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--- howtosolder [2005/08/20 10:51] – Rearranged images nfg
+++ howtosolder [2019/08/27 20:45] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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   *  You should have a safe stable place to rest your iron when it's not in use. Mind the cord. Nothing sucks like the smell of burning plastic when you drop your iron onto the carpet, and putting melt-marks on your consoles is enraging most of the time.
-  *  You shoud be using very fine 60/40 rosin-core solder. 60/40 refers to the percentage of lead and tin in the solder, but I confess I don't remember which is which. The rosin core is for flavour, the melting rosin creates a smoke which is not unappealing. It also performs some other purpose, but mostly I'm convinced it just smells neat.
+  *  You shoud be using very fine 60/40 rosin-core solder, which is cheap; a lead free solder(for environmentalists) which is slightly more expensive; or 24-carat gold, which is terribly expensive. 60/40 refers to the percentage of lead and tin in the solder, but I confess I don't remember which is which. The rosin core is for flavour, the melting rosin creates a smoke which is not unappealing but will destroy brain cells. Without rosin, the solder won't stick to shit and you will quickly get angry at the fact you can't solder anything together. If you linger too long with the hot solder, the rosin will all burn away you will have this problem.
   *  Keep your iron clean. You can shake excess solder onto your desk or tile floor, it will make a dime-sized splash which you can scrape off with your fingernail when it cools in about two seconds. The rosin will burn and accumulate on your iron tip. Some people wipe the rosin off on a damp cloth or sponge, I prefer to just wipe it on my jeans. NOTE! Don't do this in the summer when wearing shorts, it hurts. Also, as my father once found out, if you're wearing synthetic slacks or dress-pants it's a bad idea to run a hot iron across your leg.