How to make a soldering iron with your own hands. Homemade soldering iron: diagram. Do-it-yourself soldering iron at home in different ways First, let's look at how the soldering iron works

The variety of modern soldering stations is amazing. Silicon, impulse, gas ... And you can make a traditional soldering iron (with a heating thread) with your own hands. This will be discussed in the material presented.

For any radio amateur, a soldering iron is the number one tool. Of course, in stores you can pick up an electrical appliance for every taste. However, it costs some money, and any master is interested in putting his hands on the manufacture of such a useful device. In addition, if you need a specific tool, only a home-made device can help out.

First, let's look at how the soldering iron works.

The basis is the body, which mechanically protects the heating element. A two-piece handle is put on the body. Its task is to protect hands from high temperatures. Power wire runs through it.

The heating element (usually nichrome wire) is wound around an insulator, such as mica. Inside is a sting, which is fixed in the body with a screw.
There are also pulse devices, their principle of operation differs from the considered option.

How to make a simple soldering iron at home

First of all, you need to define the functions. The selected project will depend on this. You need a soldering iron for SMD elements, or for car maintenance. You can choose from several options.

Soldering iron for garage made of ceramic resistor C5-35V

Such resistors withstand high temperatures, have a power dissipation from 3 W to 150 W. The body of the element is made of heat-resistant ceramics, the working element is a nichrome thread.
We make a typical car soldering iron for emergency repair of wiring in the garage. Of course, the power will be from a 12 volt battery.

A C5-35V resistor with a resistance of 20 ohms and a power of 7 watts is suitable.

The handle is most convenient to make a pistol type. The material is textolite or ebonite, the main thing is good heat resistance and poor thermal conductivity.

We have a heating element (actually a resistor), now we will make a working sting and a conductor for heat transfer. It is necessary to pick up two copper rods. One is installed inside the C5-35V case and will serve as a thermal energy accumulator. The second bar, thinner, will be a working sting.

IMPORTANT! A thick bar must be fitted as tightly as possible to the inner diameter of the resistor, to reduce heat loss.

You can take the rod a little thicker, and grind it with sandpaper, rotating the drill in the chuck.

And today it's time to review the low-voltage. According to manufacturer's instruction manual S line, mini electric soldering iron ZD-20A with a supply voltage of 12 volts and a power of 8 watts, it is designed for assembly soldering of elements of radio-electronic equipment with tin-lead solders. AC voltage must be used for power supply. Protection class 2, soldering tip operating temperature 250-400 degrees, warm-up time 3-5 minutes. To avoid overheating, it is recommended to turn it off for 15-20 minutes every 3-4 hours of operation to cool down. And finally, in order to avoid death, any repairs should be carried out in a specialized workshop.

I've been eyeing this soldering iron for a long time. Last year, while assembling the power supply, I found a place on the front panel for installing an RCA connector, using a simple “tulip” to connect it. And so, last weekend, deciding that the “bride-in-law” dragged on, he went and bought it. Paid 140 rubles. I must say right away that the packaging with the soldering iron is cute - it's nice to take it in your hands. From the internal contents, this is actually the soldering iron itself and the instruction manual. The instruction is made one at once for the entire range of soldering irons manufactured by the company. The soldering iron has a length of 156 mm, the largest diameter is 16 mm, the tip length is 12 mm, the diameter is 0.5 mm. The plastic handle, in the place of finger grip, is additionally covered with a casing made of low thermal conductivity material. The power supply cable consists of two independent wires in a common PVC sheath. In the hand, it is convenient to hold the soldering iron between the thumb and forefinger, supporting it from below with the middle one, like a fountain pen. It weighs like a helium fountain pen.

The resistance of the heating element spiral that interested me turned out to be 104 ohms.

After connecting to the power supply and setting the voltage to 12 volts, a more interesting parameter became known - current consumption, which amounted to 480 mA. Now you can find out the true power of this particular soldering iron:

P \u003d U x I, P \u003d 12 V x 0.48 A \u003d 5.76 W

Now it will not be superfluous to find out how many degrees in general and in how many minutes the soldering iron tip can heat up.

