what is a tempature compensated soldering iron?

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

Hi All...

What is a tempature compensated soldering iron? Does this mean it only gets as hot as needed so as not to damage the components? How does it know?

2

skyjumper:
Hi All...

What is a tempature compensated soldering iron? Does this mean it only gets as hot as needed so as not to damage the components? How does it know?

Yes it typically means it can measure the temperature of the iron and adjust the current to the iron to keep the temp constant.

Lefty

3

I think its one that does a good job of holding the tip temperature constant under varying thermal loads. ie something more intelligent than just a thermal switch in the element, such as PID control... Lead-free solder is fussier than the old tin/lead alloy and reliable soldering requires good temperature control these days.

4

Thanks! So we tell it what temp to maintain and it does it?

5

skyjumper:
Thanks! So we tell it what temp to maintain and it does it?

Yes, just like your cooking oven.

6

Thanks guys.

7

Lead-free solder is fussier than the old tin/lead alloy

There is no need to use lead free solder for hobby usage, it is not a health hazard.

8

lead is not a health hazard

It is in my house. So far, my dog has chewed-up two of my electronic gadgets. The good news is that all three survived.

9

Dogs or projects?

10

Both, hence the three

11

Back on topic my iron is controlled by a magnetic switch. The tip has a magnet at the back of it and at a certain temperature (the curie point), the magnet looses all its magnetism and the magnetic switch trips out and stops the iron from heating any more. In this way each ip has it's own soldering temperature. If you want to change the temperature you change the tip.