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Ralph Mowery

In article ,
says...
Also, if you don't have a hot air SMD workstation, this might be a good
time to get one because they often include an adjustable temperature
controlled soldering iron.

Can you imagine the carnage I'd leave behind attempting SMD stuff?? :-D

15w is way too low power for what you're doing there. 25w & 40w are the ones to be using. 15w is better for smd work, hence the pointed tip.

You'll learn. We'll give you a hard time till you do.

It seems to me that instead of a certain wattage of irons, the way to go
now is an iron with high wattage, say 50 or 70 watts but is temperature
controlled. Then match the size of the tip to the size of the work.

Those hot air stations from China for about $ 60 seem to work fine for
me as I am just doing it as a hobby and only use it once ever couple of
weeks. The hot air works well for the heat shrink tubing and sometime
to remove a daughter board from the mother board if it only ha a few
pins. The iron heats fast and comes with several tips.

Stay away from any solder that is not 60/40 or better 63/37. Size the
solder to the job. Maybe adding some extra flux will help you.