Reddit mentions of Stahl Tools SSVT Variable Temperature Soldering Station

Preface: for some ungodly reason Mass Drop expects people to create an account before showing what the page has.

What is on the page is the description of the keyboard along with everything in the kit.

Here is an image of the web page to fix this so that you can see what keyboard I am talking about: https://minus.com/lE02abi6ORu87.png

It is stupid I know, but that is how they are for some reason.

You don't have to use Facebook to log into it though thankfully.

Alright, so this kit is finally back as an option on Mass Drop after over a month or two of absence, and it is on it's third or fourth Mass Drop group buy, all of which have been successful with no complaints from buyers amazingly.

Ordering it as a group buy is the only way to get this keyboard and it isn't offered anywhere else on the planet.

Everyone who has tried the keyboard is in love with their ErgoDox and how comfortable using the brilliant design is.

The ErgoDox keyboard is an open source hardware, open source software design, which as people who use GPLv3 software I hope you can appreciate how huge that is in light of how unapproachable hardware design has been in the past, plus with the group buy concept instead of the total cost being over 1500 USD (I priced all of this thinking to make my own being very unhappy with the lack of any intelligence present among keyboard manufacturers) it is less than 300 dollars, even after purchasing keycaps, which is huge.

What is brilliant about this keyboard, and I mean absolute genius in a domain defined by the lack there of is that it uses open source hardware with the specifications fully available, open source software for the firmware, the micro controller is very easily modified and installed thanks to their work on the configuration software, it uses all high quality parts including the very popular Cherry MX key switches (the mechanical part of a mechanical keyboard) for excellent tactile feedback and soothing ambient noise through the clickity clackety of the key switches, provides everything you need in the kit, has excellent instructions for assembling them, and allows you to decide on your own term caps, for which there is another group buy for to bring the cost of those way down.

You will absolutely love having thumb keys, which I use for all of my modifier keys and it saves my hands from career ending emacs pinky thankfully. Thumb accessible keys is an absolute boon for the information worker that has long days and nights.

I have liked them ever since experiencing them on a Kinesis Contour Advantage keyboard, and I cannot recommend that design enough.

But wait, there's more: in addition to all of that the keyboard also brilliantly went with not only a mirrored, symmetric layout for the keys and frame, and it also had the insight and genius to go with a split-keyboard layout so that the keyboard can not only accommodate a variety of human sizes, but doing so also ensures that the user can conform to proper ergonomic keyboard uses that entails having the arms and hands orthogonal to the key layout.

And even then, this design has another stroke of genius: removal of the typical function keys and escape key.

I know, you are thinking this is insane I need those.

And yes dear reader, I thought so too, but here is why this is actually a good thing, by not having that row there not only does it save space, it also ensures that you do not have the courage to try and chord the function keys without leaving the home row and anger the tendon gods in the process.

Thanks to the multiple layouts available (more not that below) you don't actually lose access to these, they just move to wherever you have decided to locate them.

This design is the most comfortable and ergonomic keyboard design I have ever seen and it puts the rest f the industry to shame for their hubris that has ruined many a career and been generally bereft of excellence as it makes no sense to design a keyboard this way now that we are not using bloody type writers from middle ages.

I am going to order at least two myself, one to use then a backup in case I can't get it in the future, which is what has happened to another keyboard design I liked and made it impossible to get or very expensive. Also, so I can take one to work and leave another at home.

Anyways, for those of you who do not have electronics experience and are worried about soldering things together or flashing the firmware on the micro-controller, do not be alarmed.

It is quite easy if you have moderately steady hands, plus you will learn a cool skill and hopefully take up the joy of hobby electronics.

You will be able to make your own ham radios and mess around with the great arduino micro-controllers and do all kinds of awesome tricks with sensors in your residence or wherever.

I recommend getting a fine point soldering iron and desoldering pump sucker for picking up solder off the pcb if you need to redo a trace. A soldering iron like this will work fine for this project.

A beautiful person took the time to make a how to assembly video showing the entire process too, which is superb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1irVrAl3Ts

This image has the assembly instructions that cover the soldering and other hook ups: https://i1.minus.com/ibeVgc381INcEF.jpg

Here is the configuration page you use to set up the layout and the site generates the hex file you need to upload to the firmware for you, which is the tricky part normally: https://www.massdrop.com/ext

Here's an image mirror of that in case the previous link does not work: https://i.minus.com/ivk3kHgNCgsTl.png

Here is an example modified qwerty layout. https://minus.com/l5Tnw5yL3TuMb.png

There are multiple layers because on this keyboard you can have multiple layouts that you jump up and down through via the L+ and L- keys, which is absolutely brilliant design.

