Just instrested. What brand of Soldering iron do you use and what type of solder? Do you like a 20 or 40 watt? What type of flux?
For decoder installations and other light duty soldering, I use a Xytronic controlled temperature soldering station and 60/40 resin core solder in the smallest gauge I can find.
For soldering rail joiners and other uses where more heat is required, I have a Weller soldering gun, but use the same resin core solder.
I also have a bottle of Kester resin flux with a pinpoint dispensing tip for those situations where additional flux may be needed.
A 80 dollar HAKKO soldering station.
As an OLD Electronic Techno Weenie I use a temperature controlled soldering station. My preference was industrial duty soldering irons before I retired but for home use a light duty works great. When a soldering station is on 8 to 10 hours a day weekly a light duty iron is short lived. I bought my current soldering station from MPJA Online, they have a very good selection.
http://www.mpja.com/Solder-Stations/products/480/
They normally come with a small point tip for fine work, if you buy an extra slightly larger chisel tip to use with a 350° to 800° adjustable station you can solder track joiners too.
I use 60/40 resin core .030” diameter solder, A one pound spool will last for years.
When I solder the rail joiners I use just a pinch of resin soldering paste flux and it cleans the metal super quickly so that you don’t have to use as much heat, that really helps the plastic ties. Use a Q-
I’m in with David on the Hakko! It’s all I use at the bench. Don’t know how I’ve ever worked without it. Dozens of tips available.
For soldering “on-site” I usually go for my 20+ year old Weller WP35, 35 watt pencil iron. I added a fifteen foot cord to it so the plug wouldn’t snag on the layout edge.
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WP35-35-Watt-Professional-Soldering/dp/B000B5YIYS
That’s enough to cover 99.5% of my soldering needs. Anything heavier and I still have my dad’s Weller 100-140 watt gun.
Thanks for asking, Ed
For some years I have used the Weller WLC100 soldering station/. I use Cardas 0.032" diameter quad eutectic solder. A proprietary blend of silver, copper, tin & lead. Rosin flux in it.
Rich
I use the cheapo micro mark soldering weller brand knock off.
It works, but it’s not the greatest. Heat can be inconsistent. The tip is loose with no way to tighten it up.
I use generic lead tin alloy with rosin core
I have a Xytronics, which cost all of $50. The current model has a digital readout and is the 389D. A variety of tips are available and I picked up some when I bought the system, but I’m stll using he original one that came with it - tips can last forever with a real temperature controlled iron. The stand that comes with this unit is worth the price alone. Very solid and pretty tip-proof, plus it comes with a copper sponge for cleaning the tip, which works much better than the wet sponge most others come with.
My other supplies are some .032 solder for regular work, and some .015 for fine wires (like decoders), the tip cleaner from Radio Shack (you can get it anywhere though), and Super-Safe gel flux (water based and not acid, works great and if you really need liquid instead of the more paste-like gel, you can mix some with water to thin it out).
The iron and solder I got from Howard Electronics (they have everything from plain irons to fancy professional stations that have solder, desolder, and heat - talk about $$$). The flux and tip tinner are available from H&N Electronics. The home page has the flux, the tip tinner is the “lead free tip tinner”. This is the same as the one Radio Shack used to have, mine had a piece of double side tape on the back which I used to stick it to the base of the soldering station
–Randy
Here is solder iron of LION.
I builded this stand, it can rise up and down, can be almost as tall as me. This is important because the cord between unit and the tip is far too short, so I must bring the unit right next to my work.
Other than that, I love it. It has no problem soldering rails. I run it at 600 degrees for everything.
ROAR
I use a Weller WD 1001 for my electrical work. It is an astoundingly pleasant device to use.
For heavier work, I use either an American Beauty resistance soldering rig, or my very old general purpose (60W??) Weller iron.
Ed
I have a pair of Weller 25 watt pencil irons. They have different size tips for different uses. I use Kester thin solder .040" and a dab of flux for everything. I also have a Weller dual heat gun, 75w-150w, but it is too hot for anything I do in this hobby.
