Soldering Survey

[solderotter]

Hi there. We’re Solder Otter, a team of recent engineering graduates from the University of Waterloo in Canada that is redesigning the soldering iron so soldering electronics can be safer and simpler.

You may have seen the survey we posted back in 2013 when we first started working on Solder Otter. Since then, we’ve built prototypes, won pitch competitions, and learned so much about makers and soldering. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback, so we’re pushing forward with the project beyond graduation.

We have another survey. It’s similar to our last survey, but this one is designed to help us refine our prototype into the best soldering iron for you. We’re reaching out to makers and hobbyists across several forums because we want to learn about your soldering experiences, preferences, and needs. We're also considering designing with children in mind, so if you have any input in that regard, we'd love to hear that too.

If you can spare 10 minutes to fill out our survey (link below), we would really appreciate your input. Thank you! If you have any questions or comments feel free to reply to this post or send us an email at info@solderotter.com.

Link to survey: http://goo.gl/forms/Uep9Qd0GiM

[g1]

There is no information about the actual iron on your website.
So here is the link for the design award which at least has a picture and mentions built in fume extractor: https://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/new...er-esch-awards
From previous discussion, I imagine it also has some kind of solder feed device to free up a hand?
I do like both those features.
Are any of your team members experienced at soldering or using solder irons in a professional capacity?

[solderotter]

There is no information about the actual iron on your website.
So here is the link for the design award which at least has a picture and mentions built in fume extractor: https://uwaterloo.ca/engineering/new...er-esch-awards
From previous discussion, I imagine it also has some kind of solder feed device to free up a hand?
I do like both those features.
Are any of your team members experienced at soldering or using solder irons in a professional capacity?

Our website is pretty bare at the moment because our prototype is still in its infancy. An automated solder feed device isn't a feature we've currently implemented but it is something we've considered. This is why we're trying to understand people's major pain points about soldering so that we can further design an iron that addresses the major ones.

A couple of our members have soldered before and one member has done so professionally for SMT components.

[Leo_Gnardo]

We're also considering designing with children in mind, so if you have any input in that regard, we'd love to hear that too.

Uh oh's.. any contact with a certain "inventor/entrepreneur" from near Bowling Green Kentucky?

Considering the current Nanny State in USA and Canada, it would be tough to get children involved with anything hotter than an E-Z-Bake light bulb oven. Woops, now you can't even get proper light bulbs anymore, forget that... Kids, keep tapping your smart phones, that's the technology of the future. LOL, OMG, LOL, OMG, LOL, OMG, LO.......

[big_teee]

In the future it will be harder to get decent solder, than an iron to melt it with.
My old weller station is doing just fine!
GL,
T

[Enzo]

Reinventing the wheel.

[J M Fahey]

The improved "wheel" on his right does not look much like the classic one on his left.



That said, I answered the survey and sent a couple comments, all in good faith and trying to help, doubly so now I know that it's a Student team effort which I applaude, so take this with a grain of salt:

1) team lack of experience soldering is noticeable, now I see that only 2 of you have some experience soldering and only one a more solid one (and that only in SMT)

2) the questions show a certain amount of fear which any experienced soldering guy will brush off.

Yes, it's true that soldering irons burn, can even start a fire, soldering fumes are nasty, nobody argues that, but with any experience they are properly handed in a safe way.

Personal rant: you can make nothing on Earth absolutely foolproof, fools are very intelligent or determined to mess up anything, damaging others and themselves in the process.
If you try very hard, you often make stuff unusable/annoying/inconvenient/awkward and YET, some fool will find a way to make damage.

I very much trust in Darwinism, in a very practical way.
We are here because our forebears learnt not to sleep naked in the Sun in the middle of high Summer, not consider a hungry lion a pet, not to eat dead animals covered in maggots, and 10000 other survival skills.
Not because somebody made a safer Sun, a kinder lion or healthier rotten meat but because we learnt to avoid such dangers, basicaly because those who didn't were left behind, if you know what I mean.

For the same reason I wouldn't make soldering irons "safe for under 12" but invent some way for them to enjoy hands-on Electronics safely (Protoboarding anybody? ... or our Dinosaur Age Fahnestock clips)

3) that said, I *applaud* you for your creativity, and doubly so the Canadian Government, which shows in practice that they are very determined to keep the Country Technologically advanced, and protecting National Industry, even more in these times of Globalization slaughter.

Also checked the University, liked that it *forces* Students to work in the Industry along all the 5 year studies, 3 months working mixed with 3 months studies and so on.
Good for the Students and also good for the Companies.

I liked the University so much that tomorrow I'll show it to my Son, who's ending 2nd Year (out of 5) Industrial Engineering and will continue studying for a coupled related Degrees after that.
So he might have to add Canuck to his Language battery, go figure.

