Soldering

[Marc_Magnus]

Clean the brown color over and when the rail is shining, you are ready to solder it without any trouble.

Best solder iron seems to me WELLER, solder iron or solder station, I own a solder station WC 81, which give variable power to solder tiny wire on PC board but also to solder some brass construction.

And if you want to go one step further take a look at the resistance soldering, like the one offer by American beauty.

[Redvdub1]

I use a flat bladed "small" screwdriver to "gouge" the surface of the rail web.  Then I dabe a little flux onto the gouge.  Then I use a 15W chisel tipped iron (wetted with 60-40 resin core solder or straight solder) along with "0.20 diameter solder wire.  The small diameter solder wire limits the heat loss from the joint area and allows the 15W soldering tip to "flow" the solder into the joint area with no impact (usually) to the adjacent ties.  Then I solder the wire to the solder bead...good luck. 

[rrinker]

 My Xytronic is an old rmodel, although I do want to get a newer one  - really just for the two in one that has a desoldering gun as well as the soldering iron. Desoldering with braid works, but for through hole components, nothing beats a vacuum desoldering tool, and the all in oen handheld ones liek Hakko cost a fortune.

 That said, my Xytronic station is now close to 10 years old and still works just fine. Never had a problem, and parts are available if something does go wrong - like a replacement heating element. I have no problem recommending this brand - it seems few have heard of them, not sure why. Everyone seems to love Hakko, but they are NOT inexpensive. Not for a real one - there are a lot of knockoff ones which I suspect had far lower build quality than Xytronic. Of course, there are even higher end ones - if you really want to spend the money. For hobby use - I don't see the point. If you are building an electronics factory - yes.

 I also have a Xytronic fume extractor - it's mostly just a glorified fan with an activated charcoal filter. It's not the externally vented type, it's just a small desktop unit that blows the fumes away from my face. Not that there's really anything complex about it - it's a fan, with an on/off switch - but it works just fine as well and it was pretty inexpensive. I don;t think many places actually carry Xytronic equipment, I think even the eBay and Amazon seller is the same place I bought mine direct from.

After watching many electronic oriented YouTube videos - I have seen WAY worse soldering tools being sold for Xytronic and even Hakko prices -dunno who those companies think they are fooling. 

I will add, for the price it's hard to do better than Xytronic. I dunno about those Amazon listings, they seem even too low to be true. A known reliable authorized dealer sells that model for more like $70, the 60 watt 369D is about $50.

Best thing about a true temperature controlled station liek this - and yes, this is such a thing, it does turnt he heater on and off to maintain a set temperature - there are more expensive other brand units that are NOT temperature controlled - they are adjustable power - the one very common Weller is like that, the handpiece is just an oldering 3 prong plug plugged in to the base with the temp knob, there is no feedback of the temperature at the tip so no way to cycle it on and off. The Xytronic and any true controlled station usually has a 4 wire connection between the handpiece and the base, 2 for the heater power and 2 for the monitor. ANd witht he true temperature controlled irons - the tips last foever, because they only heat to the set temp, not until they reach thermal equilibrium with the room airflow (unless you crank it all the way up). And they are easy to dial back between uses (the really fancy ones actually have sensors that shut them off when the handpiece is in the stand, but at the price point of the Xytronic, I'm happy to turn the knob myself). And they go low enough that you can shrink heat shrink without melting it into a gooey mess all over the iron. 

                                      --Randy

[tstage]

Kevin,

Even with a rating between 4 and 5 stars, reading a few 1-star ratings can still yield a usable kernal or two of legitimate concern/issue a product.  Sometimes, though, you still need to take the review "negatives" with a grain of salt.

Tom

[SeeYou190]

Thanks for the comments. Those 1 star reviews seemed sketchy, but the fact there were no 4 or 5 star reviews also seemed bothersome. I generally ignore 1 star reviews if there are lots of 4 or 5 stars also.

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I am in the market for a new soldering station. I am currently using a 15 year old Blue Point 40 watt iron, and it is certainly well past time for an upgrade.

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-Kevin

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[tstage]

When reading up on a product, I almost always take a look at the 1-star reviews for patterns - e.g. product issues and reviewers with an axe to grind.  The former can be informative; the latter is usually obvious on several levels.