LION has the one I was talking about. True temp controlled for little money - the Weller that sells for that same price is NOT controlled. You can dial back the amount of power, but it does not cycle on and off to maintain a set temperature. The cycling and temperature control is what prolongs tip life and keeps it from oxidizine - an oxidized or dirty tip is what causes you to melt things when attempting to solder, as you have to hold the heat on longer to get enough to transfer to the wires or rail you are trying to solder.
For example, I have no problems soldering rail joints - and I don;t use any sort of heat sinks clamped to the rails near the joint, or wet towels or anything laid across the rails. With a clean shiny tip, the heat transfers to the area you are trying to solder fast enough that it doesn’t have time to migrate down the rail to start melting ties. With my old plain soldering irons, it was a constant battle trying to keep it clean - an ordinary iron just keeps heating until an equilibrium is reached between how much heat dissipates from the tip and how much the heating element can pump back in - this is usually MANY times the heat required to melt solder, so any solder tinning on the tip just cooks off in short order.
I was a holdout for a long time - way back when I first started doing electronics, a temperature controlled station cost more than 100 cheaper soldering irons, and I just couldn;t justify it. They came down in price, but by then I was pretty set in my ways. It’s only beein in the last 8 years or so that I finally went to the Xytronics - and all I can think every time I use it is why did I wait so long. Though I do think putting in my time using the inferior tool helped me develop good working habits, needed to overcome the shortcomings of the simpler and cheaper tool and still get the job done.
For feeder to my #12 bus wire, I have a 150 watt soldering gun - if you want an exercise in futility, try to use a 40 watt iron or station on #
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site:cs.trains.com+soldering+iron
all from this site
I use a little 12 watt iron for decoder and electronics work. A 120 watt Weller for soldering up 12 ga buss wires. My favorite is my Master Appliance gas powered iron. http://www.alliedelec.com/master-appliance-ut-100sik/70188745/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Product%20Ads&mkwid=6kTPp5T7&pcrid={creative}
I have tips for all size work with the Master Appliance.
Hi,
I use 3 irons… a 40w for trackwork (track, feeders), and a 15 or 20 for decoder and loco work. When I’m under the layout soldering 14 gas buss wires and the like, I use a hi power soldering gun.
The right tool for the job makes a big difference!
I have a 250 W gun for most work and recently picked up a resistance soldering station for delicate electronics.
I have the same unit as Lion and like Randy’s; great unit and I don’t know why I waited so long to get a really good temp controlled iron. At $50 it is worth every penny and I am still using the original tip after about 5 years!
-Bob
When LION add up the price of tips and broken irons (from trying to remove hot tips) him figured this is way better. And it is.
It heats up almost instantly, and holds its temp even with a fan blowing near it.
ROAR
I picked up a Weller 40 watt at Home Depot to replace my ancient Radio Shack 25 watt; it seems to be working well so far and has built in LED lights as a bonus.
I used a Radio Shack 45w pencil iron for soldering when putting down track for the Tortoise and control panel wiring. I used a Weller 100/140w gun for rail joint and feeder soldering, but put an alligator clip on each side of the joint to prevent tie melting. When I got into DC HO loco conversions to DCC I continued using the Radio Shack pencil iron but it was not long before the tip wore down. I used a pencil iorn from a Harbor Freight hobby kit that my daughter had but that tip gave out after awhile also. I tried to find replacement tips for the pencil irons but cound not figure out where to get the right pointed tips that would fit. For an easy fix, I bought a $4 Harbor Freight 30w pencil iron, ok but again cannot get tips. It’s already blunt. And I swear it’s hotter (way too hot for comfort with decoder work) than the 45w Radio Shack was.
Anyway, I’m glad this came up again and just ordered the Xytronic LF-489D. I figured it will make my work a lot more pleasant. It’s not clear what tip it comes with so I ordered a couple of $5 replacement types. I figured the 489D or equivalent would be easy to find on EBay or Amazon but had to find it via google. I paid $60 including shipping from these guys:
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2174733_-1