Soldering iron

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Don't know what I did with mine, so need to get a new one. What's the best capacity one (in terms of wattage) to get for wiring track, please?

[Steven B]

18-25W should be OK for N to OO gauge. You might need something bigger for O.

 

Steven B.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Cheers, thanks Steven. Electronics isn't my strong point...

[kevinlms]

Soldering isn't about electronics, it's a mechanical/chemical action.

 

You need to clean the 2 surfaces mechanically, heat up the join and when the 2 materials get hot enough, it's in with the solder, then it should flow.

Keep everything still and withdraw the soldering iron and when it solidifies, the solder should have a shiny finish to it. If it looks dull, then it needs redoing.

 

A bit of practice on old bits of rail and clean copper wire, will help considerably. Since the rail is probably heavier, then it needs more of the irons heat.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I said electronics wasn't my strong point, as proved by my inability to differentiate it from soldering...

[DCB]

The usual recommendation is a 25 watt iron but I find I need a lot more heat.  I had several 25 watt irons, including an Antex, and something prehistoric, a Weller solder gun, something horrible and huge from Aldi around 60 watt and none were satisfactory.   So I bought a 60Watt  temperature controlled iron off eBay for under £7 including postage and its brilliant, its similar size to the Antex 25 watt (£25 plus). so I put the Antex hook on it, left it on 60 watt and suddenly solder was melting, wires were attaching and staying attached and I wasn't waiting for ages for the rail to warm enough to take the solder so the sleepers were not melting.   Anyway the iron is tiny so I bought another so I have one in the shed and one in the house,  I am not expecting miracles for £7 but the Antex irons don't seem to last long either... 

 

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Thanks DCB; I've just ordered one. I think my son "borrowed" mine"...

[kevinlms]

14 hours ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

I said electronics wasn't my strong point, as proved by my inability to differentiate it from soldering...

I've read a few of your articles recently from the Model Railway Constructor in the 70s and into the 80s. Definitely a stronger point of yours, in writing a potted history of various locos, coaching stock and operations from that period.

Thanks.

[doilum]

I'm sure I paid twelve pounds for my second one. Needed it to repair the first after I accidentally scorched the flex.

Apart from the cost, the thing I like best is the speed of warming up to temperature. Oddly enough, I should have been spending.today soldering drop wires on a friend's O gauge project. I was looking forward to out performing some very expensive rivals. Family stuff has got in the way. Never mind, always next Tuesday.

[Steven B]

16 hours ago, DCB said:

Antex irons don't seem to last long either... 

 

My 25W Antex is still going strong - only one replacement element in 25 years.

The advantage of the likes of Antex and Weller over the low cost unbranded ones from eBay is that spares (including a range of bits you know will fit) are easily available. However, I discovered the hard way a couple of years ago that to change the element on an Antex iron you need a soldering iron!

 

Steven B.

[LimboBrit]

20 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Soldering isn't about electronics, it's a mechanical/chemical action.

 

You need to clean the 2 surfaces mechanically, heat up the join and when the 2 materials get hot enough, it's in with the solder, then it should flow.

Keep everything still and withdraw the soldering iron and when it solidifies, the solder should have a shiny finish to it. If it looks dull, then it needs redoing.

 

A bit of practice on old bits of rail and clean copper wire, will help considerably. Since the rail is probably heavier, then it needs more of the irons heat.

.....and keeping the tip of the iron clean is important too. Tinning the two components to be soldered first also helps.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

The soldering iron I ordered earlier this week arrived by courier today - not bad for £6.70 including postage, though I've not had the opportunity to try it out yet. I'm not sure what's in the plastic tube; solder I imagine.

[spamcan61]

Yes it'll be solder of some sort in the tube; certainly plenty of bits for your money there.

[cypherman]

Hi all,

If you get a good one, it will last a lifetime. The one I use was my father's before I was born and is still going strong. And that was over 60 years ago......... 😀

[AndrueC]

On 17/10/2022 at 14:15, Steven B said:

18-25W should be OK for N to OO gauge. You might need something bigger for O.

 

Steven B.

I also found that getting one that is thermostatically controlled helped.

[JeffP]

Just looked on a well known auction site and there's both 60W and 80W temperature controlled irons including stands, solder, set of extra bits etc for £10-£13.

[Helmdon]

2 hours ago, JeffP said:

Just looked on a well known auction site and there's both 60W and 80W temperature controlled irons including stands, solder, set of extra bits etc for £10-£13.

getting back into soldering after 25 years off.... will 60W do for OO or is that overkill? Really need temperature control as aside from trackwork I've got a DJH B16 and a Nu-cast C13 to build.

[micklner]

1 hour ago, Helmdon said:

getting back into soldering after 25 years off.... will 60W do for OO or is that overkill? Really need temperature control as aside from trackwork I've got a DJH B16 and a Nu-cast C13 to build.

I have a Antex 25watt for almost all 4mm jobs. A Antex 40 watt for the rare occasion more heat is needed. I recomend Antex, all the others I have tried are rubbish or just die quickly or both.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Well I just tried my £7 one and it seems to work fine. Ordered Mon, got on Thurs via Hermes.

[Butler Henderson]

Soldering irons fall into two forms - ones with the tip fitting over the heated shank (Antex) and ones with the tip fitting inside the heated shank (Weller) , Always found Antex to outperform Weller watt for watt and years ago at school the electronics teacher was of the view that the Weller type had too much heat loss to disspation whereas on an Antex type more heat goes to the tip part.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Butler Henderson
punctuation

[Torper]

20 hours ago, Helmdon said:

getting back into soldering after 25 years off.... will 60W do for OO or is that overkill? Really need temperature control as aside from trackwork I've got a DJH B16 and a Nu-cast C13 to build.

A 60W iron doesn't get any hotter than a 25W one. What it does is retain the heat it generates more effectively. Thus apply a low wattage iron to a joint and its heat may dissipate before the joint is properly made. That won't happen with  a high wattage iron.  If you can afford it, get the higher wattage iron.

 

DT

[Graham Radish]

An adjustable temp 48w silverline iron is my recommendation, you can get ultrafine tips for it too, mines been brilliant.

 

Here

 

 

 

 

[johnarcher]

I've been thinking of a new iron to go with my old 25w Antex, but I'd want two things from it that may not come together (or not at an affordable price)

First, temperature controlled, but going low enough for whitemetal soldering, those above don't seem to go below 200 degrees

But also something like 60w, for when joining something chunkier than etches.

Any ideas?

[Barclay]

I use a Maplins 60w temperature controlled iron, which is currently £60 from them on-line. Very pleased with it but to get the right shape bit for model making you need, I think, to buy their pack of extra bits as the one supplied, from memory, is pointy. 

 

Compared to a lower power iron, it never seems to 'run out of breath' and the heating up time is pleasantly quick. The lowest setting is 150.

[Torper]

Hakko FX-888D, 70W, temperature control 50° - 450°C.  An excellent highly thought of iron (I've got one!), but not cheap.  FWIW 50° is too low to do anything useful - I reckon you should be able to do most whitemetal soldering jobs at 200° provided you're quick and I wouldn't really want to go below 150° in any event.

 

DT