i already have a good(in my opinion) lineup of the proper tools and such. i have good flux, 91% ipa, some syringes with precision tips to apply the ipa and flux, knipex pliers, ceramic tweezers, a thin and long pry tool to hold smd components in place, my station, a nice mat, some solder paste, desolder wick, tip tinner, and a standard tip cleaner. im now currently looking for some other tools, and i was wondering if the brands i chose are good: tip cleaner, thermal tape, microscope, solder sucker, board holder.

if there are any other tools or equipment i should have, please let me know and recommend a good brand. if you disagree with my brand choices, please also let me know and i will happily change them since i'm not 100% what i'm looking for in good brands. lastly, please recommend good solder that's very small, the solder i have(you can find it in my recent posts here) is a bit thick in my opinion, and it's also apparently horrible solder so i'd love to know what to get instead. thank you!

I want to get into electronical engineering as a hobby which is why I am looking to get into pcb/component soldering first (not microsoldering). I don't have much expandable income and I live in the EU (high shipping cost for anything branded) so if possible I'd like to know what I can cheap out on. This is what I chose/have questions about:

- links in the comment (reddit doesn't like links in posts I guess)

Heads up to my fellow Canadians who may be wanting a digital microscope. The 7" Andonstar AD246S-M is currently $60 off and the 10" AD249S-M is $70 off. Just check their official site and click on the Canadian link. Sorry if this post is not allowed. I am not associated with Andonstar and gain nothing from this. Just thought the sale was nice enough to point out.

Hi everyone! I could use some advice from anyone experienced in soldering. I feel like I’m following all the steps correctly—I’m heating my soldering iron to 260-300°C, using flux, but I keep running into the same issue. The solder just won’t stick to the wires or the board; it forms into small balls that don’t attach to anything. I’ve attached a video where I'm practicing on a broken router motherboard. Any tips on what I might be doing wrong? I’d really appreciate any help. I know I’m probably doing something wrong in the video, but my main goal is to show how my soldering wire just burns up instantly. The same thing happens when I try to solder wires to a board or anything similar. Could this be because I’m using a cheap soldering iron? It’s the type you find on AliExpress in those “starter soldering kits.”

https://reddit.com/link/1ghrpvk/video/hjozemln4gyd1/player

Hi everyone,I work like Soldering tehnician during 4 years in PCB assembly manifacture.Yesterday i soldered for 8 hours 17000 solder points or 530 products.One product contains 5 THT microswitch tasters with 4 pins and 1 display which has 12 pins.When i came home I asked chatgpt, how much Solder Tehician can solder on average in 8 hours.I got an answer of between 2000-3000 solder points.This made me do some research, but I couldn't find the answer on google.So if anyone could tell me what the average is,or how much you do, I would greatly appreciate it!

I did the video some time ago. Believe it or not Sams Photofacts is Still Around Still has Useful Info. You can get schematics for free with a lot of public library's. In the video description I list a Florida Library that posts credentials to the public. https://youtu.be/4WIWMaEzMh4 #righttorepair

Im having a lot of trouble getting enough heat to connect wires to the terminals of lipo batteries/ESC pads, just curious what a good iron would be to melt more solder and maybe at a higher temp?

Im looking for a relatively budget option, hopefully around or under $200 AUD.

I had a quick look and the FX888D and it seems like a good option but just want others opinions.

Just need something for the bigger jobs that require more heat and power.

Thanks

Hi! I’m new to soldering and want to detail some stainless steel measuring cups. I’ve been overwhelmed by the conflicting information online, so hoping to reach a consensus here: Is there food-safe solder (flux and wire)? If so, which brand would you recommend (available to buy in or ship to Canada)?