19 replies to this topic

[Sayer]

100W iron, only feels like melting the solder sometimes. It gets hot enough to melt the solder to remove wires from the motor, but absolutely won't get hot enough to let me tin a new wire. (or even tin the tip)

[TA-Mark]

How dirty is the tip? I file mine to shiney metal after a few uses to keep the tip nice and pointy and nice and clean. Is the tip well secured into the iron?

[Sayer]

How dirty is the tip? I file mine to shiney metal after a few uses to keep the tip nice and pointy and nice and clean. Is the tip well secured into the iron?

It's a gun type iron so the tip isn't pointy at all though it is quite well secured to the iron.

it looks like this one (though that's not the iron - mine says it's 100W in the manual).

The tip is quite dirty, but I'm hesitant to do any filing as I did that with the last tip and it seemed to have removed the plating (or whatever) and rendered it worse than useless.

[bromvw]

It's a gun type iron so the tip isn't pointy at all though it is quite well secured to the iron.

it looks like this one (though that's not the iron - mine says it's 100W in the manual).

The tip is quite dirty, but I'm hesitant to do any filing as I did that with the last tip and it seemed to have removed the plating (or whatever) and rendered it worse than useless.

just give it a good clean . the tip on mine is worn down to the copper and still works fine . Dont worry about fiing it , solder is way softer then any plating .

[BiggusDitchus]

It's a gun type iron so the tip isn't pointy at all though it is quite well secured to the iron.

it looks like this one (though that's not the iron - mine says it's 100W in the manual).

The tip is quite dirty, but I'm hesitant to do any filing as I did that with the last tip and it seemed to have removed the plating (or whatever) and rendered it worse than useless.

Rather than filing I dip the tip in a tub of flux I have which cleans the tip up nicely to a nice shine, wiping it every so often on the wet sponge pad of the stand . Also even if solder has flux in it I put some of flux on every wire or the bit I want to solder. I personally would avoid filing the tip of a gun type soldering iron. (I personaly dont like the gun type irons I find the tips too small to keep heat in them when working on jobs, for most jobs the bigger the tip I find the better.)

[Sayer]

Rather than filing I dip the tip in a tub of flux I have which cleans the tip up nicely to a nice shine, wiping it every so often on the sponge pad of the stand I have. Also even if solder has flux in it I have a tub of flux which I coat on every wire or the bit I want to solder. I personally would avoid filing the tip of a gun type soldering iron. (I personaly dont like the gun type irons I find the tips too small to keep heat in them when working on jobs, for most jobs the bigger the tip I find the better.)

I'll try the flux trick to clean it. To be honest, this is my third soldering job with this iron and it's becoming progressively more difficult as I've gone on.

[tamiya monkey]

The one you have is a soldering gun and not an iron, an iron keeps its temp up constant, where a gun gives it instantly, not ideal for soldering rc connectors in my eyes.

[Sayer]

The one you have is a soldering gun and not an iron, an iron keeps its temp up constant, where a gun gives it instantly, not ideal for soldering rc connectors in my eyes.

What do you mean instantly? Does it just give a burst of heat? shouldn't the temp be constant so long as the trigger remains pulled?

[bromvw]

What do you mean instantly? Does it just give a burst of heat? shouldn't the temp be constant so long as the trigger remains pulled?

These trigger guns only pass heat ( current) when the trigger is pressed so take time to heat the wire or tab your soldering to . Your better off with a traditional iron that stays hot all the time .I use a Weller 101D 100 watt for rc work and general jobs .The trigger ones are ok for craft work like wood burning but not much else IMO .

[Sayer]

These trigger guns only pass heat ( current) when the trigger is pressed so take time to heat the wire or tab your soldering to . Your better off with a traditional iron that stays hot all the time .I use a Weller 101D 100 watt for rc work and general jobs .The trigger ones are ok for craft work like wood burning but not much else IMO .

Good to know. I'll pick one up tonight and try my luck.

[BiggusDitchus]

Good to know. I'll pick one up tonight and try my luck.

Unless you solder a lot of little stuff go for a high watt and big tip, I use a weller 80w with a chisel type tip. This one!

[Sayer]

Unless you solder a lot of little stuff go for a high watt and big tip, I use a weller 80w with a chisel type tip. This one!

