Frustrated Soldering? Consider a Soldering Work Station

[NeO6874]

I guess it would be a real bummer to have your nice new beautiful Fasttracks turnout to corrode into nothingness...

 

I have a 40W Weller soldering station, but it's nothing special - just the iron and what I would assume to be a rheostat to vary how much juice is being fed into the iron itself.  I haven't mastered soldering rails yet, but I'm 99% sure my problem lies in that I didn't have the thing set on full power, so the iron wasn's hot enough to heat the rails really quick.

[jackn2mpu]

My soldering station consists of a tin can screwed to a scrap of particle board to hold my 30W Radio Shack pencil iron. The tip plating is long gone, allowing me to scrape the tip clean with sandpaper while it heats up, then tin it easily.

A three inch by two inch piece of wet paper napkin, with a dime sized half circle torn from it is the heat sink. It covers the ties and rails except where the solder joint is going.

A screwdriver in one hand holds the wire where I wantit, and then replaced by a soldering iron in the other hand. The hot iron is nestled into the horizontal groove between railflange and railhead, held for a ten count, solder applied, which flows easily into the joiner and wire strands, then the screwdriver replaces the hot iron while the solder cools. 

Actual soldering time runs about 30 seconds per joint. By soldering leads to every other track joint, every rail has an independant power lead, and every other joint is unsoldered for expansion.

When not in use, the tin can holds the solder, and provides a place to wrap the cord, and when it's time to solder, everything's in one, easy to grab unit.

Are you saying that the axctual time the solder tip is in contact with whatever you are soldering is 30 seconds? That's wayyyy too long. Even with the napkin heatsink you are using. Not enough heat and too much dwell time. You really need to go the other way with more heat and less dwell time on the joint. Assuming clean rail and high heat, you shouldn't have to spend more than 5 to 10 seconds on any joint. And for Pete's sake, do NOT use acid core solder or flux on anything other than house plumbing work, no matter what the guy in the Fast Tracks video says. Tain't good for electrical or electronic work (take it from somone who was NASA certified for soldering for 14 years).

[collingswood_don]

last mountain & eastern hogger wrote:

Please fill us in on brand and point of sale etc.

Radio Shack

Digital Soldering Station With Detachable Stand, Model 64-2185 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062751 

[jeffers_mz]

My soldering station consists of a tin can screwed to a scrap of particle board to hold my 30W Radio Shack pencil iron. The tip plating is long gone, allowing me to scrape the tip clean with sandpaper while it heats up, then tin it easily.

A three inch by two inch piece of wet paper napkin, with a dime sized half circle torn from it is the heat sink. It covers the ties and rails except where the solder joint is going.

A screwdriver in one hand holds the wire where I wantit, and then replaced by a soldering iron in the other hand. The hot iron is nestled into the horizontal groove between railflange and railhead, held for a ten count, solder applied, which flows easily into the joiner and wire strands, then the screwdriver replaces the hot iron while the solder cools. 

Actual soldering time runs about 30 seconds per joint. By soldering leads to every other track joint, every rail has an independant power lead, and every other joint is unsoldered for expansion.

When not in use, the tin can holds the solder, and provides a place to wrap the cord, and when it's time to solder, everything's in one, easy to grab unit.

[jackn2mpu]

Want to eliminate melting plastic ties? Use a resistance soldering setup. The heat is concentrated at the immediate point between the two electrodes and that's it. They tend to be expensive, but at least in my case, are worth it. Another nice thing with a resistance unit is you can vary the power to the elctrodes so you can solder anything from code 148 rail to 28 gauge wire with one setup. Third nice thing with a ersistance unit - you can solder tight complex assemblies together and not have the previously soldered parts come apart.

Someone mentioned Weller soldering stations. I had one that I used to keep a screwdriver-type tip in that ran at 800 deg. F. Worked great for saoldering rails and not melting plastic ties. Lost that one when the basement got flooded a couple of years back.

Remember: it's not the temperature that is the biggest bugaboo for melting things, it's the dwell time on the joint. Use a low heat iron for a long time and you'll melt stuff. Use high heat and you'll have no melting problems (assuming you don't slip with the tip and hit the ties).

