RMweb Gold ikcdab Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 I have been successfully soldering for 40 years most recently with an antes 40w iron. However I have just bought a cheap silverlne 15w iron which I thought would be better for electronics work. It has a round pin point tip. But heres the problem. The very end of the tip won't melt solder or provide heat. It works about 5mm from the point, but not actually at the point. So I ended up using the sudde of the bit for soldering which is difficult at best! I have cleaned the tip and tinned it. Is it just a poor design or am I doing something wrong? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISW Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 28 minutes ago, ikcdab said: I have been successfully soldering for 40 years most recently with an antes 40w iron. However I have just bought a cheap silverlne 15w iron which I thought would be better for electronics work. It has a round pin point tip. But heres the problem. The very end of the tip won't melt solder or provide heat. It works about 5mm from the point, but not actually at the point. So I ended up using the sudde of the bit for soldering which is difficult at best! I have cleaned the tip and tinned it. Is it just a poor design or am I doing something wrong? I too struggle with a round pointed tip. I have a multi-watt iron I bought while in Taiwan (100v so needs a transformer) that does 20w to 60w. With a pointed tip I get nowhere, but as soon as I put back the 'old' angled flat tip in the same iron I have no problems. I put it down to being a design fault. But, there again, I'm no soldering expert. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 You have two problems, I think. The size of the tip and the wattage of the iron. The small tip needs plenty of heat in it to get both surfaces up to the required temperature to melt the solder and create the join, so you will need more than a 15W iron. I use a 25W iron for all my electronic soldering, especially with a small tip of the type required for surface mount components. I'm not an expert, but I do listen to those who are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Mick has it I think. Wattage rating is an indicator of how fast the tip temp. recovers after losing heat to the solder, flux and workpiece. I saw a video once of a soldering iron fitted with a thermocouple. The rate of tip temperature decay is remarkable. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Virtually all of silverline products are cheap junk. For electronics, get a small spade bit for your antex. You need heat and speed, not hanging around with an underpowered iron. and get cored solder, lead/tin not the lead free rubbish. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted June 11, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 11, 2020 2 hours ago, ikcdab said: I have been successfully soldering for 40 years most recently with an antes 40w iron. You could simply get a pointed tip for this iron. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 4 hours ago, ikcdab said: I have been successfully soldering for 40 years most recently with an antes 40w iron. However I have just bought a cheap silverlne 15w iron which I thought would be better for electronics work. It has a round pin point tip. But heres the problem. The very end of the tip won't melt solder or provide heat. It works about 5mm from the point, but not actually at the point. So I ended up using the sudde of the bit for soldering which is difficult at best! I have cleaned the tip and tinned it. Is it just a poor design or am I doing something wrong? Buy a quality one not a cheaply made one!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikcdab Posted June 12, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted June 12, 2020 Thanks for the replies. Lesson lealearfnt. Amazon have refunded my money. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted June 12, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 12, 2020 The heat loss on a low wattage iron (cheap or not) is caused by the buik of the lump of metal on the end of it in the tip. If you file back the tip to lose some of that bulk then heat recovery is improved. Better quality irons may have lighter tips, but ultimately you can't argue with physics! Mike. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Good soldering depends on getting enough heat to the joint. A good iron will have a low thermal resistance to ensure this and a decent bit which will tin properly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Quote If you file back the tip to lose some of that bulk then heat recovery is improved. many tips are copper coated with iron to give durability. Filing a tip will not be a good idea, get a tip/tips of the right shape. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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