Plus, it's running Risc-V, and they even sell an breakout to use the "logic board" as a RISC-V dev-board!
[1] https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde...
What advantage, if any, would the ts-100 have?
Anyway, USB-C is a big deal for me so I'd take the Pinecil if prices were the same.
The TS100 was about 40$, when I bought it...
I got to here and thought this was some elaborate joke, and expected the github page to continue on with the joke. An operating system for a soldering iron?? But no, it seems 100% serious. Somehow soldering iron tech passed me by.
It's the flashlight guys who have really run amok:
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/xopqft/prob_a_g...
Just joking... mostly.
After reading this thread, it sounds like I need to get myself a better soldering iron and install IronOS
The "OS" part is a bit of a joke. It's just an embedded application, AIUI they didn't write their own RTOS.
Buy a decent iron (metcal - get a second hand one off eBay) and some decent solder (felder 62/36/2) and you don’t need it.
Also don’t use a toothbrush with isopropyl. They tend to dissolve and leave crap all over the board.
Hobbyists and technicians get obsessed with cleaning off flux. Hobbyists have no business cleaning flux off boards. It's very easy to wind up freeing corrosive salts from the rosin matrix. Then they smear all over the board to corrode and conduct. My rule of thumb is if you can't measure the cleanliness of your board, don't clean it.
> felder 62/36/2
Other readers please note that felder 62/36/2 has a flux core. Which isn't clear in this comment.
Toothbrushes bristles may melt. Not all of them are nylon and if they aren’t they will go sticky and this will wipe off on the surfaces.
Don't take my word for it, it's all explained in the NIOSH and OSHA handbooks.
Safety is not priceless. Regulators carefully calculate how much impact various safety equipment and practices have relative to their cost. And you too should consider how much you need it. Solder for hours a day, get the best fume extractor you can find, do a hobby project every other month, you can go cheap.
Anyways, I wonder if a simple small desk fan fitted with a surgical mask you probably have too much of would be a good compromise of simple, cheap, and better than nothing for hobbyists.
If you're fixated on getting yourself a fume extractor... well, to each their own.
https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde...
Oh I should mention I have both the TS100 and Pinecil, and the Pinecil does everything the TS100 does.
Full disclaimer I know some people had trouble with the USB-C power input so YMMV, but considering the price it's probably the most cost-effective tool I ever bought.
This sounds like way too much. Yes, with an iron you don't have the luxury of going just above melting point. It's a balance between heating up workpieces quickly (so that heat does not conduct too far) for what you need higher temperatures, not burning the flux and solder solidifying as quick as possible, because any movement in solidifying solder WILL reduce quality of the solder. Lower temperatures are almost always better than high temperatures.
You are better off getting powerful iron with good temperature control rather and keeping temperatures in working range rather than heating iron to very high temperatures and having it cool down during soldering if the iron cannot keep up with cooling. For soldering wires to a breadboard it may not be much of a problem (sans insulation burning off), but I would not risk damaging silicon with temperatures that high.
With 60/40 solder temperatures around 300 [290-310] are usually more than enough, depending on workpiece size.
I ordered mine as used device here in Germany. Aliexpress would have taken weeks and Amazon was just to expensive (cheapest about 80 bucks).
I took a look at it, ultimately got a TS80P. It's smaller, and fed via USB-C. Seems to work perfectly fine.
> solder fume extractor
How big of a deal is solder fumes of unleaded solder?
Higher temp
lighter
faster heat up
easier temp adjustment
> How big of a deal is solder fumes of unleaded solder?
Depends on solder, but spending $40 for not risking your health is affordable in my opinion...
Soldering temperatures will not vaporize lead or the metals in unleaded solder.
There is also some conjecture that the fluxes used in unleaded solder produce more aggressive fumes.
Worse than leaded solder, because the temperatures are higher.
The lead in leaded solder doesn't go up in fumes. Contamination is from touch. You should wash the board after you're done (with e.g. IPA) and your hands.
You also should try and not solder where you eat, and the other way around.
Because it's a good iron. So is the TS80p.
Pine64 has the Pinecil, a TS100-compatible improved replacement that is RISC-V based.
If you are in the basement without window, you probably need a better one with HEPA + active carbon.
I would say for hobbyists you should spend around 20 - 50 bucks for a used one.
Maybe also care about the loudness... these things are really bad ;)
Instructions:
However, the most important peace of hardware is a solder fume extractor... I'm surprised that so many youtube "professionals" don't put a hint on this - never play with your health. This can even be done DIY (see youtube tutorials).High quality flux is also important because of your health. Chinese sellers often don't care about ingredients...
High quality tin is much easier to work with and costs 5 bucks more than low quality tin. It is worth.
[1]: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS