What wattage soldering iron is best? I have a 40 watt and I just bought a 15 watt (which I can return).
Is .032 60/40 rosin core solder okay?
Thanks.
I would go with the 40 watt. Generally hotter is better since you dont want to have much heat get to your components. So why would you want the hotter iron? because the longer it takes to melt the solder completely the longer heat is being transferred into whatever you are soldering. If the solder melts almost on contact then there is very little time where heat is applied and minimal heat gets conducted. No matter what you do you will want to use heat sinks. I find that a couple pairs of metal spring action tweezers work great. Alligator clips will work in a pinch but wont dissapate as much heat as the tweezers. They also have specially made heat sinks which are basically spring action tweezers with rubber grips.
Thanks, Joe. That helps a lot.
Go to the Shack, they have a .015 with 2% silver in it. it is All I use on decoders. That and a 20/40 iron. Set on 40.
I use a Cold Heat for must others small wire soldering works well and is fast.
I have 15 and 32 watt pencils. The 15 with a fine point tip is used for decoders and the 32 with a chisel tip for track joints. Remember, although hot is good, decoders, their solder pads, and the wire used are all very small and easily damaged by excessive heat.
Along those same lines, that .015 solder sounds like a good idea. I generally use .031 since it’s commonly available, but I’ll have to look for the .015 the next time I’m at RS.
Steve
Exact on the solder is
#64-035E .015 dia 62/36/2. Works GREAT!
Thanks for the info. The RS Web site says it available at my local store, so I’ll be picking up a spool in the next couple days. Since I tend to be partial to rosin-core, I’m also going to grab a spool of their 64-013 so I can compare them. (Uh-oh, this rosin-core vs. solid isn’t going to turn into another “which is better” thread, is it?[:D] [:D] [:D])
Steve
Now I’m gonan have to buck the trend and say use the smaller 15 watt iron. I have a 15 watt from Radio Shack that is grounded (better protection from static charges, my 40 watt only has a 2-prong plug) that I use to solder decoder wires and for electronics work. MORE than ample for the fine decoder wires (I think that stuff is about #30). NOT big enough to solder track feeders. That’s what the 40 is for. And even the 40 isn’t enough to solder feeder drops to my #12 bus wire, for that I have a 100 watt soldering gun.
In and out fast is a good philosophy though. But that’s why there are different wattage irons. The 15 will heat up the #12 bus wire EVENTUALLY - after I leave it on the joint for an hour or so, and heat up the wire for 2 feet in either direction. This is why it’s no good for track feeders - by the time the joint area gets hot enough, you’ll have melted the ties all around. The heavier iron allows the joint to get hot enough without applying heat to the joint so long that it travels to places you didn’t intend to heat.
–Randy
Randy you have to get the American Beauty Resistance system. Takes seconds to do rails feedera at 65% and change to 75% for #12 feeders (that is base on a 250 watt system).
I wind it down to 5% for 99% of the other soldering jobs. DO NOT use it on decoders since that will cook them, Gee didn’t you say that? [:)]
Bought a 25 watt for the decoders and made a pin point tip for it.
Running whole trains now not just loco’s and have installed (6) DZ123’s so far. Have 32 more DH123’s to do and about another 10 DZ123’s. Next challenge is SOUND!!!
Just my 2 cents…
If you are soldering electroics or near ties, I recommend using a heat sink (or at least a hemostat) attached proximal to the first tie or before other sensitive electronics… this will absorb undue heat, protecting ties, electronics, etc. It works GREAT for me… Hope this helps…
Brian