Is this soldering kit ok for basic electronics?

[Defunct Lizard]

Is this soldering kit ok for basic electronics? All I plan on soldering are basic ESCs and things on raspberry pi's. And would only be for a few projects and i wouldn't use it a lot. Do I need things like a sponge or different heat levels for some basic soldering?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Powerextra-Soldering-Electronics-Temperature-Electric/dp/B07BS4XL19/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542596761&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=soldering+iron+bundle&psc=1 

[MojangYang]

should be good. you don't need high power expensive ones with temp controll and stuff

[corrado33]

4 hours ago, Defunct Lizard said:

Is this soldering kit ok for basic electronics? All I plan on soldering are basic ESCs and things on raspberry pi's. And would only be for a few projects and i wouldn't use it a lot. Do I need things like a sponge or different heat levels for some basic soldering?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Powerextra-Soldering-Electronics-Temperature-Electric/dp/B07BS4XL19/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542596761&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=soldering+iron+bundle&psc=1 

I would very, very much suggest considering a nicer soldering iron. Ones without temp control make it very easy to A. burn components B. burn the board. They also usually come with absolutely horrible tips. I used to think I sucked at soldering. Turns out I just had a shitty iron.

 

Weller makes good soldering irons, as does hakko.

 

Some of the best bang for the buck stations are the following.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-Analog-Soldering-Station/dp/B000BRC2XU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542614202&sr=8-4&keywords=weller+soldering

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614301&sr=1-3&keywords=hakko+soldering+iron

 

But you could go a bit cheaper...

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvpv2_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=6375e697-f226-4dbd-a63a-5ec697811ee1&pd_rd_wg=LlL8o&pf_rd_r=Q140Q6M3AWNWNDZQ039V&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B000AS28UC&pd_rd_w=yuZZK&pf_rd_i=weller+soldering&pd_rd_r=b18e33c0-ae63-4cc1-81a5-64c8c40221b2&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614348&sr=1

 

I'd also recommend buying some decent solder...

 

This is lead free stuff. There is a fundamental difference between leaded solder and lead free solder. Leaded solder "softens" before it melts, where as lead free solder kinda just melts all at once really quickly. I personally prefer the latter, which is what I have linked below. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/TAMINGTON-Solder-Wire-Sn63-Pb37-with-Rosin-Core-for-Electrical-Soldering-50g-0-8-mm-by-TAMINGTON/dp/B072WN1DMG/ref=sr_1_11?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614393&sr=1-11&keywords=solder

 

 

The following things are recommended... but not "necessary".

 

A tip cleaner.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Cleaner-Solder-Cleaning-Holder/dp/B076X1NYBB/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542614600&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=soldering+iron+cleaner+brass&psc=1

 

Solder wick (to take off stuff when you want to remove a component)

https://www.amazon.com/Vastar-Solder-Packs-Desoldering-Length-x/dp/B073TRWY19/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614640&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=solder+wick&psc=1

 

Finally Flux

 

https://www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-14000-1-7-Ounce-Nokorode-Regular/dp/B000G33PAI/ref=sr_1_9?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1542614690&sr=1-9&keywords=soldering%2Bflux&th=1

 

Sometimes when you're soldering you just can't get the solder to STICK to the pads or to the component. It's likely because a layer of oxide has built up and is preventing the solder from "wetting". The flux removes the oxide layers and makes for very nice, clean solder joints. I personally have what I linked above, and I just use a little brush or Q-tip to put it on where I need it. Now, the solder I posted above does have a "flux core" so that's why I say that a separate thing is "optional" but it comes in handy pretty often. 

 

Finally, go watch some soldering tutorials on youtube. I think EEVBlog has some good ones. You don't melt the solder directly. You heat up the pad/component and use THAT to melt the solder. If you do it by just melting the solder, you'll get what's called a "cold joint" which is bad. There are tons of tricks when it comes to soldering well, and more importantly, keeping your soldering iron/tip healthy. If you put it away wrong, it WILL degrade. When I put my soldering iron away, I actually leave a ball of solder on the end. I don't bother cleaning it off completely. I do this mainly because the "tip" won't be exposed to the air, and therefore won't oxidize. The solder will oxidize, but that's not an issue. The next time you use the iron, heat it up, wipe the old crappy solder off with the sponge, and you have a nice, perfectly preserved (and already tinned) tip.