Whatever soldering iron you end up getting, make sure:

1. it's a soldering station with controllable temperature,
2. it's one of good quality and reputation
3. it allows for easy exchange and accommodation of various-sized tips

Good soldering stations allow you to adjust the temperature at the tip (e.g. 350-850F).  This is important because soldering a decoder wire does NOT require the same size tip or temperature range as soldering a feeder wire to a piece of track.

I chose a Weller WESD51 soldering station but I've heard very good things about the Xytronics stations; mostly from Randy (rrinker).  Spend the money on quality.  That does NOT mean you have to spend a lot on one.  Any good tool taken care of properly can - if desired - be sold at a later date to recoup some of your investment in it.

Tom

[zstripe]

I use a X-Tronic 3000 series 80 watt soldering iron controller, precision temp control and for even finer soldering use a Mudder variable temp 60watt 1/16'' pencil iron, with the chisel tip.....use that mainly for My chain link fence soldering and chip LED wiring.

Havn't used any of My Weller's in probably ten yrs.

Take Care! 

Frank

[BigDaddy]

SeeYou190

I just looked on Amazon and eBay, and the XYTronics 399D has a lot of 1 star reviews.

 I gave you mine and a link to Randy's.  I wouldn't call a single Amazon 1 star review, listed twice, by the same guy, a lot of reviews.

 

 

The Amazon unit was DOA. The Ebay unit....I need sub titles:

"the soldering station don't sand work the have problem with the hitting and the set up not work raigth"

 

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[SeeYou190]

BigDaddy

Randy recommended a Xytronics:

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I just looked on Amazon and eBay, and the XYTronics 399D has a lot of 1 star reviews.

.

Has anyone actually used this one?

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-Kevin

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[BigDaddy]

Randy recommended a Xytronics:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/p/248668/2774340.aspx

https://www.howardelectronics.com/soldering/soldering-stations/by-manufacturer/xytronic/lf-399d/xytronic-lf-399d-mini-type-80-watt-soldering-station/

I got one and it does everything I need it to do.

[hon30critter]

Hi OldEngineman,

My first recommendation would be to invest in a name brand like Weller. I have purchased several cheap irons over the years and they were a waste of money.

I am using an earlier model of this iron. This one goes from 5 to 80 watts. Mine only goes to 40 watts which is still plenty. This is a Canadian listing so ignore the price.

https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WLC100CUL-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B00PVV6T1C/ref=dp_ob_title_hi

You can get irons without the stand but the stand makes it really easy to set the iron aside when needed. No hot irons falling in your lap!

Dave

[OldEngineman]

As long as the subject is soldering, could someone recommend a good soldering iron?

Must have:

- fine pointed tip for small jobs (like soldering connections onto dcc decoders)

- sufficient heat to "get in there and do the job quickly".

[agrasyuk]

Echoing others comments about shiny clean rail . I have a mini wirebrush wheel on rotary tool to polish the rail clean.

Don't forget to brush a bit of Flux, properly preheat the rail and solder just flows.

[riogrande5761]

RayG8

Has anyone experienced difficulties when soldering to Micro Engineering pre weathered track? Anutricks?

The most ideal conditions for soldering in my experience is clean shiney metal.  Weathered track is not clean shiney metal, so there would lie your problem.  You will probably need to clean off the surface of the rail that you are soldering and then paint it later to blend it in.

[selector]

You must either chemically or mechanically bare the rail where you intend to apply solder.  It should be rather obvious what to use chemically (solvents, alcohol, paint stripper, with the usual caveats), but you can choose from safer mechanical methods.  Steel wool (if you use a magnet and vacuum thoroughly around the tracks if they are already laid on the layout), high grit count sandpaper (I would use at least 300, but I use 600 routinely to lightly buff the rail heads to remove gunk, or to swipe the sides of points and stock rails where they are meant to touch each other), a scotchbrite pad or equivalent, even the sharp tip of a wooden dowel or a plastic spoon could serve.

From there, use a paste solder, pre-tin the wire end, and then apply heat and press the solder end where you have the bared/cleaned rail.

[michaelrose55]

I use Tillig weathered track which has the same problem. I clean the area I want to solder to with a fiberglass brush from Mikromark https://www.micromark.com/Mini-Brush-with-Fiberglass-Bristles

Works very well!

[RayG8]

Has anyone experienced difficulties when soldering to Micro Engineering pre weathered track? Anutricks?