For years now, I’ve looked at Micro Marks Resistance soldering tools. There are several they sell for soldering brass pieces together. I haven’t seen anything about them here yet, & wondered if anyone has ued any of these. I see they have just the soldering tool without the transformer, & wondered if our ZW or other transformer would work. I think there are a lot of things like signals & walkways & handrailings we could make out of brass and maybe one of these would be great for that. Thanks for any info on these, & here is a picture of one in their catalog w/ transformer.
Hello John: I think you would have to use a D.C source, I would ask Roy or Bob from Texas this one. Regards Steve
Thanks, Steve ! That makes good sense, & hoping Roy or Bob see this. I thought of some other projects to make also with it , like a bridge and I saw a brass water tower & interlocking tower on e-bay. thanks, John
I’m pretty sure that’s just a transformer connected to the carbon-electrode tool. That model is the Esico-Triton JLA, which is claimed to put out 30 amperes on the “high” setting. You might be able to solder with a train transformer. I think that you would have to use a connection that excludes the fixed winding (which rules out the Z and V), since the voltage will be almost zero across the joint.
I would worry that soldering would be hard on the transformer’s roller, which is itself not unlike and in series with the carbon electrodes used for the soldering.
Anyone want to give it a try?
Thanks Bob for the reply. I think I’ll just try to get the outfit like it comes, and I’d really like to get the even better one ! Thanks again, John
There are many articles on the web for making one of these like:http://www.trainweb.org/bristol-s-gauge/Projects/rsu.html.
Pete
John,
I agree with Bob. The current required would damage the rollers in a ZW or the carbon slider in any other toy train transformer. The resistance needs to be located only in the area to be soldered. The rollers provide a second resistance point that is too high and you would likely heat the contact area of the roller to the same temperature as the area you are trying to solder.
I have tried a friends resistance soldering setup and it takes some practice to get it to work well. So make sure you get some test pieces and try it out. I had problems with arcing and maintaining contact. When my friend uses it, it is really neat. He had an American Beauty (I think).
I have had excellent service from Micro-Mark for other tools and I highly recommend them.
Good luck,
Roy
SPFan, thanks so much for that webb site, never thought there was one for this type of soldering. And a funny thing, is I used to buy HO trains from that very person, Don Thomas, years ago. He had, then, a hobby shop in his basement & a huge HO layout. I don’t know about now, though. Roy: thanks for your input also, just a pipedream I guess of using a ZW ! Thought I could double dip or something. Looks like that type of soldering is like an art , & I do want to get the American Beuty one, though a little more. Also I always liked Micro Marks tools, & especially their long brass clamps. Thanks everyone, sure appreciate it !
Hi,
I have an American Beauty set up. I’ve been using it to solder wire to Atlas track. Makes it neat and easy and fast without melting ties. I will probably use it in the future to do detail work on some trains.
Bill
Bill, thanks, I use Gargraves track & never gave it a thought that I will be able to use it for soldering wires to it. I only thought of it for making things. Thanks again, John
You may also look into a device called a ___spot welder it has a transformer and carbon arc electrodes >>>>glenn bob
glennbob
The problem with a spot welder is that is only for carbon steel. with the brass pieces that john want to use it would melt the brass and a spot welder is only for putting 2 flat pieces together. most spot welders are for sheet steel like in an automobile. good thought though
weldmans87; well there is always silver solder and a small tourch ,or epoxy>>>>> glennbob
speeking of exoxy :::devcon makes a product called liquid bronze ,it has a high metal content i have seen machinists use it ti build up flanges that did not meat up ,they put in zerk fittings and shot the liquid bronze in with a grease gun glennbob
American Beauty has a web site at www.americanbeautytools.com if you want to make direct contact or click on support for helpful information.
b_dog: thanks for that information, and web site, & [#welcome] to the forum here. Thanks again, John
John: Thanks for the hearty welcome.
Regarding your original question, most resistance soldering transformers are AC and are made to produce a low voltage/high amperage output for user safety. eg. the 250 watt American Beauty puts out only 2.6 VAC. The heat is produced because of the high amperage produced and the electrodes being made of a resistive alloy or carbon.
Higher heat lets you solder faster without overheating the parts (less time for the heat to travel away from the joint area). Localized heat lets you make solder joints fairly close together.
Hope the info helps,
b_dog
Thanks again b-dog. I have it in my mind to get one at income tax return time. There goes an engine, though ! Only thing is, I have so many ideas on things I want to make & I have a nice supply of brass saved up already, & found trying to solder this stuff the regular way isn’t coming out too good ! Trying to find a place that sells them cheaper than Micro Marc, but I don’t think it’s possible, so, hurry up February ! Or wonder if there’s any used ones out there. Thanks again, John
John,
Here is a bit of good news for you. Assembly Technologies (American Beauty) has demo and reconditioned resistance soldering equipment for sale at discounted prices.
b_dog
b_dog: Thanks a lot for that information, I’ll see what I can do. [tup]