Antony Gelberg wrote:

Hi,

I know this should be simple but isn't. I need to resolder a DC power
connector on a laptop, due to dry joints.

I can't find my old, rarely used soldering iron, so I went to Maplin and
bought their cheapo 30W soldering iron.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...32909&doy=13m6

I would have thought that is good enough for PCB soldering, but I can barely
get the old solder on the board to melt, let alone re-solder the joint. I
can't work like this, I'm going to arse about for hours and still not get it
done properly. Is the problem likely to be the fine point nib that it came
with? I have always used flat-tip bits in the past. Or is the Maplin iron
crap, and should I have bought the Antek 30W instead -
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...ce=14&doy=13m6 ?

All advice appreciated.

I should mention that I also tried my 100W soldering gun, like this one:
http://tinyurl.com/2z8ehn .

No luck here, but then I have always hated this tool and never been able to
use it effectively. It's rated for 12 seconds use in a minute (don't know
what happens if you go above that), but takes about 9 seconds to even get hot
enough to melt solder. Are these crap, or am I not using the thing properly?

Antony
Make sure the tip is tight.
Make sure you're using the correct solder?, 60 tin and 40 lead for
repair work.
Use some extra solder paste to clean the area..
It's possible you have Lead Free Solder, that's hard to work with..


--
"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken"
Real Programmers Do things like this.
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