What kind of soldering unit to use?

[Jane]

Can anyone suggest what  kind of a soldering station I should use ( and what temperature) for:
1. solder/desolder  IC plastic sockets on PCB
2. solder/desolder Integrated Circuits( IC) on FPC cables
Thank you

[Psi]

300deg is a pretty safe place to start if your worried about melting anything.
Increase if needed.

DIP sockets are pretty forgiving, keep it under 380 and you shouldnt have problems.
For little SMD plastic sockets i would keep it under 340 and try not to apply heat any longer than needed.

For de-soldering multipin stuff a large iron tip, that can touch multiple pins, helps.
Add lots of extra solder to the pins, it will help keep pins hot for longer so you have more time to move between pins and get them all hot enough to remove the item.

[Jane]

Thanks for the reply. And what kind of the soldering unit would you use? When I used hot air
 IC plastic sockets melted. So ,maybe infra red station would be better.Not sure however

[KJDS]

I'm always far more concerned about the pcb surviving than a socket. Just get some fume extraction in place and buy a replacement socket.

For DIP sockets I'll cut them into sections before removing them. Nothing worse than pulling out the via on a multilayer board when you're trying to save a few pennies on a replacement socket.

[Dave]

I'm always far more concerned about the pcb surviving than a socket.

Yep, I have raged several times when I tried desoldering something and I ended up ripping the pad. Especially when I just finished soldering a tricky board and found that there is that one faulty component that needed to be replaced (like a quartz crystal that got dropped at some point).

I guess the key to not damage components would be to work quickly and efficiently. If you spend too much time heating something, the component will get damaged and the pads on the PCB will come off. Don't force the components, if they don't want to budge easily, that's how pads get ripped.
The temperature needs to be just high enough to melt the solder. Use some old junk PCB to experiment with temperatures and see what works best for you (just remember that leaded and lead-free solder don't melt at same temperatures).

[fluxcapacitor]

one way is to use chipquik solder.IR is ok too if you get the temperature just right .

[peter.mitchell]

I have a little vise/vice i use to hold the board in place, and I have TIG'd a little holder on to it for my hot air gun, so i can pre-heat the board from underneath, it makes multipin packages very easy.

[hughes_k]

Really, anything with a temperature control.  Digital or analog - doesn't matter.  Just don't waste your money on the cheap ones that plug directly into the wall socket. Having done so twice, I've finally learned my lesson. 

As for hot air, it sounds like you're overdoing it on the heating.  Packages are designed expecting to be heated up to some degree, since an oven or hot air soldering style is really common in mass production.

[usLEDsupply]

We use these for work and they work great.
i think we have only had to replace the tip once in the past 4 years and use them every day, we got a more expensive weller but i don't like the tip (it doesn't stay clean or hold solder like these do) so we never use it and for the price you can't beat these. they also have more tips on their horrible web site (just mute your sound) i just gave them a call as it was too hard to navigate
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Smart-Soldering-Iron-Station-digital-TMC-08-1000D-fast-heat-081000D-SOLDER-NEW-/130651996124#vi-content

for led strips i run them at 400 deg but for more sensitive stuff i drop it down to 300 deg

I may pick up a Hakko FM-204 Rework Station, or a JBCtools unit when i get in the new office but i have not heard much about them other than Dave likes them

[RMS95]

For the info
Being able to feed a lot of power is quite useful if you have to heat up large pieces of metal, or even things like good groundplanes.
Also have a look at the datasheets of components you might want to solder. Usually there is a soldering guide for i.a. reflow and sometimes hand soldering.

For finding the device itself
Have a look at the Aoyue soldering stations, they're quite good for there price.
If you are looking for genuine quality, JBC is the brand to choose.

• Aoyue - http://www.aoyue.com/
• JBC - http://www.jbctools.com/

[mamalala]

For finding the device itself
Have a look at the Aoyue soldering stations, they're quite good for there price.
If you are looking for genuine quality, JBC is the brand to choose.

• Aoyue - http://www.aoyue.com/
• JBC - http://www.jbctools.com/

And if you just want to (de-)solder, and not fiddle around with knobs, look at Metcal.

Greetings,

Chris