[g1]

And as far as the kids go, if there's not an app so they can solder with their smart phones, they probably won't be interested.

[solderotter]

Uh oh's.. any contact with a certain "inventor/entrepreneur" from near Bowling Green Kentucky?

We haven't had any contact from anyone near Bowling Green Kentucky. Is that something we should know about?

Considering the current Nanny State in USA and Canada, it would be tough to get children involved with anything hotter than an E-Z-Bake light bulb oven. Woops, now you can't even get proper light bulbs anymore, forget that... Kids, keep tapping your smart phones, that's the technology of the future. LOL, OMG, LOL, OMG, LOL, OMG, LO.......

Smartphones are going away anytime soon. Now if you could solder with a smartphone...

[solderotter]

In the future it will be harder to get decent solder, than an iron to melt it with.
My old weller station is doing just fine!
GL,
T

We're aware that different solders have their own quirks and we're keeping that in mind as we design. And there's a reason why Weller is an industry leader.

[solderotter]

1) team lack of experience soldering is noticeable, now I see that only 2 of you have some experience soldering and only one a more solid one (and that only in SMT)

2) the questions show a certain amount of fear which any experienced soldering guy will brush off.

...

Also checked the University, liked that it *forces* Students to work in the Industry along all the 5 year studies, 3 months working mixed with 3 months studies and so on.
Good for the Students and also good for the Companies.

1) This is true. We are not soldering experts but we have found this project to be an invaluable learning experience and look forward to continue to learn more about soldering.

2) We designed the survey to focus on needs and frustration and we realized many of these are things that someone who is experience with soldering would brush off. Based on our preliminary conversations with many experienced users, we found that their frustrations tend to be centered on processes or materials, such as frustrations with lead-free solder. At this point we're focusing on redesigning the soldering iron itself.

3) Thanks for your support, the Co-op program is something that all of our team members appreciated. The work experience is great and being able to pay off tuition is always helpful.

[g1]

Thanks for responding to our queries. It's annoying when people post here and never respond again. Active engagement will increase the likelihood of people doing your survey.
Out of curiousity, are you in Waterloo or T.O. ?
Good luck with your project.

[km6xz]

Is there a difference between a Maker and any other user of soldering equipment? If there is, it is only a temporary condition, about 30 joints experience difference.
I assume there is a suction system in the thick base of the iron tht requires the long tube extending towards the tip. That tube would be unacceptable in a active soldering situation since many connections are not fully exposed and hence the relatively long thin shaft for workstation irons supporting the tip. For example from the photo of your iron, it suggests that soldering a joint in an assembled unit , where the tip must reach connections surrounded by wires and components, your new iron would not work. It would work fine on flat PC boards with no vertically protruding pasts like capacitors, relays, jacks, connectors or sub-boards.
I would suggest a small tube that is flexible and parallel to the heating element shaft for the extractor tube, that allows the extractor to be moveable but by default located within 1/2 inch of the tinned part of the tip. That allows a lower volume of air to extract from very close to the source of fumes, the joint itself. An LED could be mounted in the cool extractor tube for joint illumination. This one is rotatable and can be snapped off for very tight soldering job.
Most beginners are too or not enough, mindful of heat so damage the boards by applying low heat too long. Or using too small a tip for tiny connections which actually caused more heat damage to pc boards and components than higher temp, higher thermal mass irons. Heat damage is most often caused by a moderate temperature rise over a long period of time. If the tip is too small or the iron too low power, applying the tip to the joint dropped the tip temperature so it has to be held too long on the joint, particularly with lead free soldering. There needs to be enough thermal reservoir to not drop the tip temperature when in contact with the work to be soldered. So working quickly, larger tips cause less damage. To counter the need for a large mass, you can use a small tip with the heating element directly embedded into tip very close to the joint contact area. That would be an improvement in component and board safety. Irons are almost never fire starters, they are too cold for that and have very localized heat. They can sure burn skin but they don't start fires.
Here is an example of a extraction tube close to the source and retractable for tight location soldering.

Another requirement of soldering irons is quick changes of tips. SMD requires different tips than terminal strips or ground plane connections for example.
Good luck with the project!

[solderotter]

Thanks for responding to our queries. It's annoying when people post here and never respond again. Active engagement will increase the likelihood of people doing your survey.
Out of curiousity, are you in Waterloo or T.O. ?
Good luck with your project.

There are team members based out of both Waterloo and TO. Thanks for your well wishes!

[solderotter]

There are differences between Makers and other users. We're defining Makers as someone who uses a soldering iron in a hobbyist setting, including both novices and experienced users, but not in an industrial setting. We have found that users in an industrial setting have different preferences, typically valuing factors such as performance significantly higher than others such as price.

Thank you too for your suggestions. We definitely appreciate their comprehensiveness and will definitely consider them as we move forward!