Tools-Webinare
Webinar Trilogy Hand Soldering
After the brilliant start of the webinar channel, Ersa presented his trilogy on soldering tools a little later. Three times 90 minutes were scheduled as Webex meeting to dive into the world of hand soldering and to circle around variables like solder, flux, PCB, soldering iron and soldering process.
The first webinar imparted basic knowledge so that in the future it would be possible to identify optimum solder joints for oneself – and with repeated practice one could also produce them themselves. For this purpose, the solder is used as a filler metal whose melting temperature is below that of the base material (less than 450 °C). Solder alloys of tin, silver and copper are frequently used. Also important is the flux, which promotes wetting and ensures a well-formed solder joint. Another topic of discussion was the PCB as a base substrate, which is available in single-sided, double-sided or multilayer versions and, depending on the quality, consists of phenolic resin hard paper (FR2), epoxy hard paper (FR3), epoxy glass fabric (FR4/5) or polyester glass mat (FR6).
The second webinar dealt with the useful equipment of a soldering workstation, which also covers the basics of occupational health and safety. “In this context we show what is possible in a professional environment,” Ersa hand soldering expert Frank Kappel outlined the content of the webinar. The pivotal point is a soldering station which can be heated up quickly and which enables the precise setting and control of the soldering temperature on the soldering device. Its performance should be between 80 and 150 watts. With increasingly demanding tasks, a multifunctional soldering station is recommended, where several tools can be operated in parallel.
Optimal heat transfer
Finally, the third webinar focused on the soldering iron and matching soldering tips. The shape and size of the soldering iron must fit the soldering joint best and thus ensure optimum heat transfer. The advantages and disadvantages of heating technologies that can be used in the soldering iron were also addressed – changing systems with internal heating technology were recommended, which are more powerful and efficient. To ensure that the soldering tip – available in shapes such as pencil, chisel, knife, concave and special shapes – always delivers good results and remains usable for as long as possible, soldering tip care should not be neglected.
All three webinars closed with a question and answer session in which further details were clarified. Due to the great interest and many inquiries, further Ersa webinar dates have already been scheduled.