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12 minutes ago, johna said:

Hi

Can anyone recommend a soldering I should buy. I will only be using it for soldering wire to track and point motors?

 

Thanks

Johna

If you look on eBay there are several kits for less than £20. Although I have half a dozen irons plus an RSU one of these cheap and cheerful irons has done most of my kit building for the last two years. When I managed to kill the first one ( forgot to turn it off for lunch and didn't return for some hours) I had no hesitation in replacing it with another.

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I bought a cheap(ish) Chinese gas powered iron on eBay.  it overheated and fell apart after less than five hours use.  I replaced it with a gas powered Antex which is superb.  The joy of gas irons is that there is no lead to get in the way.

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i've had weller, antex and many more brands, but if you're just soldering track and similar jobs get yourself a 60w cheap chinese one with a bag of replaceable bits. There's usually an adjustable one for around £8-£10 or £20 with an electronic base on ebay. I've had these for quite a few years and they do the job well.

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Once you get proficient with soldering wire you'll find other uses for it. I would go for the Antex Mick Bonwick recommended. They are not expensive and it will last you years.

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52 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said:

 

I have had a couple of Antex 25 watt irons for 10+ years, excellent. Had to change 1 element only but they both ended up being used a lot

 

I now have an 80 watt solder station as I do much more soldering, over kill for domestic wiring on layouts

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I've got two Antex irons and can't get on with either of them.  I've now got a Hakko soldering station which is excellent (as it should be for the price) and overkill for the OP's requirements but I've also had a considerably cheaper Aoyue soldering station which has given me years of excellent service. It has now been retired from workshop duty but remains my layout-room iron.  Loads of spares and cheap tips available for Aoyues too.

 

DT

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Mine's an Antex and I don't get on with it either, but this may be down to a faulty iron operating mechanism (Johnster) rather than anything to do with Antex.  I reckon there's two types of people, those as can solder and those as can't, and no amount of advice, practice, tutorials, or spending money on kit will remove me from the latter type, sadly.  I have soldered successfully, but reckon my success rate is about 25% for kitbuilding/modelling, perhaps more for wiring jobs.

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When I worked in electronic servicing, we used Antex exclusively.

 

The problem I find with Chinese irons (apart from possible safety issues) is that the bits are rubbish and don't 1.tin  and 2. last 5 minutes. To be fair, I have had the same problem with Antex bits, but they may not have been originals?

 

Antex used to do a complete soldering kit for little more than the cost of the iron. In its turn, the iron cost little more than a replacement element which is a pain to replace.

 

The key to successful soldering is clean workpieces, decent solder and a hot iron. Do not move the parts until the solder has cooled.

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Like you I learnt the hard way not to abuse the soldering iron tip, as they have a thin plating, this stops the tip from corroding, once breached its a downward hill for the tip

 

Rule 1 tin the tip as soon as you get the iron with solder 

 

Rule 2 keep the tip clean (dirty tips reduce heat transference)

 

Rule 3 don't use abrasives on the tip

 

Rule 4 clean the joint prior to soldering and use flux

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I've got loads of Aoyue tips, not because they've failed but because they're cheap and I've got one of most types they do.  So far (and I'm talking about a period of several years) none have lost their plating and I've had very little trouble tinning any of them.  On the other hand,  problems with tinning were the main reason I abandoned Antex irons.  There are of course many types of Chinese irons, often clones of Hakko, and I am sure that some are good and some are bad.  I think that Aoyue, which has an enormous range of products and has been around for many years, can be included among the better ones.

 

As for success with soldering, my advice would be as follows:

1.  Get a reasonably powerful iron, at least 35watts.  You may not always need the power, but sometimes you will.

2. Unless you're soldering white metal, use the iron hot.  Mine is usually at 425 or 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. As others have said, clean the tip after the iron has heated up but before using it.  I've used both the damp sponge and the brass coils type tip cleaner.  Both work.

4.  Clean the joint to be soldered.  It's at times like this that the fibreglass brush comes into its own.

5.  Apply flux to the joint, even if you are using cored solder.  I find Carrs Green and Yellow Lable fluxes to be good.  I use a small paint brush to apply it.

