soldering irons

bottleneck

bottleneck

talks a load of rubbish
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Im no DIY genius, and am struggling with my soldering iron!

Ive got a couple of cheapy soldering irons, one is busted now.

Stupid question this, the bloody thing doesnt get hot enough to melt this solder that I have..!! "alloy 60/40 core wire"

The iron has a little attachment on the end for different fittings. I think thats normal.

DO you reckon the iron is shagged, or do you get crap solder that takes a lot to melt?

nb it says 16w 230v

Im sure someone on the DIY thread will know.
 
Several things can cause what you're seeing.

If the tip is replacable then make sure it is done up tightly, otherwise you don't get good heat transfer into it from the element.

Is the tip clean and properly tinned? If it's not shiny then you will have problems trying to get solder to melt on a dull iron.

As for solders.... Different solder alloys have different melting points. 60/40 Sn/Pb is the lowest and consequently the easiest to work with. The various lead-free concoctions are higher melting point and harder to work. This goes for both Sn/Cu and Sn/Cu/Ag alloys.

Then there's flux. If you're trying to rework solder on a board then you will need to use a flux to make life easier. I'm quite happy with the alcohol based fluxes that are replacing rosin, but some people aren't. They're less of a problem than lead-free solder anyway.
 
Yes I was going to suggest a dirty/untinned tip as well. When you got the iron did you tin it? When you get a new tip you need to spend some time burning solder on it- heat it up and just push solder onto it, eventually it'll melt properly. Just leave the melted solder sat on the tip until it goes a dull gold ish colour, wipe it off on a damp sponge then repeat until you build up a nice shiny layer of silver on the iron tip. Do this on both sides. Your iron should then melt solder as soon as it contacts.
Its also really important to properly clean the tips in use else you'll build up loads of burnt flux and other crap on it. You need to use a damp sponge or something if you don't already and wipe it off now and again whilst working. If the sponge won't take it, do more tinning- leave the solder burning on the tip till it goes gold again as it takes the crap off with it.
 
Or more easily you could use a tinning pot, like Farnell 419631.

After each joint you solder wipe the flux off the iron with the sponge. Burning flux is corrosive to the copper of the soldering iron tip, so the layer of tinning must be kept up to prevent it from being eaten away (not all fluxes do this).

You can also get waterless "sponges" which are actually things very much like brillo pads but made from brass. Xytronic 460 is the one I use, and it's very very good. RS 413-6478 or Farnell 4683729 (no pic at farnell).
 
I think its knackered.

The tip is dull metal coloured. I tried tinning it, but its like its covered in non-stick - solder doesnt stick to it at all.

It takes about 10 seconds to melt solder, so its obviously no good! maybe I just need a new tip?
 
That might help Chris. Get a little tinning pot too, it makes it much easier to condition and maintain the tip.
 
Dang. Dunno how much soldering you do but if you can get one of the Maplin £50 solder stations in the sale for £30 they're bloody good. Wouldn't pay £50 but for £30 they're really gfm and you may find soldering is easier too. Avoid the usually £30 or £10 in the sale jobs though, nasty- the body melts in no time, falls over, falls apart and the tip drops out every five mins cuz of the crappy holding arrangement.
 
chris,
you can get little tins of tinning / cleaner stuff. this improved my soldering success rate no end. also maked sure the tip is really hot before doing anything with it - it took me a while to realise that a phono plug helt by a pair of pliers or one of those 3rd hand things is really just a big heat sink sucking the heat off the tip of the iron.
cheers


julian.
 
Goot solder irons

It is a pity we cannot get these Goot solder irons in UK:

http://www.goot.co.jp/ENGLISH/catalog/INDUSTRIAL/KYP_KS/KX_CA.html

I have also used Weller irons at work which are excellent but pricey, but at home I much prefer the Goot ones made in Japan. The cost of a 25W iron is only about Hong Kong $70, about £4.5 each. The tips are pointed which are ideal for fine work.

For solder, I use those made by Alphametal which has got flux in the centre core of the solder. I believe the flux corrosion level is quite low. I don't like the flux being too corrosive.

Hon
 
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Cloth ears - this is the second post of yours this evening which has been rather immature. Please don't.
 
Well. soldering irons are boring. What was the other one? Oh yes, about Google Earth, lol, yes.

Oh come now Issac, lets just have a laugh. Hifi is so expensive we've got to let our hair down now and then !

:ffrc:
 
If you find soldering irons boring why read a thread about them?

I bought an antex second hand from ebay, payed about £40 RS have it at £150 its much easier to use than the non temp controlled unit I had before.

I will buy one of those tinning pots
 
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I read a forum thread about them.
Alas, I did not read an actual soldering iron.

EDIT :

I see you made a sneaky edit to your post
Grrrr :chainsaw:
 
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