L+ moves up in the layout stack, and L- moves down in the layout stack.

Also, you can configure keys to move up or down through two layers at a time for ever faster switching between layouts.

Having a way to progress through multiple layers of layouts is something I had not thought of in my prototype design and would have sorely missed having such a wonderful feature if I had not seen the ErgoDox keyboard before I had a go at having my own custom layout manufactured.

I really cannot hype this design enough, from quality to its concept to its execution, every aspect is flawless and free as in freedom on top of that.

I hope you all consider grabbing this beautiful product.

I realize it is considerably pricy compared to other keyboards, although within a normal price for ergonomic keyboards, but this is absolutely an investment in your own health and career regardless of your age that will pay for itself.

It is a pittance to pay for compared to the agony that will succeed if you happen to come down with crippling repetitive stress injury (RSI) or carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

As someone who has had that, and also as someone who did not take the situation seriously, it is completely devastating and takes months to heal even with great precaution and doing everything possible outside of surgery (which at most will have 80% return of functionality in your hands and ensure that you will be maimed for life in the process).

It is much, much better to go with the ounce of prevention instead of the pound (and months to years) of cure along with hundreds of dollars in the process that entails an slew of treatments.

Even one lost paycheck due to injury will cover the cost of this investment in yourself.

If you choose not to go with this product, at least take the time to invest into researching how to avoid injury and what you can do to give yourself the best chance of staying in the game rather than being sidelined by injury and wasting your own time and brilliance.

Xah has reviews of other keyboards (none of the ErgoDox that I know of though) that are ergonomic options as well. You can find those reviews here: Xah's reviews.

As stated, 99% chance it's blown caps (capacitors). It's a very common problem with today's cheaply made TVs and computers.



The good news is that they are actually pretty easy to diagnose and replace. There are tons of video tutorials that will walk you through it. It only takes about 20 minutes maybe to do the whole thing for about $35 - $40 bucks. Then if it ever happens again with another TV, it's only about $15 each time after. So, instead of throwing out that TV, you can repair it for $40; so not bad!



First, you want to diagnose if this is the problem. Lay your TV down on a flat surface and take off the back, usually just need a screwdriver. Look at the capacitors (which look like very short AA batteries) and if they are blown, the tops will be leaking, bulging, and/or oozing. There are TONS of Google images to compare against.

• Google images for bad/blown capacitors
  
  
  
  If it is the caps, all you need are 2 things:
  
  
• A replacement capacitor kit, which you can find on-line for your tv make and model. They run about $15 bucks give or take for the whole set. They will sell you a kit that contains all the capacitors needed for your specific make and model. They come in various sizes and powers, so you want to buy the correct ones for your TV.
  
  
• A soldering iron. You can get a small decent one from Amazon for about $20 bucks. A good investment because you will use it again and again on various TVs, etc.
  
  
  
  
  The videos will walk you through how to do it, including use the soldering iron. It's pretty easy. For what it's worth, I am a woman, with no electronic background and have now replaced and fixed 3 TVs that I've had this happen to.
  
  
• This website is a great resource for their information boards, tutorials, help, etc: http://www.badcaps.net/
  
  
• This is the soldering station I ordered from Amazon for $23 Soldering Station
  
  
• This is the company from Amazon that I've ordered all my caps from. It came recommended. They show good videos and pictures. Just search by your make and model. They are not limited to just LCD tvs. LCD Alternatives
  
  
  I hope this helps!

Probably depends on the quality of the wood burner. In most cases they are basically just soldering irons with different tips. You can get variable temperature soldering irons for $12. http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-Variable-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM

I use rosin core solder, so I usually don't bother with flux. (It wouldn't hurt, though.) Here's what's probably causing you trouble:

Thick solder. The thicker your solder is, the harder it will be to get it to melt, and the less control you'll have over how much solder you apply. I use 0.6mm 60/40.

