Re: Licensing soldering irons

[quadrajet1@aol.com (Quadrajet1)]

>Actually, The U.S. Navy does require that you be schooled, certified
>and carry a card to operate a soldering iron, (at least in the air
>wing). There are several levels of certification. The entry level is a
>3 week course. To inspect your repair work they will look at the
>solder joint under a microscope. At the higher levels of certification
>they will weigh a board, have you remove and replace a component, then
>re-weigh the board to check your solder quantity. To check the solder
>flow and cohesive bond they will  X-ray the solder joint. 
>The intermediate level covers the repair of damaged pads, holes,
>traces and fried laminates.
>
>Solder joints that appear perfect to the naked eye can have monstrous
>flaws revealed when viewed under a scope.
>If you think the soldering on your zip card looks bad, take a look at
>it with a microscope........

  For smaller traces, I actually solder under a 7x-30x stereo zoom microscope. 
Ungar or Weller fine tipped iron and super fine solder.  Been soldering since I
was kid, some 30 years ago.

Raymond