On Fri, 6 Aug 2010 11:41:48 -0400, you wrote:

>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ..or just buy a decent iron like a Metcal that can maintain the temp
>> regardless of load.
>>
>>
>Sounds ideal, but thermal transfer is limited, so all else the same, you c=
an
>only push so many watts  into the joint regardless of soldering iron watta=
ge
>and regulation. Easiest way to address this is to bump the temp up, though=
 a
>bigger tip often helps if you have wattage to spare, though changing a tip
>is often slower then both knobs and pushbuttons :O)
>--=20

The point is that Metcal has such tight coupling between heat source, tip a=
nd control that it _can_
rapidly pump enough heat into any likely load without temperature overshoot=
..  You can easily do
stuff like soldering TO220 tabs to groundplanes in a few seconds.=20


--=20
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