Heat capacity. Components with more metal, like thick power writing on ESCs, will suck a lot of heat out of your iron, and it might not be able to keep up. If you have an adjustable iron (you should), crank it up a bit. I usually set my iron to 320° C, but I'll turn it up to 400° or so for things like battery wires. A hotter iron will, paradoxically, mean less heat in your components.

Tips. Conical tips are the devil, get a wedge ("screwdriver") tip of you can, something around 1-2mm will work for most jobs. Tin and clean your tip! I prefer brass to a sponge, but both work. As your iron sits around, the tip will oxidize, which inhibits heat transfer; that oxide layer is what you're cleaning off.

Technique. Here's how you solder: apply the iron to both pieces. You want to heat them up enough that the solder melts when it touches them, not your iron. This is called a "hot joint, and it's mechanically and electrically strong. If you just put solder on your tip and glob it into the parts, you'll get a cold joint. You don't want that. However, you can put a little solder on your tip to help transfer heat faster; this solder is not what you make your joint with, you still apply the solder to the components, but it speeds things up. The faster you heat up the joint, the less time you spend pouring heat into the component and risking damage. (There's such a thing as too hot though, so stick with 300-400° to start with.) To tin your pads/wires, hold the tip to it for a few seconds, then touch the solder to the part. If it's hot enough, it will wick onto the metal. Then you can put the tinned wire on the tinned pad, put the iron on top and let their solder melt together. Don't move the wire until the solder had solidified, this weakens the joint.

Okay, I reread your post, and when you say Radio Shack iron, A) Where did you find a Radio Shack? and B) is it just a pencil with a cord that plugs into the wall? Because those things are worthless. I used this cheap Stahl for the better part of a decade. (It still works, too, I just replaced it with a $130 Weller.) It comes with a conical tip, but it works okay and it can be replaced anyhow. If you want, you can get a bread tip cleaner, but that Stahl comes with a sponge and you must clean your tip, I do it every time I put the iron into its holster and every time I take it out, but you only really need to do the latter.

I also recommend checking out the EEVBlog videos on soldering: part 1 part 2 Dave knows this stuff front to back, definitely better than I do, and he explains it really well. (Protip: start calling it "sohl-der" like he does to mess with American nerds.) Also, take a look at this picture, happily enough you can tell visually whether you've done a good joint once you know what they look like.

Hope this helps, assuming you actually read through my little novel here.

I like the list of 5 at the beginning. But that's some fancy equipment there. I had to go cheaper.

My soldering iron is this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM $20 and I'm on the first tip and do SMT all the time and use it almost daily.

And my oscilloscope is this one: http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-nano-v2-p-681.html which cost me $90, and I can take it anywhere.

Even my multimeter was <$10 (DT-830B), and it works FANTASTIC. I had to purchase new leads because the originals eventually wore out, and the leads alone were as much as the multimeter.

Their rework station was a pretty good choice, though.

I guess it depends on your needs, but for me doing development of a large PCB with over 300 components almost entirely SMT with I2C and UART and PWM and 80 pin microcontroller, those tools were sufficient.

I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and it's awesome for the price.

Tons of choices out there for soldering irons. I used this one for several years before upgrading to something better: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029N70WM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It looks like that one may be have been replaced by a newer version. The main reason I upgraded was to have a soldering iron that heated up in a under 30 seconds.

Soldering stations have the added perk of being able to fix minor issues with broken electronics that also help to offset the cost down the line. Its well worth it in my opinion.

I bought this guy about 4 years ago. Haven't had a single problem with it. Just make sure you keep the tips tinned and clean (do that with any iron) and you'll be good to go. They also have different tips that you can swap out.

$20 on amazon. I have used mine for a year with 0 problems.

Ideally, a variable output model; but if you just have a cheap stick model, under 60W or so is probably good. Bigger than that is probably not built for electronics (more general purpose/plumbing/crafts). To do little through hole board work, you don't need more than about the equivalent of 15-30W.

If you haven't already gotten an iron, this one is my favorite cheap (<$25) iron.

You can also try /r/diyaudio for a more DIY-oriented subreddit.

PACE makes great soldering workstations and Weller is probably the most popular consumer brand. I personally use a cheap soldering iron I got off of Amazon for around $15. I think it works fine and allows me to control the temp. There are much better options out there for more intensive work. I only use mine a couple of times a year and that's usually for hobby electronics work. It's more than adequate for that level of use.