Within three minutes, the heating of the sting was carried out quite intensively and easily reached the mark of 240 degrees.

• AC voltage recommended
• for soldering smd the components of this will be quite enough, I will even say that more is not needed
• if necessary, it is worth slightly raising the supply voltage, there will be 270 and 300 degrees.

I installed a plug on the wires of the soldering iron and tried to “get to know” the heating element. The uncomplicated (double “bite” with wire cutters) fastening of the heating element inside the casing unequivocally upset. Further autopsy did not continue. The only identified drawback is the method of attaching the heating element, which will make it difficult to disassemble the soldering iron if it is necessary to repair or modify it.

The soldering iron took its place. There is a handkerchief soldered with a soldering iron of a standard size, it didn’t work out carefully then, I took it out and tried the work of a mini soldering iron on it.

Video

The “movie” scenario is straightforward, the main thing here is different: it is immediately clear that this soldering iron is in place here, the tip of the tip “crawls” everywhere, the component’s view will not obscure, will not overheat it, will not budge. In the attached archive, instructions for soldering irons of the ZD / TLW, WD series. In general, I am satisfied with the purchase, I even got the mood to solder the shown board of the Eldorado metal detector. Previously, I wanted to make a low-voltage soldering iron on my own, but I did the right thing by buying it and I wish you the same, Babay.

For soldering electronic circuits, special care must often be taken when heating the leads of semiconductor elements. They are very sensitive to temperature.

In addition, sometimes when debugging a circuit, you have to solder with the power connected. In this case, using a conventional soldering iron powered by a 220 volt network is dangerous. For such cases, it is better to use an electric soldering iron that operates on a voltage of 12 volts.

A 12 volt soldering iron can operate on both AC and DC.

A soldering iron operating on direct current can even be connected to the vehicle's on-board network, provided that its power does not exceed the calculated power of the car's electrical wiring.

There are many designs of soldering irons on the market that use low voltage. You can distinguish them by the obligatory inscription on the case, on the packaging.

This voltage must also be indicated in the technical specifications of the tool. If you have an unnecessary soldering iron for 220 volts, you can make a 12 volt one yourself.

Alteration of an old soldering iron

In order to remake a standard soldering iron, you need to disassemble it, remove the heating element. Instead, a nichrome thread with a thickness of 0.02-0.20 mm should be wound on a mica substrate. The thread can be removed from any used electrical appliance, such as a hair dryer.

The length of the thread is selected experimentally depending on the thickness and the required degree of heating of the soldering iron. When winding the thread, it is necessary to ensure that the turns do not touch each other.

The sequence of work is as follows:

• after selecting the length of the wire, the turns are fixed with some heat-resistant glue;
• the thread at both ends is connected by wires to a power source. It can be a 12 volt converter, a power tool battery, or a car battery;
• the case of a new 12 volt soldering iron must be assembled and it will not differ in any way from the previous one.

In order not to accidentally turn on the tool in a 220 volt network, it is recommended to make a catchy, clearly visible inscription on the handle - “12v”.

From a resistor

You can make a miniature homemade 12 volt soldering iron using fixed metal film resistors, for example, a 2 W MLT-2.

They work even with an overload up to 6-10 times, so it is easy to get power from them up to 12-20 watts. But a significant part of it will be wasted on heat exchange with air due to the relatively large surface area of ​​the resistor. For manufacturing, you need a resistor with a nominal value of 24-27 ohms.

One of its fairly thick leads will serve as a soldering iron tip, the second as a contact for the power wire.

The resistor case near the contact-sting must be cleaned of paint and tightly wrapped with a second supply wire. The working scheme of the soldering iron is ready.

It remains only to place it in a case that will be convenient to use. To do this, the resistor is wrapped with a heat-resistant heat-insulating material, for example, fiberglass, and placed in a plastic tube of a suitable diameter.

Use in the car

In modern cars, there are few such components and parts that can be repaired independently, outside the garage or workshop. Most likely, it can be damaged wire harnesses at the folds.

Such malfunctions are easy to fix right on the road. It is enough to remove excess insulation and twist the wires, then protecting the twist with insulating tape.

But the wiring of the car works in very difficult conditions. It is subject to vibrations, frequent changes in temperature and humidity, especially in winter.

