[Shop-talk] soldering iron

[Brian Kemp]

Jorge - Weller has been a good brand for decades.  You can even buy them 
at Radio Shack.

I have a small Radios Shack iron I've used for years.  Before you toss 
the new one, make sure the tip is in tight.  If you forget before 
heating it up, just grab the tip with a pair of pliers.  If it is loose, 
you will not get the heat transfer.  Also, if the tip is brand new, you 
should tin it first to conduct heat to the work.  Heat the iron for a 
few minutes then touch some solder to the tip and it should quickly melt 
and coat the tip.  It only takes a thin layer to improve heat transfer.  
Finally, make sure you are using thinner rosin core electrical solder.  
A small pencil iron isn't going to melt thick plumbing solder and 
properly heat the work.

Also look at the wattage of your iron.  For circuit boards, I'd probably 
only use a 25-30 watt iron to avoid overheating the components.  Unless 
you are attaching heavy gauge wires, they should be more than adequate.  
If you only have a 15 watt iron, it probably won't cut it.

Brian

On 10/24/2010 7:03 PM, Jorge Garcia wrote:
> I was trying to re-solder the instrument cluster circuit board on my old Volvo and I tried a new Radio Shack pecil type (thin sharp point) soldering iron that I've had for a while but had not used. This thing was useless it never got hot enough to do the job. Today I tested a couple of very old soldering irons from a friend and they got hot quick. Unfortunately they are so old that I could not a brand name on them. Can anyone recommend a brand of good quality soldering irons.
> Thank You
> Jorge
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