Soldering stations are indispensable for professional soldering of electronic components.
Soldering with a classic soldering iron is not sufficient in many cases. That's
why professionals turn to high-quality soldering stations, with which very
precise connections can be achieved.
2 types of soldering stations:
There are basically two types of soldering stations - digital and analog. These stations are also called contact soldering stations. The soldering iron is connected to a power supply unit, the heated soldering tip melts the solder and creates the
solder joint in direct contact. In addition to contact soldering stations, there are stations with hot air technology. Here, the soldering process is initiated by means of hot air
generated by a generator.
Advantages of a soldering station:
Small components such as microchips, semiconductors and transistors are very
sensitive to excessive temperatures and can be easily damaged. It must
therefore be possible to adjust the temperature at the soldering tip precisely
in order to prevent damage. Such temperature control is only possible with a
soldering station. The temperature of a classic soldering iron is derived from
its rated power. For example, an iron with a nominal power of 16 watts reaches
a soldering temperature of 350 °C. This can be neither increased nor decreased.
This can be neither increased nor decreased.
Analog, but above all digital stations allow the temperature to be set precisely. With a
digital station, the temperature can be read on the display, and you can also
save several temperature settings. This means that you do not have to set the
temperature again each time for recurring soldering tasks, but can fall back on
the stored data. With an analog soldering station, the temperature can be set
using a rotary control. However, the selected temperature can only be estimated
and not precisely regulated as with a digital station.
Hot air stations are mainly used for desoldering SMD components. Since the hot air
stream can simultaneously cover several solder joints, the components can be
completely removed from the board in a short time. In contrast to contact
soldering, hot air soldering uses nozzles in the handpiece. The air temperature
and air volume are set on the supply unit. This technique is only suitable for
digital soldering to a very limited extent.