This is the one I have -
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1452181798&sr=8-8&keywords=Soldering+station

If you're planning on doing a lot of de-soldering, you'll either need a de-soldering station OR solder wick. I use copper solder wick and it works great. Do not buy one of those cheap de-solder irons with the red bulb on it or the pen device that sucks out the melted solder. I've used both of those and they're pretty crappy. Solder wick is the way to go. Buy some and you won't regret it.

For replacing surface mount devices, you'll need an SMD rework station and I don't have any suggestions on those.

As far as PC repair kits go, most of those pre-made kits are pretty over priced for what comes in them.

Go to Harbor Freight and buy:

I've used a few of their precision screwdriver sets. This is the one I prefer

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/screwdrivers/33-piece-precision-screwdriver-set-93916.html

Get one of those 4-in-one screwdrivers. The bit socket will also remove case screws.

Get seperate T-15 and T20 screwdrivers. you'll need these for larger items like legacy Compaq case screws and printers.

Wrist strap - there is some debate about this and it depends on the region you live in as to how much static electricity actually builds up on your body. I never wear one and I've never killed any devices. I have heard that there are places where you would be stupid not to wear one.

Grab a telescoping magnetic screw retriever thing. Don't worry, the amount of magnetism in those things will not harm a PC.

Flashlight

Needle nose pliers

Small and Large Side cutters

Cable ties

CAT5 & 6 Cable testers

This should get your started and most of these items are a couple of bucks or less at HF. I know they make crappy tools, but for computer repair they do fine. You're not repairing a diesel tractor-trailer.

I'm sure I've left something out or someone will have some better ideas. Comments and constructive criticism is welcome.

The motor driver modules have screw-terminals, so you really just have to solder the wires to the motors :-)


Soldering-> There's something for every budget;

• A simple one like this can work http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1452896364&sr=8-9&keywords=SOLDERING+STATION
  
  
• Hakko FX888D-23BY for something a bit better that can last years
  
  
  
  There are also $1-$2 soldering irons, but the cheap ones don't work overly well and the tip does not last long.
  
  When soldering, there are a few important things (always tin the tip, clean the tip, heat the wire and apply solder, don't smear solder from the tip on it). Many electronic books have soldering sections. On Youtube you'll find different tutorials, I can't recommend a English one from the top of my head.
  
  

I use something very similar to this, except it's 30 watts:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSXVR3A?ref_=ams_ad_dp_asin_2

That's probably the cheapest thing you'll find. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're going to solder once or twice a year. Believe me-it's a pain to do anything with an iron this cheap, and I'm getting a new one to replace it. I'm tired of buying extra-cheap stuff.

I've used this before, and it's actually not too bad in my opinion: https://www.amazon.com/Weller-SP40NUS-Medium-Soldering-Black/dp/B00B3SG6UQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862872&sr=8-7&keywords=soldering+iron&refinements=p_89%3AWeller

For $40, these two stations look pretty enticing:

https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862523&sr=8-5&keywords=soldering+iron

https://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1481862673&sr=8-11&keywords=soldering+iron

Disclaimer- I have never repaired a synth before.

This just came up recently

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/4cn9na/just_ordered_a_planck_what_soldering_guns_does/

Also, I will repeat my reply in that post

I have the stahl tools linked below. It's super cheap but the temps seem pretty inconsistent, and if I had it to do over again I would probably get a little more high-end iron just for consistent temperatures.
http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM

I hadn't soldered ever in my entire life until I took up this hobby. It started with fixing a few switches I spilled beer into maybe 6 months ago, progressed to desoldering a cheap board to make an Ergo Clear TKL for work, and now I've got an ergo dox at my house and I'm slowly planning out my first custom board.

It's not as hard as you think, it requires almost 0 analogue circuitry knowledge which is black magic as far as I'm concerned, and it doesn't cost a lot of money to get started. I bought this with this piece of shit to bust my chops on and watched the EEVBlog tutorials on soldering. I used that soldering station on 2 of my 3 boards as well.

Some people do offer fabrication for a small fee + shipping, usually in the geekhack classifieds

Any particular recommendations? I've been looking at this $20 Stahl Tools SSVT, 40 watt one or this $30 Aoyue 469, 60watt. Are these just cheapo irons?

I need one for fixing small electronics like a headset and maybe working on a raspberry pi.

