 60W,
but this is irrelevant since the tip temperature is controlled.

Using a small non-temperature controlled iron is actually a Bad Idea since the
longer the tip is in contact with the work, the more the surrounds are
heated. Good soldering is done at the correct temperature, very quickly!

-- 
Clyde Stubbs                     |            HI-TECH Software
Email: clyde at htsoft.com          |          Phone            Fax
WWW:   http://www.htsoft.com/    | USA: (408) 490 2885  (408) 490 2885
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