Clock

[zcruiser]

A well-tinned low power soldering iron and rosin core electrical solder is the way to go. I built several Heathkits before seventh grade (then I discovered sex, drugs and rock and roll) so I have a few thousand solder joints of experience.

I've had the same old-school Radio Shack soldering iron since the late '70s. Doubt it cost me more than 10 bucks. Of course at work we have the latest Metcal stuff which rocks my socks.

The problem is going to be getting Pb-Sn solder for much longer when the whole RoHS thing kicks in full force. Newer circuit boards no longer use Pb-Sn solder as the whole industry has gone lead free by law. Another reason old vehicles are good to keep running - keep that lead out of the landfills! Buy up your stock of lead solder now while you still can!

I love the smell of burning flux in the morning...

 

[Nelsonmd]

I've had the same old-school Radio Shack soldering iron since the late '70s. Doubt it cost me more than 10 bucks. Of course at work we have the latest Metcal stuff which rocks my socks.

The problem is going to be getting Pb-Sn solder for much longer when the whole RoHS thing kicks in full force. Newer circuit boards no longer use Pb-Sn solder as the whole industry has gone lead free by law. Another reason old vehicles are good to keep running - keep that lead out of the landfills! Buy up your stock of lead solder now while you still can!

I love the smell of burning flux in the morning...

I work in the auto industry, working specifically with the Pb-free changeover. You don't have to worry about this right now. The various governments can't get their act together and make functional legislation, so they keep pushing this stuff out. I think it is 3-5 years out right now, probably to be delayed again in another year or so. Some companies have switched some components, but the PB-free solder just isn't as good as the Pb stuff. Pb-free solder needs to grow up a little more before industries can truly switch over.

Seriously, you should read the legislation changes to the Euro directives about this. They update it every 6 months or so to re-word it to allow additional exceptions to Pb-free. They don't know their a$$es from their elbows.

And I like getting a nice soldering iron. You may be able to do a project with a cheap one (I have certainly done many), but a good one is just so luxurious.

 

[zcruiser]

Seriously, you should read the legislation changes to the Euro directives about this. They update it every 6 months or so to re-word it to allow additional exceptions to Pb-free. They don't know their a$$es from their elbows.

Oh, I'm deep into it as well, (work for a major electronics company). Many of our asms have already been converted to full Pb-free, and yes the processes are still being tweaked. We are taking the 'server exemption' for the majority of our stuff but many of our suppliers are being forced to go Pb-free because their CM's are converting over.

Pb-free is scary (to me) primarily because there's nothing like lead for malleability and resistance to issues during long-term vibration.

Sorry for the meta-discussion, but it's good to be aware of what's coming...

 

[BamaDrewski]

For what it is worth, my clock (2000 T4R LIMITED) stopped working. I took it out of the dash, unscrewed it, cleaned it with residue free contact cleaner and made sure the buttons were seated properly on the prongs coming out from the clock. (The buttons are square and need to fit precisely in their allotted space) Put the whole thing back in and presto - it works! Might be cheaper than soldering and all that cool stuff.

 

[zcruiser]

For what it is worth, my clock (2000 T4R LIMITED) stopped working. I took it out of the dash, unscrewed it, cleaned it with residue free contact cleaner and made sure the buttons were seated properly on the prongs coming out from the clock. (The buttons are square and need to fit precisely in their allotted space) Put the whole thing back in and presto - it works! Might be cheaper than soldering and all that cool stuff.

I think most clocks have some solder reflow problems which may be solved with a cleaning but corrosion will set in again and interrupt the connections. Best long-term solution is to hit it with the soldering iron.

 

[steezemcqueen]

...and you got banned for it

 

[steezemcqueen]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/annou...-statement/5809-rules-toyota-4runner-org.html

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all i'm gonna say