Under such conditions, contact in the twist can be lost, and when using a conventional single-wire electrical circuit, the loss of contact can unpredictably affect the behavior of the car.

To prevent this undesirable phenomenon, it is recommended to solder the twist. To do this, you will need a car soldering iron powered by a cigarette lighter.

Almost all car cigarette lighters are powered by a wire line rated for up to 15 A. This is quite enough to connect a soldering iron with a power of up to 100 watts. And more is unlikely to be needed. They also remake the cigarette lighter itself into a palnik. It turns out a miniature infrared hair dryer.

In older cars, soldering may be needed to repair relay and fuse mounting blocks, to solder terminals to wires broken during use.

Many people use homemade soldering irons. There are a lot of implementation options, since these tools are sculpted from what is at hand or easily found. The most time-consuming process of manufacturing a soldering iron, similar to the factory one, but of low power. Here is an example of what and how to make a miniature at home. It is assumed that the soldering iron will not receive power directly from the network, but through a 220/12 V transformer.

You will need the following materials:

• copper wire with a diameter of 1.5 mm - about 40 mm long
• copper foil - a small rectangle 30x10 mm or slightly larger
• nichrome wire 0.2 mm - 350 mm
• tin tube or piece of tin to make a casing for the heating element
• silicate glue (liquid glass)
• talc for manufacturing with the addition of silicate glue of the insulating layer
• heat-resistant plastic handle
• electrical cord with plug

You will also need some auxiliary things:

• heat source (electric or gas oven)
• standard tools (nippers, tweezers, pliers, file)
• non-standard fixtures (something in the form of a narrow small spatula - wooden or plastic)
• a lot of rags (remove very sticky insulating mixture from hands and tools)

Tool assembly sequence

The description of the process is given schematically, since the implementation usually does not cause difficulties.

Important! The finished soldering iron can be connected, as already mentioned, to the network through a transformer or to a 12-volt power supply rated for a current of 1 A.
Such a soldering iron can work with microcircuits, but care should be taken to protect against static electricity.

An alternative to such a soldering iron is of interest to those who are unpretentious about the appearance of the device, which will have to work. The feature of this solution is that a PEV-10 or PEV-7.5 resistor is used as a heating element. It remains to insert the sting, which is fixed in a copper tube tightly inserted into the resistor, and take care of good fixation of the resistor contacts, which do not withstand certain mechanical loads.

Video on how to make a mini soldering iron with your own hands

How to make a homemade mini soldering iron will help you figure out the following video:

A tool such as a soldering iron is indispensable for radio amateurs, but people who are far from electronic technology and components do not consider it a necessity. Sometimes situations happen that can only be corrected with the help of this tool, and if it is not there, then what to do? If the problem is one-time, then there is no need to go to the nearest store and purchase an expensive product. You can make a little effort and, with the help of simple components, assemble a homemade soldering iron. There are many options for assembling this device - consider some of them.

Resistor device.

This is a very simple but extremely reliable device. At home, it can be used in different ways. Depending on the design and power, they can solder microelectronics up to laptops. A large device even allows you to solder a tank or any other large product. Consider how to make a soldering iron with your own hands.

The circuit is interesting in that a resistor suitable for power is used as a heater. It can be PE or PEV. The heater is powered from the household network. These quenching resistances make it possible to solve problems of various scales.

We carry out calculations

Before proceeding to the assembly, some calculations should be performed. So, for the manufacture of devices with resistors, it is enough to recall Ohm's law from a school physics course and the power formula.

For example, you have a suitable part of the PEVZO type with a nominal value of 100 ohms. You are going to create a tool based on it for use in household electrical networks. With the help of the form you can easily calculate the parameters. So, at a current of 2.2 A, a homemade soldering iron will consume 484 watts of power. This is a lot. Therefore, with the help of resistance-damping elements, it is necessary to reduce the current by a factor of four. After that, the indicator will decrease to 0.55 A. The voltage across our resistor will be within 55 V, and in the home network - 220 V. The value of the quenching resistance should be 300 Ohms. As this element, a capacitor for voltage up to 300 V is suitable. Its capacitance should be 10 microfarads.

