Electronics

Two benches are set up to work. One Hakko iron and a Xytronic 426DLX fume extractor live at the benches. Cabinets and the rolling toolbox are still being sorted — use what is already on the benches, put it back where you found it, and do not empty unlabeled drawers. Shop solder is leaded. Complete Electronics Lab Orientation before you solder or power anything here.

What you may use after orientation

•       The shop Hakko, shop leaded solder and flux, wick, and solder sucker.

•       Xytronic 426DLX extractor, safety glasses, helping hands, and the hand tools already on the benches.

•       Breadboards, jumper wire, and parts that are already out and labeled.

•       Shop Arduino and Raspberry Pi kits — in the lab only, when they are clearly marked as shop kits.

•       Handheld DMM. Low-voltage bench supply if you set it to 0 V before you clip on.

•       Heat gun for shrink tubing only.

Ask a lead first

•       Solder pot.

•       Heat gun on anything that is not shrink tubing.

•       Mini drill press or Dremel.

•       High-current or multi-output supplies cranked up. Anything tied to mains.

•       Taking kits, tools, or instruments out of the lab.

•       Digging through unlabeled cabinet or toolbox drawers while storage is being sorted.

A scope or function generator is not a separate checkout. If you have not used one, ask in #electronics before you hook it to a board you care about. Do not treat a first-time scope session as required lab access.

How to run a session

•       There is one iron. If someone is already soldering, use the other bench to prototype or measure.

•       Glasses on. Turn the Xytronic 426DLX on before the Hakko heats. Pull the nozzle close to the joint.

•       Iron in the stand. Set about 650–700 °F (340–370 °C). Tin the tip with shop leaded solder. Do not leave a hot iron on the bench or in the air.

•       Power supplies start at 0 V / current limit down. Check the display before you clip onto a circuit. Kill the output before you change wiring.

•       Clip component leads into the trash, not onto the floor or the mat.

•       When you are done: iron off, tip left tinned, extractor off, supplies at 0 V and off, bench wiped, parts and tools back where they were. Wash your hands.

•       If the Hakko will not heat or the extractor will not pull, post in #machinedown. Questions and “is the iron free” go in #electronics.

Before you sit down

•       Orientation is done.

•       No drinks or food on the bench.

•       You are not taking shop kits or bulk parts home.

•       Follow Ask Before You Touch if a project is already on the mat.

Solder

Shop standard is leaded solder (tin/lead, the spool on the bench). Use that. Do not put lead-free, acid-core, or plumbing solder on the shop iron or in the pot. Do not leave a second alloy on the bench for the next person.

Leaded solder melts cleaner at these temps and is what the tip is dressed with. It is still a lead product: no food at the bench, wash hands when you leave, keep cuttings off the floor.

Safety

•       Treat the iron as hot.

•       Wash hands after solder and flux.

•       Do not hold a part in your fingers while you solder it.

•       No jewelry dangling into the work. Tie hair back.

•       Do not work on energized mains or open power supplies.

•       ESD strap or mat if you are handling loose CMOS / bare modules. You do not need an ESD lecture to sit at the bench.

Storage (in progress)

Benches are the working area. Cabinets and the rolling toolbox are not a finished parts wall yet. Do not reorganize them. Do not take a handful of parts “to sort later.” If you need something that is not on the bench, ask in #electronics.

What is in the area now

•       Two benches.

•       One Hakko, leaded shop solder, flux, wick, sucker.

•       Xytronic 426DLX fume extractor.

•       Bench instruments and supplies already sitting out. Start every supply at zero.

•       Solder pot, heat guns, mini drill, Dremel — ask a lead.

A full inventory of drawers and instruments will go here after storage is sorted. Until then this page is how to use the benches, not a catalog.

Shared lab rules

•       Do not remove tools or kits from the lab.

•       Do not park a project on both benches.

•       Only authorized volunteers replace the Hakko tip.

•       Report a dull tip, a cracked iron rest, a dead extractor, or a supply that will not zero.