This soldering iron goes up to 11! 
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Looks a bit like my modules, but yourâs MUCH nicer!
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Someone elsewhere complained that I tend to start new projects all the time or fiddle a bit on old ones, but never any sound or noise.
But the other day I got stuff from China, including a cheap PT2399 echo unit. According to the sparse info, I desoldered a resistor tied to the VCO input of the chip and installed a potentiometer, hooked it to the OP of my Crave and played a bit.
This unit goes into the soundbox for my grandson.
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Iâm using 330°C for leaded solder. Used to be lower, itâll certainly melt a lot lower, but I think Iâm getting better results at this temperature.
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If he doesnât like it, it can go in your own âsoundboxâ:
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I realised what a lot of great sounds/noise/effects that can be made with a cheap echo unit.
I have few more holes (on the box) to fill - wanted to have like a LFO or maybe a simple AD/AR and a simple VCA.
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According to our avionics/EWIS class, soldering iron temperature is about 180 degrees celcius above specified melting point. This is important for non-eutectic solders as they have a plastic range where itâs only half liquid.
This means leaded solder that is not 63/37 and also non-pb solder.
(Also it is important not to mix pb and non-pb solder because it changes the melting properties and can cause failure over time?
Note that this depends on the heat transfer capabilities of your tip. This means tip material and shape. Also it depends on the solder wire thickness.
Lower temperatures may cause bad wetting, cold solder joints. Also it can put more thermal stress on components because you have to keep the iron on longer.
If solder takes longer than 2 seconds to wet, temperature is too low.
Higher temperatures cause the flux to degrade faster, also thermal stress on smaller components and also oxidation of the tip.
If your iron is very hot, applied solder will become dull and flaky and may not attach to the tip.
Generally, hot and quick soldering is preferable, just donât crank the iron up to maximum. This way you minimise contact time between iron and components. Apply some tin to the tip and put it against the component with highest thermal mass. This is your heat bridge where you apply the solder.
Also, preparation of the surfaces is key. Solder pads and stripboard oxidise which causes problems. I always lightly scrub my stripboard with a scrubbing sponge or some scotchbrite.
When iâm feeling better i can try to look if i still have some literature on this 
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Very interesting stuff.
The reason I turned mine down a little was to minimise the flux spitting and globs of hot solder flying off. Basically got it so hot that it spat, then backed it off a little. Might change with different solders/flux combos I suppose.
Cheers
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That must be even hotter than the âtoo hotâ situation i described
Iâd think youâre right about the flux having to do with it. Are you using rosin core leaded solder? Just out of curiosity
I prefer sn/ag 99/1 and it doesnât splatter, but when working on older amplifiers and stuff like that i use leaded solder and i have noticed some splattering from time to time. Maybe itâs because non-pb needs to be hotter anyway
Iâm using this stuff:
https://www.sra-solder.com/lead-free-no-clean-flux-core-silver-solder-sac305-031-inch-4-ounce-spool
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Interesting, your iron must get hotter than mine then
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I think you hit the nail on the head, there. Unless you actually measure your ironâs temperature, you canât really trust how hot it tells you it is.
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Mine has an âonâ switch and a knob that goes from skinny yellow to fat red. Iâve made it this far, at least.
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picked this old trusty thing up at a curb side sale years ago . my 3rd 1 lbs. roll of solder in two years is showing up this week .
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Thatâs the guy!
I am absolutely terrified of lead though and wonât use any leaded solder and pay extra for the non-leaded stuff on JLCPCB, even if that means itâs harder to work with and costs a bit more. This hobby has already sliced my finger open and electrocuted me, I donât want brain damage on top of thatâŚ
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Replaced the interface box on my ribbon controller, the project that launched my synth DIY activity these past 3 years. The original was a rather dodgy build on proto board and used someone elseâs code which I didnât like. New version uses a dac/ino lite PCB and uses my own code which no one else will like. The jacks I used for the outputs turned out to be really crappy ones (cheap! but crappy!) so I think I wonât bother to close up the box until I get around to buying some better ones.
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Barton 078 Infrared Input on a breadboard
and not a #short tag in sight 
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was looking at those Barton units [ pcbâs ] on his site , where did you get the boards ? and I see you are using the remote and not a flame thrower .
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ah yes hopefully the only flames with this experiment . I was wondering because Mr Barton shows this module on his site , but have never seen the pcbâ;s for sale anywhere .