Soldering iron 220V: assembly

Perhaps the glue will worsen the heat transfer a little, but it will dampen the system of the rod and the heating coil. This will protect the ceramic base of the resistor from possible cracks.

Another layer of glue will protect against backlash in this important knot. The cores of the wires will be brought out through the hole in the tube-rod. This diagram will help you understand how to make a soldering iron reliable, efficient and inexpensive, as well as safe.

To avoid trouble, it is better to strengthen the insulation where the cores will be connected to the heater. For this, an asbestos thread is suitable, as well as a ceramic sleeve on the body. Additionally, you can apply elastic rubber in the place where the electric cord enters the handle.

It's so easy to make a soldering iron with your own hands. Its power may vary. To do this, you simply need to replace the capacitor in the circuit.

mini soldering iron

This is another simple circuit. With this tool, you can work with various miniature devices or parts. With it, you can easily dismantle and solder small radio components and microcontrollers. Each craftsman has the materials to create this product. You will learn how to make a soldering iron, and then you can easily assemble it from improvised materials. Power will be provided from a household transformer - any one from the frame scan of an old TV will do. A piece of 1.5 mm copper wire is used as a sting. A 30 mm piece is simply inserted into the heating element.

We make a base tube

It will not be just a tube, but the base of the heating element. It can be rolled up from copper foil. Then it is covered with a thin layer of a special electrical insulating compound. This composition is also very simple and easy to make. It is enough to mix talc and silicate glue, lubricate the tube and dry it over gas.

Making a heater

In order for our do-it-yourself soldering iron to adequately perform its functions, you need to wind a heater for it. We will do this from a piece of nichrome wire. To solve the problem, we take 350 mm of material 0.2 mm thick and wind it around the prepared tube. When you wind the wire, lay the turns very tightly together. Don't forget to leave straight ends. After winding, grease the spiral with a mixture of talc and glue and let it dry until it is completely baked.

We complete the project

The third stage is additional insulation and installation of the heater in a tin case.

This work must be done very carefully. The ends that come out of our heater should also be treated with insulating material. In addition, treat with a mixture of any cavities that may have arisen from a lack of accuracy.

The manufacturing process of this tool involves protecting the heater leads with heat-resistant insulating material and pulling the cord through the hole in the soldering iron handle. Screw the ends of the power wire to the heater terminals, then carefully insulate everything.

It remains to pack the heating element in a tin case, and then evenly put it in place.

Now you can use this product. If you did everything right, you get an excellent soldering iron, assembled with your own hands. With it, you can solder many interesting circuits.

Miniature non-wire resistor design

This tool is great for small jobs. It is very convenient to solder various microcircuits, SMD parts with it. The scheme of the product is simple, with the assembly there will be no difficulties.

We need an MLT type resistor from 8 to 12 ohms. The power dissipation should be up to 0.75 watts. Also pick up a suitable case from an automatic pen, a copper wire with a cross section of 1 mm, a piece of steel wire 0.75 mm thick, a piece of textolite, a wire with heat-resistant insulation.

Before assembling this soldering iron with your own hands, peel off the paint from the resistor body.

This is easily done with a knife or liquid with acetone. Now you can safely cut off one of the resistor leads. Where the cut was made, drill a hole, and then process it with a countersink. A sting will be mounted there.

At the very beginning, the hole diameter can be equal to 1 mm. After processing it with a countersink, the sting should not come into contact with the cup. It should be in the resistor housing. Make a special groove on the outside of the cup. A down conductor will be held on it, which will also hold the heater.

Now we make a payment. It will consist of three small parts.

From the wide side, connect a steel down conductor to it, in the middle part the case from the handle will be fixed. The second remaining output of the resistor is installed on the narrow part.

Before using this tool, wrap the tip with a thin layer of insulating material. That's how simple and easy you got a low-power 40W mini soldering iron.

Naturally, today serious and hot air dryers are offered for professionals, but these devices are very expensive and are available only for masters from service centers for repairing computers, laptops and mobile devices. This equipment is inaccessible to the home master due to its cost. We hope this article will tell you how to make a soldering iron with your own hands quickly and easily.