6.  Types of solder?  I find electical cored solder usually works fine though I think that when combined with flux one of the specialist 145 or 180 degree solders perhaps flows slightly better.

7. If at all possible, don't then load the iron with solder and take it to the joint (like I used to do).  Instead, cut off a small bit of solder wire and place it on the fluxed joint.  Then apply the hot soldering iron to it.  You'll find that this is easier, quicker and gives a much neater joint, and it's surprising just how little solder you need.  Sometimes, of course, because we haven't been given three hands and/or because the part to be soldered is very small (soldering wire to 4mm rail probably falls into that category), you won't be able to do that and will have to take a loaded iron to the joint.

 

DT

Edited by Torper
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On 24/03/2020 at 23:16, Dickon said:

I bought a cheap(ish) Chinese gas powered iron on eBay.  it overheated and fell apart after less than five hours use.  I replaced it with a gas powered Antex which is superb.  The joy of gas irons is that there is no lead to get in the way.

For occasional use, you can get battery powered ones (3 or 4 AA I think), but they do chew through batteries pretty quickly. But great for soldering a couple of wires, or to replace a battery or supercap on a PCB.

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From time to time Aldi, and possibly Lidl, include a gas powered iron in their weekly specials.  I bought a Workzone gas-powered mini soldering torch set from Aldi and have been very pleased with it although it is fair to say that I don't use it all that often and when I do it's usually for the mini-blowtorch facility rather than the soldering iron, though a number of tips come with the unit.  It wasn't expensive and unlike most such devices in its price range came with a 3-year guarantee.

 

DT

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For soldering wires especially under base boards I would steer away from anything with a flame, for wiring only a clean tip on the iron and resin cored solder should be OK Carrs orange label flux is organic and designed for wiring jobs where joints cannot be washed

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On 25/03/2020 at 09:08, Il Grifone said:

The problem I find with Chinese irons (apart from possible safety issues) is that the bits are rubbish and don't 1.tin  and 2. last 5 minutes. To be fair, I have had the same problem with Antex bits, but they may not have been originals?

 

I bought an Antex when I was doing my electronics degree ~35 years ago. I had the same bit on it for years with no problems at all. Probably about 10yrs back I accidentally dropped the iron and bent the tip so had to get a new one.The replacement was totally naf and never tinned properly. I gave up in the end and bought a new iron.

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47 minutes ago, Il Grifone said:

Modern solder is lead-free. Try to avoid this if at all possible....

 

 

Whilst I try and use leaded solder where possible, I think most problems cab be attributed to failing do do a few basic things

 

Preparing the work to be soldered

Using the correct flux and solder for the parts being soldered together

Keeping the tip clean

Using the correct iron and or tip for the job

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2 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

 

Whilst I try and use leaded solder where possible, I think most problems cab be attributed to failing do do a few basic things

 

Preparing the work to be soldered

Using the correct flux and solder for the parts being soldered together

Keeping the tip clean

Using the correct iron and or tip for the job

 

That's the problem. The conditions need to be just right. We noticed an increase in dry joints when manufacturers starting using it. It could be just a coincidence of course....

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I like using Carrs red flux, thought it was the most aggressive being in Red but not so, its organic and fine for non ferrous metals, I use either Carrs green or standard 12% dilution for steel or whitemetal. Just use the correct products for the job in hand  

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  • 1 month later...

I tried soldering for the first time last night, with a Lidl sourced variable temperature (electronic) soldering station... a decent price, and appears to be decent piece of kit.

 

I practiced on a spare bit of track.  Two melted sleepers :angry: rude words ensued.

 

Then - success!  Wire to track, solid bond.  Even yanked on it like they do in the Youtube tutorials! :D  Using coreless  solder, no flux.

 

After that, no success at all.  Multi strand "modellers" wire - couldn't tin it!  Eventually managed to tin it.  Attach to rail as before?  No chance.  Cleaned the joint, tried flux, different solder, no joy.  Welcome to Frustration City, population - one.

 

Gave up after learning a valuable although patently obvious lesson...

 

Soldering iron tips are :angry:ing hot!

 

Ouch.

 

Or words to that effect.

 

Later today I will try again.  I don't know if I will fare any better.  It seems so simple in theory...

 

STAY SAFE - USE Hornby POWER CLIPS!

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