https://www.newark.com/metcal/mx-ds1/desolder-hand-piece/dp/41B5513
Oh... yeah. And tweezers too. And custom heads for DIP8/14/20, etc... and all the cleaners and... and... ![Laughing :-DD](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/smiley_laughing.gif.pagespeed.ce._hfWAz_QHO.gif)
mnem
![Tweak :-/O](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/smiliey_cal.gif.pagespeed.ce.yYMcAvxBJk.gif)
A kings ransom to pay for them too?
I find that winding the temperature up a bit and adding a load of fresh solder helps a lot when working with large ground planes.
This is mostly for those playing along at home:
Yeah, that seems to be a common misconception here and everywhere soldering is discussed. There is a huge difference between cranking up the temperature vs delivering more heat. There is a reason we have big wide chisel tips with lots of mass and contact surface and tiny conical tips to reach tiny spots and almost every variant in between, even with conventional soldering irons. While you can make do by cranking up the heat on a smaller iron, it really is not the right way to do it, and often results in burning the substrate and lifting traces because right at the contact point you are delivering much too high a temperature to the work.
The difference with MetCal/SmartHeat and similar HF/inductive heating technology... and it really is something that has to be experienced to understand... is that it consistently delivers much more quantity of heat in a smaller tip than any resistive element iron is physically capable of doing.
You really do get a quantum level higher performance for your money.
The question then becomes one of budget vs need (or in my case, very limited space in my workbench bag) ; there simply is no question that if you can spend it, MetCal is worth every penny.
mnem
![Flogging A Dead Horse :horse:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/DeadHorse.gif.pagespeed.ce.kBWvHKqCd1.gif)
Agreed, but the point is that by using a larger chisel or K type tip which has a higher thermal mass, with fresh solder applied to it and then applied to the pad and even more solder added as needed to form a pool of liquid solder to transfer the heat across a larger area of the pad, it prevents the delamination. Transferring too much heat could disturb other connections on the pad of you're not careful.
It's this part that's not always true. While that is the tactic, and one
hopes for it to work that way, it
doesn't always.
That's why it is much better to have a larger
mass of metal (the big honkin' chisel tip) at the
correct lower temperature than to try and make do with a smaller or lower wattage iron and try to crank up the temperature.
The difference with the Metcal, etc HF/inductive heating tech is that it can deliver quantity of heat at the correct lower temperature in a smaller tip equivalent to that of a larger higher wattage iron; this is a huge help when trying to do stuff like SMD work on large copper fills and the like.
What I'm talking aboot here is using the right tool for the job and not making a habit of using the "hold onto your butt and make do" tactic and hoping it works
every time.
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=1100262;image)
There's a reason why I
still keep a 150W Weller GT7 (temp-controlled gun) in a quick-draw holster under my bench; the wattage means
it can deliver more quantity of heat at the correct temperature. The MetCal makes it so I don't have to reach for that big bruiser nearly as often.
![Wink ;)](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xwink.gif.pagespeed.ic.cldandycH0.png)
mnem
![Blah :blah:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/blah.gif.pagespeed.ce.iJS9qlFEPg.gif)