Recommended Soldering Equipment
Recommended Equipment
The below recommendations are my sole opinion targeted toward hobbyists looking to repair or mod electronics.
| Item | Description | Recommendation | Explanation | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soldering Iron | The handheld pen used to solder and the base it is attached to. |
|
b | c |
Soldering Iron -
Solder - I recommend leaded solder, as lead-free solder has a higher melting point and is a little harder to work with since you have to heat the target pads to a higher temperature for them to bond. The only time you absolutely need to use lead-free solder is if you are selling a product and live in a country - such as the United States - which requires all products to use lead-free solder. Either solder type can have a "rosin core" which means it has flux inside of the solder. This can be used in place of external flux, but there are times in which you may not want to use flux such as purposely bridging pads together.
Brass wool - This is the better alternative to a wet sponge for keeping your soldering iron tip in good condition. Dipping your iron tip into brass wool will absorb any excess solder and residues from the tip, helps scrape off any oxidation on your tip, and spread solder evenly across the tip without drastically dropping the tip temperature like a sponge would. Most collected debris can be dumped out of the brass wool container or shaken loose. It is important to use brass wool over steel wool, as brass is a 3 on the Moh's Hardness scale and therefore will not damage your iron tip, which is plated with iron (hardness of 4), chrome (hardness of 8.5), and nickel (hardness of 4). Brass wool is also more convenient as you do not have to keep a sponge wet.
Flux - I recommend non-corrosive no-clean liquid flux such as Kester 951. It's best to buy a 2oz bottle with a needle applicator as it makes application much more precise and you only need to use a drop at a time. If you do run out, you can refill it with a larger bottle. Paste flux can make wire-to-wire soldering easier, but it's much messier for soldering on PCBs and can turn dark and make it hard to see small connections. Do NOT use acid flux (used in plumbing or automotive industries) as it is very aggressive and can damage nearby components. https://www.amazon.com/Kester-951-Soldering-Bottle-Clean/dp/B01N2333K5/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=keser+non-corrosive+no-clean&qid=1619460403&sr=8-5
Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) - 90%+ IPA is recommended for cleaning up flux and capacitor leaks. It can be found at most pharmacies. While some say it's a waste to buy 99% IPA due to the idea that it will quickly evaporate into 90% IPA concentration levels, [one study shows] that it would take 48 hours in an open wide-mouth container to evaporate that much. Ideally, you should keep the cap on the bottle of IPA and only pour out a small amount into a container at a time. Double check the inactive ingredients before purchasing to ensure that it only contains alcohol and purified water, and not glycerine which will leave a residue.
Cotton swabs (Q-Tips) - For precise cleaning with IPA.
Soft bristle toothbrush - Useful for gentle scrubbing over finished work to clean up flux and residues, especially if you had soldered small pins.
Heat shrink tubing - Used to cover exposed wire-to-pin or wire-to-wire connections. Apply heat from a hot air station (on low heat) or hair dryer to shrink it. Best to buy a large mix pack of sizes.
(Highly recommended) Multimeter - Very useful for testing continuity between two points to check that your solder joints and connections are good.
(Optional) Silicon mat - Provides a soft work surface that can't be melted by a soldering iron.
(Optional) Kapton tape - Very lightweight non-conductive thermally-isolating tape that keeps wires held down and protected. Very useful to cover nearby exposed pads and components when using hot air to protect them.
(Optional) Helping hands - Bendable arms connected to a heavy base with alligator clips on the end used to hold a PCB at a convenient angle for you. Can also include a magnifying glass to see smaller pads. You can make your own out of a hunk of metal (such as an old hard drive), alligator clips, [flexible coolant hoses], and superglue.
(Optional) Digital microscope - Helpful for soldering and checking small pads, such as RAM installs.
(Optional) Electric Duster - While traditionally people use cans of compressed air to remove dust and dry IPA from under chips, a plug-in blower can do the same things for much cheaper in the long-run and with less environmental impact. Most units come with multiple speed settings, so you can use higher settings to blow dust out of consoles or PCs much easier. https://www.amazon.com/XPOWER-Airrow-Multi-Use-Electric-Computer/dp/B01BI4UQK0/ref=pd_bxgy_img_3/144-7605971-0640053?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01BI4UQK0&pd_rd_r=0eb63aaa-2e57-4df3-9006-72faefd56d28&pd_rd_w=OLFVN&pd_rd_wg=5AZli&pf_rd_p=fd3ebcd0-c1a2-44cf-aba2-bbf4810b3732&pf_rd_r=FY525H4F28QS12PRPFZ6&psc=1&refRID=FY525H4F28QS12PRPFZ6
(Optional) Desoldering Gun - If you plan on recapping a ton of thru-hole capacitors or desoldering thru-hole ICs for advanced mods like NESRGB installs, you may also want to invest in a desoldering gun which is similar to a soldering iron but the tip is hollow and it has a trigger that enables a vacuum to suck solder away. The Hakko FR-301 is the gold standard for this. Others recommend a budget ZD-915, but in my experience you need to swap out the plastic solder collector tube with a glass one and get ceramic filters - but even then it doesn't seem to perform as well.