What are you folks using for soldering track (HO)? Other uses would be adding detailing to brass locos. Specifically does anyone have the American Beauty 250 Super Chief? It is a resistance soldering iron. It is also available with a pencil tip. Kind of pricey, but looks like it might be great for fine detail work. I have a Weller pencil tip but it tends to start melting ties before the joint is hot enough for flowing solder. I have lots of experience soldering old Heathkit electronics, but not so much with wire and track. Thanks, Mike in Washington State.
I will tell you that the “standard” 25 watt iron will NOT solder brass very well. I recently had to re-attach a detail piece to an older brass steam tender and it would not work. It would not get hot enough / fast enough. I had to use a controlled flame to solder the piece back on.
Michael
For wire and track soldering, I use a Weller WLC 100 soldering station. Some others here use the same solder station. Forty watt but only have the control a little over halfway. I use a scratch brush from Micro Mark to clean the solder point on the track. I use rosin solder paste and electrical solder. Practice on scrap track.
For attaching brass parts, to brass locos, some use a resistance soldering tool or a small propane torch. There are some made for this purpose. With a small torch, you might need to use acid flux because of the higher temp can cause rosin flux to burn up to easily. The flus cleans the area to help the solder attach more readily. Keep plenty of wet tissue handy to isolate parts already soldered in place. Develop a technique in whatever method you use if you have not done any of this before. It is not plug and play by a long shot. Some people give up because they lack patience to learn proper techniques.
Searching the Internet especially for soldering brass locos will give you a lot of hints, Sometimes photos will give you some good ideas.
Rich
While I’d love to have a resistance soldering outfit, most are a little too pricey for my budget. [:(]
For soldering track (railjoiners), I use a 200 watt iron, and heat sinks on both sides of the joint. Half a second is all it takes. [swg]
For detailing locos, anything from a plumber’s propane torch right down to a 25 watt pencil iron, including the 200 watt iron and a couple of 80 watt models with different tips.
This loco needed the torch for assembling and installing the cab and some frame modifications, while irons were used for everything else. I always use plenty of wet tissue as heat sinks, to prevent un-doing any previous work:
For brass details on plastic locos, I don’t use the torch, but, depending on what’s being soldered, any of the irons may be used:
Wayne
Back many years ago I used a Radio Shack 35 watt soldering iron. It took so long to heat the rail enough to be soldered that I ended up melting ties. For the last 20 years I’ve been soldering guns of 100 watts or more. My newest one is a Weller 140/100 and I don’t melt any ties now. I use a clip on heat sink as a safety measure.
I use a small pencil type soldering iron for nearly everything. 25 or 35 watt, its been so long since I bought it I forgot the actual wattage. I’ve used it to solder everything from good ol’ Atlas code 100 all the way down to code 55 and don’t have any problem melting ties. Well, lets just say I don’t melt ties any more!
-George
I use a 45 watt iron with a 1/8" chisel tip. The heat control is set just past half way. By using flux on the rail and pre tinning the rail and the wire end, I don’t melt ties and I don’t use heat sinks. I model in N scale but I’ve soldered feeders to HO rail with the same results.
I choose my soldering gun or iron by looking at the thickness of the metal. Track and brass tubing is relatively thick, so the weller soldering gun works the best for me. Now if I see I’m soldering thin brass, wire, or electronic components, then i’ll break out the Radio Shack soldering iron for the delicate work.
I also believe the secret to a good solder is also in the size of rosin core solder you use. For the finer work i’ll use the thin strand and for thicker metal i’ll use a size larger. this keeps the large blobs of solder to a dull roar once I’m done soldering. There’s nothing worse than having to grind out solder because the solder bead turned out too large… chuck
Far as I am concerned, you want 100 Watts and up for soldering track. Irons, once hot, solder best, but you have to wait for them to heat, and once hot you have to take care where you set them down lest something get scorched. Guns heat in seconds and cool down just as fast so you can set them down just like any other tool. The tips of guns are small, and don’t hold as much heat as the chisel tip of a proper sized iron does, so it takes a little longer to get the rail hot.
To get a good joint on rail without melting too many ties, you want a lot of heat, added suddenly. If you have to hold the iron on the rail for minutes before the solder melts and flows, a lot of that heat flows down the rail and melts ties.
For soldering brass models, you need to get the single part under work to solder without heating the entire model so much that other solder joints melt off. That means speed. I use what I have (250 Watt Weller gun or a propane torch), but a large iron (which I don’t have) would be quite useful.
You also want 60-40 tin lead solder, a well tinned iron or gun, and rosin flux. I tried the lead free stuff a couple of times and don’t like it.
I use my homemade resistance soldering iron and solder-it paste. I put a littlle paste on the outside of each rail and hit it with the probe. In about 2 seconds flat it flows the solder and I have no melted ties. Do a google search on making your own resistance soldering unit. Very easy and cheap. My transformer puts out about 20 amps.
Chris
35 watts for track. If you need over 45 watts to solder track you need more practice or a different technique.
Use 60/40 or 63/37 flux core solder and keep everything clean. Heat sinks are helpful until you’re good at it.
disclaimer: I’ve been soldering electronics for 40 years so I have a good feel for the tools and techniques. If you’re new just keep practicing.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. All 3 paragraphs. Except I’ve got about 10 years on you for soldering electronics. I’m a recent convert to using soldering paste for rails. Sure makes the job go easier.
Here, in case you haven’t seen this short but excellent vid clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HFoER_5UBk&feature=PlayList&p=742895E088C8A2F4
Thanks for the tips, especially the video link! - Mike
Mike this is the text of a soldering clinic I have done. There are a lot of techniques out there that appear to do a good job for soldering. I learned this technique from a man who did electrical repair soldering for a living. Hope it is helpful.
I also use the Weller gun for soldering track and feeder wires. I won’t disagree with the comment that I have poor technique with a 35 watt iron, but the gun is my solution.
Enjoy
Paul
Mike,
I have used an American Beauty 100 watt with tweezers for soldering track. I beleive it works well, but it is expensive, even on sale at Micro Mark. It solved the missing third hand for me and made soldering feeders a simple job. I do agree with others that the work must be cleaned, use flux and use rosin core solder for best result. Make sure the tips are clean also. About 2-3 seconds is all you need to get a good solid/shiny joint, probably about the same as good solder iron. If you use a solder iron, I would recommend a good Weller unit. Just my humble opinions.
Jeff