Let’s get technical here: a soldering iron is a device that is heated by a resistive element, a soldering gun is heated because it is the secondaty of a transformer. Now that explained, let’s go into some detail here. Some of the low cost Ungar irons are about 27 watt, however, they are uncontrolled, that is, they heat up to whatever temperature it can. I have measured that temperature with an instrument (a thermocouple) and the temperature at idle is right about 1000° F! Now thaat is hot! It has tendencies to heat the object up quickly and thus burnng off the flux too fast to do a good cleaning job (I teach soldering to the MIL STD 2000 and ANSI J STD 001B) Now lets address the soldering gun. Remember that it is the secondaty of a transformer so that it does have a low voltage present at the tip. THis is not a shock hazard to the operator, but it is a shock hazard to any wirintg that is connected to any controls or electronics. That voltage will destroy any circuits, especially intregrated circuits, and you will never know why. You just keep repascing blown chips, not knowing that the soldering gun blow them up.
Now lets look at soldering stations. Weller makes a good temperature-controlled soldering iron that will maintain a good temperature (±10°F) range. It does not insuce any voltage into the tip, in fact, the tip is grounded so DO NOT work on live circuits with this iron. These soldering station are somewhat pricy, about $125, but they are rugged and will last a very long time. There are others but the prive goes up. Just remember that a good rosin flux and a clean tip is always needed to make a good connection. Use rosin-core solder for best results avoiding any silver as an alloy. 60/40 solder will work just fine. Silver requires more heat and is tricky to flow correctly. Remember to let the part melt the solder, not the iron. The iron is the source of heat only, the part must melt the solder.
I am just back into this hobby again after many yrs away and recently had to purchase a soldering device. I did some research on the Web and talked to experienced people in the hobby and came down to exactly what has been said above - clean parts and good rosin core eg 60/40 and a good source of heat. Various watt sizes are good for different purposes and personal preference. So I bought a Weller soldering iron on a station that is not too expensive - $60CDN - it operates from 5 Watts to 40 Watts. It comes with a stand and a cleaning sponge. And it is important to match to tip size and shape to the work needed and to select the wattage as well that best suites the need.
I went to Weller on the Web at Cooper Tools and learned a lot about perparation and care and use of soldering irons. That was a very helpful site.
All the Best
Phil Trudel
Hey Dave, Just a thought, why not take some solder and a few things to test solder on to the local Radio Shack and ask if they have a gun you could try out. Might save you $20 or so if you find it is not worth the money. Any electronics retailer worth their salt should have a soldering gun in the back office.
Good luck
Wow, two responses from Mr. Sperandeo.
Thanks for all the input guys, but I am more confused than I was before I asked[;)]. I guess I’ll stick
with my iron. It works for my situation and I have gotten pretty handy with it. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?
Again, thanks. Dave
I stumbled across Antex soldering irons about 20 years ago and they are something else. A tiny pencil iron that gets HOT, with removable tips. I had used the Radio Shack pencil irons (they remind me of the old wood-burning irons I had as a kid) and I have a couple of Weller soldering guns. I would never use the Weller gun on soldering leads to track or joining the ends of track - way too much heat and mass. The Radio Shack irons don’t have enough heat and mass and the tips are crude. I believe Teffy saw me getting ready to use my iron at a train show once and thought it wasn’t up to the task, then got a surprise when it did it’s job with a quickness and precision that isn’t expected with a small pencil iron. The Antex irons are made in England and there are several distributors in the US. Search Google for “Antex soldering irons”. I also use the 60/40 rosin-core solder and a small iron stand with damp sponge for cleaning the tip. As mentioned above, a lot of soldering properly is technique. Practice on old electronics circuit boards, pulling off components and then replacing them. A “solder sucker” is essential for getting the excess solder off before a component can be removed, and for cleaning up your mistakes if too much is applied. Make sure the iron is hot and clean before starting. I find that putting just a tiny bit of solder on the iron before I transfer heat to the part helps in the heat transfer and in getting the solder to flow, but let the part melt the solder, don’t touch the solder to the iron. And clean the tip often.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by clinchvalley
I agree…I only use a soldering gun as I am very familiar with it and have never melted anything I didn’t want to. Works very well for me.
I read this thread when it first came out I had never tried a soldering gun as I figured it was too big and clumsy. Well for the first time yesterday I soldered wire to the rail with the gun and wished I had known about this years ago.
Good fast and very hot but didn’t cause the adjacent ties to melt.
I’ve been using a soldering gun to attach wire to rail since I was around ten years old, with great success.
The points Andy S. makes are right on and are the same as I’ve discovered in all those years of soldering. Also, I used to use heat sinks to protect the plastic ties, but after decades of soldering now – on the layout, electrically/electronically, and as a technician – I’m able to get in and out, quickly and successfully, without using them anymore.
Practice . . .
Recently I have been using Radio Shacks solder weld. I squeeze it on where i need it, fire up the butane iron, add heat …done.
A good 30 watt pencil iron gets all of my work done.
BC
Bill Krause makes an important point that bears repeating. A soldering gun can fry your electronics. My understanding is that a gun creates a strong electromagnetic field around itself which can induce a current capable of damaging transistors. You do not have to come into actual contact with the transistor to fry it. Just get close. This is what I have been told, so I pass it along. If it is not correct, please correct me.
I never solder wires to rails. I find it much easier and just as effective to solder feeders to my rail joiners. No chance of melting the ties, and the feeder is almost invisible , sprouting out of a small hole under the rail. A new, clean and tight-fitting joiner makes good electrical contact with both the rails it joins.
As someone said earlier in this post. A soldering gun is great as long as you don’t use it on PC boards. The gun uses AC current and a transformer to create heat.
It will induce voltage into printed circuits and destroy components on the circuit board.
If you are going to convert any of your equipment to DCC, I would definitely buy an iron.