what would be the best size iron for sodering feeder wires?would an 80 watt iron be strong enough or should i go higher? wm6410
80 watts is probably more than enough for any wire (or wirfs) needs on a layout. You’d be better off getting a soldering station that has adjustable heat. Look for something like this. There are much fancier models made by Weller that have digital temperature readouts and vacuum systems for pulling solder but you probably don’t need anything that fancy. Weller is a good trustworthy brand.
FYI, there was a very good how-to article in last month’s (Feb.) MR with some excellent soldering tips. A big secret of good soldering is the technique of knowing where to place the iron; not necessarily how much heat you apply. Some people assume that the more heat, the better but in today’s world of micro electronics, excessive heat can take out electronic components nd burn up solder traces on printed circuit boards in no time flat.
For soldering feeders to track fast heat recovery gets the rail hot enough to melt the solder before it melts the ties. The higher the watage, and the more surface of the tip that touched the track the faster the track heat and the less ttarcfer of heat down the track to wehere the ties are. Get a big iron for feeders.
For fine work, where go do not have to heat much material to melt the solder a smaller tip works best. High wattage is not important, because recovery time is not an issue. What you need to do is raise the temp of the largest piece to the proper temp and then remove the heat.So gain large wattage is not an issue, size of the tip is. You need the same temp regardless of what you are soldering. Thus the issue is heat transfer and reheating the iron as the heat is transfered to the work piece.
I’ll second the suggestion for a temperature controlled iron. I have a 24W Unger which I set to 550 or 600 degf for decoder work and 650-700 for track work. I’m using Atlas code 83 track, and the plastic ties seem very heat resistant. I’ve been sodering my feeders to the under side of the rails between ties. Clean the area with a little 400 grit sandpaper, apply a little electronic-type solder flux, clean the iron tip on a damp sponge, apply a little solder to the iron, and touch the iron flat against the rail for a few seconds until the solder flows well onto the rail. Strip your feeder, apply a little flux, clean and tin the iron again and touch the iron to the wire to tin the wire. Bend a short dog-leg in the wire. A little more flux on tinned wire and rail, clean and apply solder to the iron, and then hold the wire between the rail and iron for 5-8 seconds to flow the solder onto the wire and rail. Remove the iron but hold the wire still until the solder solidifies. Then clean all the flux residue from the assembly using some alcahol and a brush. Viola! You have a feeder. After a few, you will be an expert.
Jim
If you don’t have a soldering setup yet, get a resistance soldering setup. Look at the Micro Mark website; they have a couple of different outfits. You won’t have to worry about meltiong ties with this setup.
According to the Feb. 2007 article in MR written by Lionel Strang, the melting temp for 63/37 or 60/40 (tin to lead ratio) solder for electrical work is 360 to 370 degrees. If you have plastics nearby your solder location, use heat sinks like alligator clips to protect them and your fingers. One final suggestion when you are shopping for an iron is buy a holder. It is the only logical place to keep a plugged in iron. There is nothing worst than having a hot iron rolling around on your bench.