Look up "soldering station" on amazon and pick one you think has the features you want. I bought this one, which fits my needs, is higher quality than what I learned on, has a temperature changer (higher is not better), and is pretty cheap. Hope this helps.

Soldering Iron

Solder Sucker

Solder just be aware this does have lead in it, so wear gloves and a mask if possible when working with it. it has a small enough diameter that makes it quite easy to do work with switches though

You'd be surprised a) how easy it is to use Arduino, and b) how helpful the online community is. The nice thing about Arduino is that the complexity remains the same, regardless of how many sensors you add, provided you have enough expansion breakout board.

For a first step, I would buy a starter kit and a cheap soldering iron and a half-decent multimeter and just start making little projects, like light sensors and temperature sensors and making those projects both wireless and online.

After that, it's just a matter of interfacing the larger, higher-voltage components (like pumps and valves) with the lower-voltage Arduino. This is easily accomplished with a relay, which is also useful for electrical isolation between the two subsystems.

Start small. I would recommend making an Arduino into a timer, and then using the timer to control a pump. Then add an online API that allows you to adjust the on/off time of the pump. Then add water level sensors, then temperature sensors, etc.

Also, make sure you prototype everything on a small scale first, like the guy in the video was doing on his desk. It will save you a lot of money if you mess anything up.

Once you develop the skills necessary to build your smart-system, I cannot stress how important a good, detailed electrical diagram is. It doesn't matter if it's professional-quality, or done with pencil and a ruler. It will save you so much time.

I replaced an old, crappy Radio Shack iron with a cheap Chinesium station like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_10?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1520651277&sr=1-10&keywords=Soldering+Station
Wait for a sale and you can get it and extra tips for $20 and it works fine for occasional use.
Hakko's great, but a bit of overkill.

If you need to solder on a pcb you'll want a temperature controlled soldering station, other essentials are rosin core solder, some flux to apply before soldering, and a helping hand to hold the pcb/component and wire in place when soldering. I leave my soldering station at a little less than 350 when I'm tinning wires and soldering on a pcb. Wipe excess solder off the iron, heat up the spot you want to solder to with the wire in place, then apply solder to the wire when the flux has smoked off, it should flow into the joint. You don't want to keep heat on a pcb for too long as it can damage components on the board. Make sure you tin the tip/s of the soldering iron with solder before and often during use, or the tips will oxidize and refuse to tin until you scrape the oxides off with a razor knife. Typically a problem at high temps, around 300C solder will melt and oxides form very slowly and the tip will stay hot without needing a retin for a 5-10 minutes. I usually set my temp on max when I first turn it on and hold a bit of solder to the tip and then turn it down when the solder melts. Saves a few minutes of warm up between use.

If you need to heat up a larger surface area (like a battery terminal) for tinning or soldering it helps to bump up the heat - sanding a large surface also will help. Steel and other metals may require use of a corrosive flux made specially for that.

That's about all I know XD

Unless you are doing wire soldering (headphones, cables, speakers) then that iron is fine but if you are doing anything electronic/circut you should look into one with adjustable temperature, something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_s-z4xb7VZ46BF would be a good starter or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01712N5C4/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_e.z4xbZC5H7VV as a bare minimum

I'm in the US so this is 120V, but 3 years ago I upgraded from a Radio Shack branded iron to this guy:

http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1463154858&sr=1-1&keywords=stahl+soldering+iron

I also got these tips as the one they gave me was not fine enough:

http://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSRT-Soldering-STSSVT/dp/B0029N91Q0/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1463154858&sr=1-2&keywords=stahl+soldering+iron

I've done quite a bit of repair and modification with it, not the best iron out there by any means but for the price a great entry point for beginners and more advanced users.

Wow, I've been doing that for a while. Thanks for confirming it, good thing I mentioned it. I'd really like to get a good hakko station with auto shutoff and variable temp at some point or another. What would you recommend as a good starting point? I'm looking to do mostly bga package replacement, I've seen people using a wedge shaped tip to remove the balls of solder once the chip is removed, from the grid. I could get the same tip for my iron as well ( I've got this one https://www.amazon.com/Stahl-Tools-SSVT-Temperature-Soldering/dp/B0029N70WM) but I think it needs a good feedback control (mine has none at all, let not the temp dial confuse you, there's no feedback regulation just a pot to change set the voltage blindly) to keep that large wedge at proper temp.