Re: [PLUG] Electronics gear

When I worked at GE years ago I was re-educated on soldering by a couple of wiremen who were NASA certified. Since solder can add many many pounds to the weight of a spacecraft these folks were like artists with a soldereing pen.

The one thing they all used was liquid rosin. Adding a small drop to the joint before heating it really helped with the solder flow. You can really make a nice solder joint with much less solder. They also used a stiff bristle brush with alcohol to clean up the remaining rosin after the joint cooled.

I'd use something like one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N11M60P

https://www.grainger.com/search?searchBar=true&searchQuery=plato+flux

Have fun with your new lab!

Eric

On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 5:19 PM Paul Walker <starsinmypockets@gmail.com> wrote:

Just ordered a Hakko FX88D variable temp jawn, and some sundries (helping hand tool, angle cutters, tips, FREE SOLDER!). Got a bench set up, some pliers and whatnot - looking forward to doing some hacking and building this TV-B-GONE kit that I've had forever. Also gonna mod some effects pedals and probably rip apart some discarded electronics for capacitors and wire. Looks like I got in for under $200 which seems like a great place for me to start - basically any successful repair that I perform makes the whole endeavor worthwhile. Thanks for the advice -- feel free to keep it coming.

On Tue, May 21, 2019 at 11:15 AM Calvin Morrison <mutantturkey@gmail.com> wrote:
Echoing others here, I have a small electronics setup. I got most of
it from harbor freight and then odds and ends from Adafruit. Don't but
the cheapest soldering iron you can, it's worth it to have something
slightly better. Anyway no real secrets.

Power supply I have a few old HAM radio power supplies that I can use
that give me 12V, but looking into a variable power supply you can
grab them for not to much money on amazon.

Electronic boards + parts I mostly get from Adafruit. Not the cheapest
always but I haven't had any duds. Ordering on Ebay can be cheap but
also I have had quality issues, or ridiculous lead times on parts
coming from China.

Cheers,
Calvin

On Mon, 20 May 2019 at 12:17, Paul Walker <starsinmypockets@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A little off topic but I have a feeling this is the place to ask. I'm trying to get a small / starter electronics bench put together and am looking for some gear:
>
> * Temp. controlled soldering iron
> * Multimeter
> * Power supply
> * Signal generator
> * Solder / flux / wire / solder-sucker / etc
> * parts
>
> Contact me offlist if you have stuff or onlist if you have general recs for getting started
>
> - Paul
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
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___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion -- http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug