What’s a good soldering iron to buy for soldering track and other model stuff?
I use a small weller model that said model railroads right on the paclage
When my old iron crapped out I bought the following and have been really pleased. I haven’t used it for wiring in locos. That probably requires a “pencil” iron.
Good luck
Bob
CBB,
I personally like Weller because they make a very good product and their tips are interchangeable/replaceable. I also prefer soldering stations (vs. soldering irons) where you can adjust the temperature of the tip; depending on the job you are doing - e.g. soldering track or soldering a decoder. Most adjustable models will give you a 350-850F (176-454C) working temperature range. Here’s the one that I own:
Whatever manufacturer/soldering station you go with, be sure that it’s a least a 50W model. Unless you are soldering thick sections of rail, 50W should give you ample power to solder what you need.
Tom
Thanks Tom.
For track and other big jobs I use a Weller model 8200 140/100 watt soldering gun.
LION uses a cheap iron from Runnings. You can also find similar in Walmart. 25 W is all I have, although I do burn up lots of tips. It works fine for tracks. I suppose I should ask the Abbot for money to buy a better iron, but this works fine so why bother.
LIONS do not have the patience to use a soldering gun. Takes far too long for that thing to warm up.
ROAR
Yeah, takes a long eight seconds for mine.
For most work, I use a Radio Shack 64-053 Digital Soldering Station. It’s rated at 60 watts. For heavy work like larger section rail (code 100) or soldering brass kits, I use a Weller 45 watt pencil. While the RS is rated at a higher wattage, it doesn’t have quite the intensity and tip mass as the Weller.
For HO track I would want at least 50 watts and 100 watts is not too much. Iron or gun, both work. Once hot, an iron has more heat in the larger tip, and will warm a joint to soldering temperature faster than a gun. Irons take minutes to warm up to working temp, and just as long to cool down. While hot, you need to treat an iron with respect, it can give you a nasty burn and/or set things on fire. Guns warm up in seconds, and cool down just as fast so you can just set them down like any other tool. The tip on a gun is smaller than irons and holds less heat so it takes a bit longer to warm the work to soldering temperature. I have both and use both upon occasion.
Now a days the hardware stores only carry soldering guns starting at 125 watt, and tiny pencil irons intended for printed circuit work. I had to go on Ebay to find an old and beefy 250 watt iron for working on brass locomotives. The pencil irons don’t have enough power to solder track without melting ties. The fancy looking “soldering stations” are cool, but pricey and you don’t really need them for model railroading. The fancy features are designed to keep the tip at a low, constant temperature, important for soldering semi conductors. Nickel silver rail doesn’t care how hot you heat it, and a plain no-thermostat iron works just fine.
The trick to soldering track is to make the joint without melting too many plastic ties. I buff the rail with a wire brush in a Dremel, use just a dab of rosin flux, use a pair of alligator clips as heat sinks, and give my big ole Weller hand cannon some seconds to get the tip good and hot before I touch it to the rail.
I received an X-Tronic Model # 4000 soldering station last summer for Father’s Day. It was about $80.00 and included a magnifying lamp as a bonus. There are 10 additional tips- they are stainless steel(?) and in assorted tip styles. Bought it on Amazon. The unit is digital, cord is very flexible and heats up to the dialed desired temp (C) in under a minute. Absolute best soldering tool I have ever used- look it up on Amazon- you will enjoy it! Cedarwoodron
Yeah, pricing on a decent soldering station has gotten pretty reasonable. I wouldn’t describe it as “pricey” but I do agree they’re a rather more specialized tool than an iron. I think I paid $65 for mine on sale, although list is twice that now. A decent iron would be the first thing to purchase, for sure, but also keep in mind that the smaller the rail, the less wattage is needed. My 45 watt is really too much for code 55 rail, but my 25 watt irons work great on it, as does the soldering station. Code 70 and it’s the two irons that work best.
I would disagree about there being no need for a soldering station in model railroading. I do DCC/sound installs and they’re ideal for that. Agree that’s more toward the electronics end of things than some things, but still within the orbit of the hobby these days.
Soldering is one of those skills that very much depends on knowing your tools and the advantages and limitations of each in order to pick the right tool for the job. YMMV[:)]
I have my Dad’s ancient Weller 8200 100/140W for large jobs & a smaller B&D C1500 25W one which works great
Gordon
Same as I have. I also use a Weller BP645 battery powered 6 watt soldering tool. Great for small jobs like rewiring locos and installing hard wired decoders.
