From: lfiskgr@gmail.invalid   
      
   On Tue, 23 Sep 2025 17:59:38 -0400   
   "Jim Wilkins"  wrote:   
      
   >It was visible because I used a powerful Optivisor headband magnifier (a    
   >recent flea market treasure) and soldered for a living so I know what a bad    
   >or failed  joint looks like. Instead of flowing smoothly onto the pin the    
   >solder was peeled back very slightly at the intersection with the pin, as    
   >though 25 years of thermal cycling had torn it loose. The break was visible    
   >as a hairline gap in what should have been a continuous light bulb    
   >reflection along the fillet/meniscus.   
      
   Had to do a lot of soldering too. Had two pencils, a kinda pencil vacuum   
   sucker and a 250 watt gun at my work bench. The vacuum unit had a   
   pretty strong heater in it, sometimes used it for soldering to   
   supplement the 60 watt pencil.   
      
   I had several magnifiers too. A 7x Loupe was the most   
   useful. Also had a "microscope" shaped like a fat Sharpy   
   pen. It was useful some of the time if you could get a bright light,   
   focal distance and angle all aligned at the same time🙄️   
      
   I spotted an Optivisor 2x Model on AZ several years ago that had been   
   returned for a nice price and bought it. Also have the flip up/down   
   booster (LP1 OptiLoupe, Adds 2.5X) for one eye for it but haven't put it   
   on. The working distance on it is pretty close-up which kinda limits   
   its usefulness for me.   
      
   I'm really near sighted, I can push my glasses up or take them off   
   and do a fair job checking solder joints that way. Suspect far sighted   
   people would find the Optivisor a lot more helpful...   
      
   --    
   Leon Fisk   
   Grand Rapids  MI   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)