Soldering and desoldering irons
When soldering with a soldering iron, metal such as solder is heated and melted in order to join components together. The metal parts are then connected electrically and, after cooling, mechanically. The soldering iron consists of a heatable metal tip and an insulated handle. The heat is usually generated by electricity flowing through a resistive heating element.
The different types of soldering irons:
Miniature soldering irons:
Miniature soldering irons are needed only for the finest of jobs. Common applications include soldering extremely thin wires, corrective and re-soldering on SMD components, or repair work on narrow traces with a hairline crack.
The so-called soldering needles are often supplied with low voltage (e.g. 12 volts) and can therefore be operated with some under- or overtemperature with the help of an adjustable power supply.
Fine soldering irons:
When it comes to assembling circuit boards or soldering and unsoldering thin wires and strands, the small, lightweight soldering irons are used. They are only somewhat weak for creating connections over which stronger currents are to flow later, e.g. for soldering a stranded wire with a larger cross-section onto a larger copper surface. Fine soldering irons are also available for low voltage, in which case an appropriate power supply is required. The power of the soldering iron can vary within certain limits for this purpose.
Electronics universal soldering iron:
The "standard tool" of the electronics engineer - soldering irons of this class are suitable for many jobs, although usually somewhat more unwieldy than fine soldering irons. They are almost unnecessarily large for creating circuit assemblies in the microcontroller field. However, the work of miniature soldering irons is an exception here. For the quick soldering and unsoldering of very thick wires or strands to/from solid metal parts, a 30 Watt soldering iron is usually sufficient.
Temperature-controlled soldering irons:
In the power class above the 30 watt limit, it is better to invest in a temperature-controlled soldering iron, as higher power can become problematic with soldering irons. For example, "in idle" or with smaller solder joints, the soldering iron can quickly become too hot and damage the components. Another advantage of temperature controlled soldering irons is that they are good for small repair jobs, among other things.
Large soldering irons:
Large soldering irons are suitable for soldering metal housings or for soldering batteries or solar cells. Large soldering irons are also frequently used for general repair work.
Desoldering irons and desoldering tweezers:
Desoldering is the reverse of normal soldering. It involves melting all of the solder from the solder joint so that it can be removed or the component removed. A variant of desoldering is desoldering with a desoldering iron. Similar to a soldering iron, this has a soldering tip which is hollow on the inside. The tip is used to melt the solder joint, and the liquid solder is extracted by creating a vacuum through the hollow tip into a collection container.
Another tool for desoldering is the desoldering tweezers. These are used, due to the two heated soldering tips, for desoldering mostly 2-pole components.
In our assortment you will find a wide range of different handpiece types, such as soldering irons, soldering tweezers, desoldering irons, nitrogen irons, hot air irons, mains soldering irons, desoldering pumps, soldering guns, hot air guns, vacuum pipettes and gas soldering irons from our top manufacturers, JBC, WELLER, ERSA, HAKKO, METCAL, OKI and THERMALTRONICS.
Click here for our soldering and desoldering stations
The suitable soldering accessories, such as soldering and desoldering tips or soldering tip cleaning, can be found here