Thanks. The funny part is I really don't solder that much at all. My dad gave me my current iron (since he never solders and he got it as a gift from work) and so far, I've only soldered a pair of motors in series for my Jugg2 build and put bullet connectors on a second hand Speed Gems motor. The first job was dead easy, the bullet connectors were much harder and this job is proving impossible. It's funny, because this job was supposed to be my last RC project for a while (to save money) , and now I have to go out and get a new iron

[Kevin_Mc]

How do you use the tub of flux to clean the soldering tip?

[BiggusDitchus]

With the iron on and up to temperature I dip the soldering iron in the tub (it smokes alot LOL) then wipe tip on the stands damp sponge. Hey presto one nice shiny clean tip.

[Kevin_Mc]

cheers, i'll be trying that tomorrow so that i can move over to Deans plugs

[Sayer]

Yeah, so I picked up one of these because the iron versions at Rona were only 30W max. Holy badword the difference is like night and day. Soldering's a cinch with this thing.

[bromvw]

Yeah, so I picked up one of these because the iron versions at Rona were only 30W max. Holy badword the difference is like night and day. Soldering's a cinch with this thing.

can't beat weller for quality . personally i perfer the pen like irons but its down to what your used to .

[GregM]

I use a cheap 48W soldering station that cost me about 20 € - for that price, it's got to be low-end, I thought. However, I was surprised how good that thing is compared to my old very weak iron. Soldering Deans connectors and motor connectors is now done easy and fast, which wasn't possible before.

http://www.conrad.de...product/588415/

[Mud-Plugger]

You shouldn't need any more than a 40 Watt iron to do any electrical work to do with batteries, motors and connectors etc, if you feel you do, then you're doing it wrong. I use my 40Watt one when even working with 2 and 3mm brass plate and rod. Cleanliness is the first most important factor. If you wipe your tip clean, pre and post soldering every joint, dressing your tip should be a rare event.

I could write a page or two on do's and don'ts but basically:-

1) clean & tin all items to be assembled.
2) pick your iron up.
3) wipe it on a damp sponge.
4) wet the iron with solder.
5) apply the iron to your workpiece straight away.
6) wait until you see the solder melt on your workpiece.
7) apply more solder.
8) remove iron from workpiece, wipe clean on sponge ready for next operation.

The choice of iron wattage and flux-cored solder diameter is a critical factor in achieving good solder joints. Too smaller gauge and you will heat the solder up too rapidly, the flux will burn off, and not flow across the workpiece to clean it prior to the solder flowing over the cleaned metal. If ever you see black residues, then you have got this balance wrong. Anything other than the end result being a nice shiney joint should not be seen as success. If you make a bad joint and go back with the iron to try and get it better, realise that you are re-heating the joint up, causing more oxidisation, and consequently creating a worse joint than your first attempt. You need to dissassemble, clean up, and repeat using fresh solder. Soldering is a science.

Mud.

[Sayer]

You shouldn't need any more than a 40 Watt iron to do any electrical work to do with batteries, motors and connectors etc, if you feel you do, then you're doing it wrong. I use my 40Watt one when even working with 2 and 3mm brass plate and rod. Cleanliness is the first most important factor. If you wipe your tip clean, pre and post soldering every joint, dressing your tip should be a rare event.

I could write a page or two on do's and don'ts but basically:-

1) clean & tin all items to be assembled.
2) pick your iron up.
3) wipe it on a damp sponge.
4) wet the iron with solder.
5) apply the iron to your workpiece straight away.
6) wait until you see the solder melt on your workpiece.
7) apply more solder.
8) remove iron from workpiece, wipe clean on sponge ready for next operation.

The choice of iron wattage and flux-cored solder diameter is a critical factor in achieving good solder joints. Too smaller gauge and you will heat the solder up too rapidly, the flux will burn off, and not flow across the workpiece to clean it prior to the solder flowing over the cleaned metal. If ever you see black residues, then you have got this balance wrong. Anything other than the end result being a nice shiney joint should not be seen as success. If you make a bad joint and go back with the iron to try and get it better, realise that you are re-heating the joint up, causing more oxidisation, and consequently creating a worse joint than your first attempt. You need to dissassemble, clean up, and repeat using fresh solder. Soldering is a science.

Mud.

Great. Thanks for the tips, but the job's done anyway.