[dstarr]

For me, a 45-watt soldering iron was inadequate for:  1) HO track joints; and 2) feeder wire-track connections.  I know that many others have experienced to the contrary.  I certainly strove for success.  Over the past 15 months, I read lots about soldering and even attended two NMRA conference seminars that dealt with the topic.  Armed with all of the important accessories and techniques, I still had a heck of a time -- sometime to the point of not being able to complete one solder connection in 15 minutes.

My Soldering Salvation

I bought an 80-watt soldering work station that has a variable temperature range of 350 to 840 degrees (F).  That range goes several hundred degrees higher than what a 45-watt iron can achieve.  With a little bit of experimenting and two precautionary heat sinks, I discovered what temperature works best for a particular type of joint.  For any given joint, I am "quickly in and out". 

Things are now moving much quicker with the construction of my layout.  The digital soldering work station cost me $63 plus tax, but it's saving me hours of frustration.  How I wish I had it a year ago.

   The soldering stations are nice, I have one, but there are cheaper ways to go.  For heavy work like HO rail, a 100 watt or better conventional soldering iron or soldering gun will do excellent work for a good deal less money.  In the soldering station you are paying for electronic temperature control of the tip to protect delicate integrated circuits from overheat. Nickel silver rail isn't delicate, and hotter is better.  The standard soldering irons & guns lack this temperature control.  The conventional tools just apply juice to the heater element or tip and leave it on.  The tip heats up until the heat lost to the air or work matches the heat produced by the electricity going in.  This is just fine for soldering metals that will take as high a temperature as the iron or gun can dish out.   For fine work like soldering DCC decoder wires, a smaller 20-30 watt iron  is powerful enough and easier to handle.  Ordinary irons or guns will show up at yard sales for a buck or two and new at hardware stores for maybe $10.  You could buy two irons, a 30 watter and a 150 watter, new, for $20 or so.  

    Irons, which take a few minutes to warm up, are left hot (on) until the job is done, sometimes get hot enough to burn the tinning (solder coat) off the tip.  When set down with juice on, the tip only looses heat to the air, which doesn't cool the tip nearly as well as a cold piece of rail does.  A metal soldering iron stand, into which the iron is placed inbetween solder joints, will keep the tip cooler, preserve the tinning, and prevent the odor of burning pine and the ugly scorch marks that occur when the hot iron is set down on the benchwork.  

   Once hot, an iron holds more heat than a gun and will raise the work to soldering temp faster than a gun.  The benefit of a gun is they heat up from cold in a few seconds.  Once the joint is soldered, you let off on the trigger switch and the gun cools off and can be set down without the hazards of a burning hot tip.  

   When soldering to track, you can reduce the amount of plastic tie melting with a couple of ordinary Radio Shack alligator clips used as heat sinks, one on each side of the solder joint.  The faster you can raise the rail to soldering temp, the fewer ties get melted.  A big iron or gun will get the rail hot quickly, a small one takes forever, and the heat flows down the metal rail, melting ties as it goes.  

[Gandy Dancer]

I bought an 80-watt soldering work station that has a variable temperature range of 350 to 840 degrees (F).  With a little bit of experimenting and two precautionary heat sinks, I discovered what temperature works best for a particular type of joint.  For any given joint, I am "quickly in and out".

except for the heat sink part, and I only solder joints on curves.
If one is melting ties they aren't getting the rail hot enough fast enough.  This is usually caused by trying to apply the solder before the joint is hot.  The solder sucks too much heat out of the joint initially.

[loathar]

I've had 2 cheap ones that have worked great for years. A 15 watt pencil tip for PC boards and locos and a 45 watt spade tip for track joints. Only takes about 30 seconds per rail. I only had to buy a 100 watt gun when I started soldering 12 gauge buss wires.

[Autobus Prime]

In soldering, one size does not fit all.

I have a 20W pencil iron that does a fine job of soldering fine wire to the lugs on rotary and toggle switches, and similar small-size, low-calorie work with electronic parts and locomotive/rolling stock electricals.

