Chat with my neighbor about soldering irons made me rethink everything

He asked why I kept my Hakko at 380°C for board work, said he does all his joints at 315°C. Tried it on a stubborn capacitor last week and it flowed way cleaner, less pad lift. Has anyone else dialed their temp down and seen better results?

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the_dylan3mo ago

Hold on, let me grab my popcorn. 380 to 315 is a 65 degree difference. That's not some magic number. I've been burned (literally) by going too low on a big ground plane. Joint came out all frosty looking. Had to crank it back up. Ended up lifting a trace anyway. People act like one temp setting is the holy grail. It depends on the board, the tip, the solder, the phase of the moon.

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charlesj463mo ago

The capacitor thing makes sense though... bigger parts hold more heat. Different tips change things too, a chisel tip at 315 might handle stuff a conical tip can't touch. Kinda have to feel it out board by board.

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