Blowing of steam

[Remulos]

Sorry to hear you had a build up of Bogons, it happens to the best of us.


I don't think using more power is going to help, after all, it was TOO MUCH HEAT that got you in trouble in the first place

If you're new to soldering; trash pick a broken computer (anything with a circuit board) and practice soldering and de-soldering on it for a bit.

I can't recommend this sort of thing enough! See if anyone you know is throwing away any old printers/scanners/fax machines/etc. and start taking them apart and salvaging useful components from the boards. Great soldering iron practice and gets you loads of useful parts for future electronics projects! I took apart 5 printers and 2 scanners last weekend and now have a very healthy stock of motors and mechanical parts for my R2.

[seym56]

How is that Aoyue 469 working out for you? I'm looking for a new iron, and $90 for a Weller or Hakko is a little out of the budget right now.

It works great. The only issue I have seen is that if you use it on heat shrink you have to clean it with sand paper after it cools off. Other wise solder won't melt right.

[rlobrecht]

It works great. The only issue I have seen is that if you use it on heat shrink you have to clean it with sand paper after it cools off. Other wise solder won't melt right.

Thank you. I have a heat gun, so I won't be using on heat shrink (except for the occasional accident when the heat shrink slides too close to the solder joint).

[girot]

Personally I struggle with keeping things simple. The moment I saw someone hand craft a saber radiator assembly for a crystal chamber I suddenly can't live without one of my own, lol. Modding the parts I can find is easy but getting access to the right equipment is not. Seems like everybody is trying to pay their rent through my hobby, lol.

[hapki]

That IS very frustrating. I have fried or damaged boards on multiple occasions. But once you activate your first saber, it's all worth it! Hang in there. This is an awesome hobby, frustration and all.