I also have a 325W Weller hand cannon that makes quick work of soldering bits of file-shaped rail into hand-laid specialwork.

I don't use the big gun on small joints, and I don't use the little pencil where a big crayon is more appropriate.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

TTT:

Right. I learned this a while back with my cheap Radio Shack 30w pencil iron. It's great for PC boards, but rails were very tough. Then I got a box of old irons at an auction - some torch-
heated, some electric. Among the electrics was a massive BEAST of an iron with a copper tip about an inch across, the kind one doesn't hold like a pencil, but like a club. It took a LONG time to heat up, but with all that thermal mass it soldered rails like nothing I'd ever seen. It was also rather unwieldy and probably dangerous, but hey, I was 14, so I didn't worry about that. I still have this iron.

Then I found an old Wen 100W gun at a garage sale, and that's what I use now on absolutely
everything that can stand the heat. It's a wonderful gun, which heats up almost instantly, and can transfer heat quickly enough to rails to get a joint soldered before the plastic ties melt. I've used
it for soldering frogs, electrical connections, and all sorts of small but not tiny stuff. I wish Wen still made these.

[tomikawaTT]

In soldering, one size does not fit all.

I have a 20W pencil iron that does a fine job of soldering fine wire to the lugs on rotary and toggle switches, and similar small-size, low-calorie work with electronic parts and locomotive/rolling stock electricals.

I also have a 325W Weller hand cannon that makes quick work of soldering bits of file-shaped rail into hand-laid specialwork.

I don't use the big gun on small joints, and I don't use the little pencil where a big crayon is more appropriate.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[tstage]

For reliability, Weller is the standard.  I've seen some nice deals on eBay.  The ones with the LED readouts are just fine and cheaper than the LCD displays.  I'd go with one that has fine tuing between 350 and 850 F.

Tom

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Please fill us in on brand and point of sale etc.

We are happy that you have stuck with it and are now satisfied with your purchase.

James:1 Verse:5

Today the "Wobbly" is pretty shakey, but still going strong.

Johnboy out...........

[Lillen]

For me, a 45-watt soldering iron was inadequate for:  1) HO track joints; and 2) feeder wire-track connections.  I know that many others have experienced to the contrary.  I certainly strove for success.  Over the past 15 months, I read lots about soldering and even attended two NMRA conference seminars that dealt with the topic.  Armed with all of the important accessories and techniques, I still had a heck of a time -- sometime to the point of not being able to complete one solder connection in 15 minutes.

My Soldering Salvation

I bought an 80-watt soldering work station that has a variable temperature range of 350 to 840 degrees (F).  That range goes several hundred degrees higher than what a 45-watt iron can achieve.  With a little bit of experimenting and two precautionary heat sinks, I discovered what temperature works best for a particular type of joint.  For any given joint, I am "quickly in and out". 

Things are now moving much quicker with the construction of my layout.  The digital soldering work station cost me $63 plus tax, but it's saving me hours of frustration.  How I wish I had it a year ago.

 

I to had problems soldering until I got a soldering station. Highly recommended. If not a must have.

[collingswood_don]

For me, a 45-watt soldering iron was inadequate for:  1) HO track joints; and 2) feeder wire-track connections.  I know that many others have experienced to the contrary.  I certainly strove for success.  Over the past 15 months, I read lots about soldering and even attended two NMRA conference seminars that dealt with the topic.  Armed with all of the important accessories and techniques, I still had a heck of a time -- sometime to the point of not being able to complete one solder connection in 15 minutes.

My Soldering Salvation

I bought an 80-watt soldering work station that has a variable temperature range of 350 to 840 degrees (F).  That range goes several hundred degrees higher than what a 45-watt iron can achieve.  With a little bit of experimenting and two precautionary heat sinks, I discovered what temperature works best for a particular type of joint.  For any given joint, I am "quickly in and out". 

Things are now moving much quicker with the construction of my layout.  The digital soldering work station cost me $63 plus tax, but it's saving me hours of frustration.  How I wish I had it a year ago.