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soldering irons

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Big Jim

07-19-2004 12:28:44

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Does anybody out there have any experience with soldering irons? I have a Weller iron, its built like a pistol. You pull a trigger to heat it up. I never can seem to get a decent amount of heat out of it. I always have to tinker with the little allen head screws that hold the tip to get it to heat better. There must be something out there better than this piece of ****. I am soldering the wiring in my tractor. Any advice appreciated.

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Farmer Dave

07-20-2004 12:32:46

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

Modern connections are made with a hot air gun and a deal they call a hot air solder sleeve. Straight crimps fail due to vibration and oxidation. Soldering and shrink tube are a close approximation.

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Sam#3

07-20-2004 04:44:23

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

Back in the early days of radio and TV the solding guns were widely used because of the instant heat and fast cooling. One could make a home repair and pack the gun in the caddy and go. You could'nt do that with an iron.
The wattage was deceptive because the tip is so small they will not sustain the temperature. A heavy forty watt iron will out work them.

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ken sampson

07-19-2004 20:03:42

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

I always use a plug it in and let it go weller. Never seem to have any luck with my pistol weller.

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tech4

07-19-2004 16:31:11

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

From a guy that has made his living with a soldering iron for close to 50 years let me tell you that a soldering gun is just a quick one shot fix for repairs. I always use either a temperture controlled iron which is too expensive for occassional use or fixed irons of 15-25-40-100 watts. The 40 watt is best for wiring. Then again if I was wiring a tractor or truck, I would not solder but use good crimp connectors with a proper tool such as the AMP Champ. Soldering wire in houses was outlawed many years ago because solder connections do break. They were also outlawed on aircraft for that same reason and a good crimp will be there for the life of the wire.

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MarkB

07-19-2004 20:42:52

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Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to tech4, 07-19-2004 16:31:11

Tech is right.

With the availability of good crimp connectors, there's really no reason to solder. For a weatherproof splice, I seal up the connection with either RTV, 3M 5200 Marine Sealant, or "Liquid Electric Tape". If you're really paranoid, use heat shrinkable tubing over the splice and fill the tubing with RTV prior to shrinking it.

When I need to solder, my tool of choice is a Weller temperature-controlled soldering iron. Much too light for this kind of work. If I really need to solder heavy stuff, such as battery cables, I use a torch. (In fact, battery cables are about the only heavy wiring I solder, solder connections being more corrosion-resistant than crimp connections.

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Roy B

07-19-2004 16:12:29

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

Big Jim;
If your weller is one of the dual range guns, be aware the hottest stage is the first trigger position, not full in. Owned mine close to 20 years before I realized this. Roy

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Mark

07-19-2004 15:06:33

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

I've been very successful with my Weller up to 14ga wire. After that it takes a long time to get any wire hot. Anything bigger than 10ga forget the Weller. I'm going to try that propane tip as TBone suggested next time on big wire.
I've also had good results with bigger wire by using bare crimp on connectors first then adding solder. Crimp on connectors never seem to hold as well by themselves.
Now that I'm done rambling, what I really wanted to add was cover that soldered joint with Heatshrink tubing when your done. It makes a much more permanent connection than tape. Around here a local elctronics shop sells it in 3' lengths, much cheaper than those packages everyone else sells.

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T_Bone

07-19-2004 13:46:24

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

Hi Jim,

Tin the ends of the tip connectors. If the tip has been loose it will build up scale on the inside. A set of torch tip cleaners works well for cleaning these.

Sung the tip set screws before you use the iron. Once the tip screws can't be tighten any more, then trim off a 1/8" from the tip wires. When the tip no longer fits the gun connectors buy a new tip.

For heavy cable work, I too like the propane solder head. Or doing battery cables I use my bullet mold pot. Heat the lead with the end of the battery cable in lead pot then dip in acid then back to the lead pot. This tins the ends well without fraying wires or burning insulation.

T_Bone

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Fred OH

07-21-2004 10:05:02

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Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to T_Bone, 07-19-2004 13:46:24

In a pinch I have used a piece of #14 solid strand wire for a new "temporary tip" for my Weller 2 speed gun. It's smaller than the original and probably heats up faster. Heat it up, dip it in flux and tin it on tip and it's ready to go. Oh, by the way...it's probably cheaper too. I think mines been temporary for a few years now. Fred OH

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Ben in KY

07-20-2004 08:53:13

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Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to T_Bone, 07-19-2004 13:46:24

Yes keep the tip connections clean. The gun is basically a step down transformer with a high current low voltage secondary. It is that low voltage high current flowing thru the tip that heats it up. A bad connection on the tip = less current and heat.

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Kevin

07-19-2004 13:03:18

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

I have never had any luck with soldering guns like yours, waiting for the heat from the trigger is a PITA. I have used a little cheapie soldering iron for the last ten years, I've soldered a ton of joints with it, but yesterday I ordered one of those "Cold Heat" soldering irons. 4 AA batteries and hot to cold and back in 6 seconds with no cord. This should be interesting to test!

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George

07-20-2004 01:58:02

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Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to Kevin, 07-19-2004 13:03:18

Kevin, Please report back on how the "cold heat" iron works. Sounds like it uses the internal electric resistance of the solder to generate heat, which is the opposite of what the proper soldering process should be -- the joint should be heated first and then the solder applied. Doing the reverse usually leads to cold joints.

If I am right and the tip does contain two probes with a voltage potential between them, soldering CMOS and other IC's could cause damage to the devices.

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Ron

07-19-2004 12:33:39

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Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 12:28:44

When I wire them I use a propane torch and a roll of electrical solder. It takes a little practice but you'll never have too little heat. Here's a tip. Use a small pair of vise grips to hold the work. Frees up your hands and keep the insulation from burning.

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Big Jim

07-19-2004 14:18:13

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Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to Ron, 07-19-2004 12:33:39

Thanks everybody for the advice. Sounds like part of the problem could be due to "operator defect". I tighten those little screws regularily but never thought about cutting the tips off, perhaps they are full of crud and thats why I get very little heat.

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Kelvin

07-20-2004 22:13:47

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Re: Re: Re: soldering irons in reply to Big Jim, 07-19-2004 14:18:13

Having done a ton of warranty work on those type of soldering irons I can not stress enough that you have to keep the ends that go into the iron CLEAN!!! You have to keep the wire tip ends and the sockets that they go into clean. If you don't they won't transfer the heat to the tip and they won't work.

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