.. i guess we have to find out this one ourselves.

my friends are using cheap tools to solder/desolder stuff. they told me to practice more to know what your tools can do, then adjust timings accordingly. good tools do help, but practice makes perfect.

edit:

.. this is the gk64 that i use the most. lubed gateron red/black combo is nice if you like linear switches.



This post has been edited by horns: May 12 2018, 02:26 PM

set 1

set 2

this r some of the soldering iron sets i found in lazada.. will these do the works or i should find others?

er i just borrowed my friends' chinese-made soldering stations and stuff for few times only. it's better to wait for experienced users' suggestions

Anyone here tried other switches in a Tecware Phantom? I really want to try Box Switches but I'm not sure if it will fit.

you should get kailh box switches and just try them out.

according to our friend at mymkb fb page, it's better to make custom switches with outemu housings (e.g. gateron stems + gateron springs + outemu top cover + outemu housings) to reduce the issue of bent pins. however since the design for kailh and outemu might not be the same, you might not be able to do this.

Should work fine. Even if the iron doesn’t perform to your expectation, just get a 35W Hakko soldering iron from Jln Pasar.

My priority would be something like this: top quality soldering lead > high quality soldering flux > variety of soldering iron tip (Ori Hakko or better, with different pitch and shape) > soldering iron itself (doesn’t really matter,just switch out the heating element if any element)

what does soldering flux do?

Used to clear the oxides and helps “wet” the solder better. Basically, solder lead do have flux inside their core, but usually I prefer more flux for certain applications

Tecware Phantom's "Hot Swappable" design is only meant for Outemu switches if you're looking for a direct fit. Outemu switches have thinner pins and those "hot swap" sockets do not fit the slightly larger pin diameter shared by Cherry, Kailh, and Gateron. If you plan to use other brands' stem and spring, you'll have to re-use the Outemu switch housings.

Only those recent "hot swap" keyboards that uses the Kailh hot-swap PCB mount sockets can fit all range of switches as those come with spring-clamp sockets.

i see.. any suggestion of a high quality soldering lead and soldering flux?

personal favorite:
soldering lead = prokit
soldering flux/paste = burnley

thanks a lot for the tips and suggestions

.. and it's time for me to get a more proper set also.

thx for the info
another question.. the soldering kit on lazada I provided above, will the solder sucker comes with the set would do its job desoldering switches without any problem?

Shouldn't be an issue, but I would recommend getting some old broken electronics to practice on first if this is the first time you're actually doing any soldering.

For the price, I'm not sure if you can get a similar kit from Jalan Pasar(if you live around KL and surrounding areas) instead of ordering online.

how much are the kits sell in jalan pasar? i live in kepong.. might go there to look if i'm free

has anyone bought this o.o?
this latest ver released recently

https://item.mi.com/1181300020.html

the rounded corner body, switch and usb c port are really attractive to me

looks nice.

Been a while since I've been there. While I won't spend much on a soldering iron, I still believe that a decent one with a lasting heater core and replaceable tips is a good one to go. Personally am using Hakko for the normal soldering irons but I've since upgraded to a TS-100 microchip controlled one.

Really depends on what your want out of the set. As for desoldering pump, try to get one with a flexible tip (soft yet doesn't get burnt) and also big sized yet still manageable single handedly. Unless you get something like the Engineer SS-02 which costs around RM100+, most basic desoldering pump has the concept of "bigger size, bigger suction volume", the flexible tip also helps in making sure the suction on the desoldering area is good and manages to suck it all out in one go.

sure no probs. don't apply too much solder flux though, because you would have to clean it up with IPA solution.

can't really comment much on desoldering sucker. I generally don't use them, I only need a fine pitch tweezer and a soldering iron, even for desoldering

however, try not to buy/use those "high power" sucker. if you are inexperienced with it, you might even suck out the whole pad, which might render your PCB useless

yes although flux is useful, i was also told that it's not good to abuse it.

there are a lot more that i need to learn about basic but proper soldering/desoldering/maintenance of tools etc. hopefully i can pick them up when time comes lol