unsoundmove Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 HI, i need to solder three wires from lighting circuit to a 21 pin DCC socket. It is such a delicate job, with the solder points being less than 1 mm across and my cheap existing fine tip soldering iron doesn't generate enough heat right at the tip to do the job. Grateful for any advice. I am considering buying a temperature controlled soldering station as recommended elsewhere on here. Thanks... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterfgf Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Do get a temperature controlled soldering iron. They are a worthwhile investment. I bought an Atten AT60 from RS Components and I'm very pleased with it (it replaced an el-cheapo from Maplins, which ably demonstrated the proverb "buy cheap, buy twice"). Get small pointed tips for soldering on decoders. Buy a brass wire de-solder station to wipe excess solder off the iron tip (you don't want too much on the tip). Clean up/remove oxidation from the contact pads with a fibre glass pen, tin the pads before soldering the wires to the pads. I use 60%/40% tin/lead solder. It has much better flow characteristics than the replacement lead- free solders (just don't breath the fumes). I lay Sellotape (or better still Kapton tape) over the adjacent pad terminals which I'm not soldering - keeps them clean- but still check afterwards that you haven't accidently bridged the pads with solder. Hope that helps - other people will be much further up the learning curve and give more advice. Peterfgf, 2 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsoundmove Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Thank you. What sort of temperature would you set it up for this kind of delicate job ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Roy Langridge Posted December 20, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 20, 2020 1 hour ago, unsoundmove said: Thank you. What sort of temperature would you set it up for this kind of delicate job ? It is going to depend on the melting point of the solder you are using. In an ideal world you would use a solder with a slightly lower melting point than was used for the original solder joints, meaning that you remove the risk of affecting the original joints. Roy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterfgf Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 2 hours ago, unsoundmove said: Thank you. What sort of temperature would you set it up for this kind of delicate job ? The 60/40 solder I sue has a melting point range of 183-188deg.C. and I set the iron at 380deg.C. It always a bit of a compromise but this temperature manages to make quick, well melted and effective joints for me. Not a lot of heat goes into the parent material if you are quick about it. Peterfgf Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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