TIL a laptop repair customer taught ME something about my own soldering iron

Had a guy come in last week with a dead power jack on his ThinkPad. I grabbed my Hakko and went to reflow it, but he stops me and says "You gonna tin that tip first?" I laughed it off but then realized he was right - I had been rushing and skipping that step for months. Checked my joints after and they were way cleaner when I actually prepped the tip properly. Anyone else ever get schooled by a customer on basic technique?

1 comments

1 Comment

jamiekim1mo ago

Huh, I actually have to disagree here! That customer was nitpicking over something that barely matters in real world use - as long as you clean your tip regularly and get good flow, skipping the tinning step doesn't make or break a joint. Most people who obsess over perfect prep are just wasting time that could be spent actually doing the repair.