Is this a good iron for SMD soldering?

[Matthew Renna]

Hey everyone,

I don't know Tom's is a good place to ask but I'll ask.
Anyone with soldering experiance know if this is a good iron for SMD soldering?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C9P7HDQ/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

I know it's not very expensive, but there's better irons at school, I just need this iron for the rare ocasion that I need to solder outside of school.

 

[thx1138v2]

It looks like it should work fine with the finer soldering tips with the larger SMD pins/pads but not with BGA. Two things to consider: 1) can you get extra tips when needed; and 2) SMD desoldering will be more of an issue that soldering if you are going to be reworking boards because all of the pins/pads will need to be heated at the same time to get them to release. Otherwise, you risk pulling a trace off of the board if it is still attached to the pin/pad. But you would be getting into serious money to get a rig sufficient for SMD desoldering without damaging the PCB.

 

[Matthew Renna]

It looks like it should work fine with the finer soldering tips with the larger SMD pins/pads but not with BGA. Two things to consider: 1) can you get extra tips when needed; and 2) SMD desoldering will be more of an issue that soldering if you are going to be reworking boards because all of the pins/pads will need to be heated at the same time to get them to release. Otherwise, you risk pulling a trace off of the board if it is still attached to the pin/pad. But you would be getting into serious money to get a rig sufficient for SMD desoldering without damaging the PCB.

I'll just be using it for simple SMD circuits. If I need anything better, my shop should have it. Thanks for the detailed reply!