Types of Soldering Irons

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Jeff Naylor from Mtronics in Mesa, Arizona for Expert Village. For basic electronic repair, a soldering iron with a pencil-style tip like the one I have here, is preferred. You want something with a variable temperature so you can dial in the temperature for the work you are using. These generally come in power ratings between 45 and 80 watts. Now the higher the power rating, the quicker it will get to temperature, and how constant the temperature will be. You can get an assortment of tips for this, depending on what type of repair you are going to do. I prefer a small, narrow tip with a flat nose on it. This tip right here is one of the smallest you can buy. It's used in detailed work like removing surface-mount components from circuit boards. It's not good for general work, because it's so small it will eventually burn up. This tip right here is a general medium-point tip. It's good for most hand-wired electronics, and will last a long time. I use a tip that's in between the two tips we just discussed. It's good for gettting in tight spots, but it's also great for larger hand wiring. There are many different types of soldering irons that can be used, from butane torches to the simple wand that you plug into the wall, to your grandpa's old pistol-grip with a trigger on it. These will all work fine for today's application. The only type of soldering device I do not recommend you use is the "cold heat" type. In my experience they have not worked well for me. Now that we have discussed different types of soldering irons, in the next section we are going to discuss different types of solder. See you there."