For soldering frogs and other parts of hand-laid specialwork, and for soldering #22 wire to rail, I use the big brother to Jeffery’s Weller gun - 200-250w. I used to use an even bigger hand cannon, but it died a few years back.
OTOH, soldering finer wire, electronic work and such, I use a heat-controlled soldering station and a needle-point tip on the iron. One size does NOT fit both jobs.
Whatever soldering tool you use, avoid acid flux. Unless you can wash your finished work in a baking soda solution, it will only cause problems down the road.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I have this one: http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/lf369D.html
Although the older one without the digital readout (same part number, less the D on the end - it just has a knob to turn to control the temp). It and the Weller that Tom has are true temperature controlled irons, the cheaper Weller where the iron has a normal plug and plugs into the side of the base unit regulates the wattage but does not turn on and off to maintain a set temperature.
I use for for track soldering on down to decoder installs and circuit building. Nice thing with a temp controlled iron is you cna turn it down and use it to shrink heat shrink tube without it melting into a sticky mess. And the scouring pad like cleaner has got to be the best invention since sliced bread, it works so much better than a wet sponge, plus doesn’t temporarily cool the tip down. You can find replacements in the grocery store usually, or else a kitchen store - they are NOT steel, that would ruin the tip, they are copper or brass and sold to clean copper pots without scratching them.
The only other soldering tool I have at the moment is a 150/200 watt gun I use for soldering my #14 and #12 bus wires. The 45 watts of the soldering station doesn;t cut it for that kind of heavy stuff.
I used to have a shelf full of soldering tools - heavy gun, 40-50 watt iron for track, 25 watt for smaller wires, 15 watt for electronics. But despite careful tinning and cleaning, the tips always wear out - because a traditional iron just keeps heating as long as it’s plugged in, until it reaches an equilibrium with how much enrgy the say 40 watt element can pump in vs how much leaves the tip. This is usually 3x the heat needed to effectively solder, and causes the tip to quickly oxidize. I bought a spre tip plus a couple ofthers of different sizes when I bought my soldering station - but the original one is still nice and smooth and shiny 5 years later.
I am actually working in a college with teachers in electricity and electronics. Teachers and technicians all swear by Weller. In fact, the soldering station shown by Tom (stage) is the most widely used for electronics and wire soldering.
The one Tom has IS a very good one. Not cheap though. The Xytronics one I have is basically a knockoff.
What’s sad is that Weller used to men great quality - Weller INVENTED the soldering gun, and they were made in my home town, in fact within walking distance of my house, even after Cooper Industries bought them out. The problem is, Cooper took all of their products, from cheap junk to top notch professional equipment, and put the Weller name on it. Kind of like how Cratfsman tools used to be unbeatable - they had lifetime warranties because it was nearly impossible to break them - oh, you put a 10 foot length of pipe over the breaker bar for extra leverage? No problem. Now, the things with lifetime warranties NEED them, and many of the tools are no better than the cheap chinese stuff at Harbor Freight. Just like you CAN get a quality tool with the Craftsman name on it, you can get a quality soldering iron or station with the Weller name on it - but you can also get junk. All too common these days, as famous names known for reliability and quality are bought up and used to boost otherwise inferior products.
–Randy
Yea. However, I was able to get it off eBay or Amazon for a pretty good discount. Even a good used one is worth a consideration - i.e. as long as the person you’re buying it from took good care of it. The adjustable temperature control is quite handy for various soldering jobs.
Tom
To be honest I don;t adjust mine too much, I’ll set it a little higher for track than I do for small wires like decoders. The most use I make of the temperature control is to turn it all the way down if I need to work for a while before the next solder joint. It heats back up quickly, and keeping it low helps keep the tip from oxidizing and it stays nice and shiny between joints. Pluslike I said, the low is low enough to shrink heat shrink without melting. Beats blowing a heat gun all over my decoder and loco - parts of which may be plastic. Even that ‘little’ heat gun Micro Mark sells is relatively large. Don’t try this trick with an ordinary soldering iron though, you will have a room full of smelly plastic smoke and a big mess.
–Randy