Hello Fellow Railroader,
I'm looking to buy a soldering iron for DCC wiring and other uses with model railroading. Can someone give some direction...please
I got an off-brand model from a electronics shop. It's a simple pencil iron with a narrow tip. It can be adjusted for heat level, a good thing. It comes with a stand for resting it on when not actually in use. It was under $20 and has lasted me for years. I don't do a lot of soldering, just decoders and lights, so it's fine for me. I solder an occasional track joint, but if you're doing a lot of that you might want something heavier than that.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Start by carefully reading through the "Soldering Practice" thread in General Discussion which I just bumped to the first page...
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/278806.aspx
... and this thread afterward:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/278429.aspx
In my opinion your first consideration -- after ensuring an iron with variable heat -- is to be sure your choice has easily-available (and replaceable in years to come) multiple tips. While a temperature-controlled iron can be used for a range of tasks, the long thin tip suitable for soldering AWG 26 Litz wire to decoders will not be preferable for cleanly joining feeders to rail.
An interesting point was raised in the older thread: whether a good spot IR thermometer, a device with many general uses, can be used to 'calibrate' or adjust a simple variable-control iron to give an appropriate temperature or range ... perhaps not as stable as a full temperature-controlled iron or station, but suitable for effective work at a lower price.
Likewise, there is more to 'soldering' than just joining pieces. Some of the better stations incorporate two important additional functions, 'desoldering' and high-temperature-air preheating, in a single machine. While for simple work you can accomplish these things with a simple 'vacuum gun' or solder braid (for desoldering) and a heat gun with a fine conical nozzle (for preheat) you may find it useful to have these easily and cleanly 'at hand' as you work.
Pay careful attention to the discussion of flux, and effective tip cleaning and retinning. These often get ignored in the urge to start joining stuff. Be prepared with the right materials and knowledge and a great deal of 'learning curve' can be avoided...
Let's make that a clickable link:
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I had a couple of pencil irons and a big Weller gun. The latter was good for soldering track feeders. The pencil types were cheapo ones that got too hot and just burned up tips and I could never find replacement tips.
Upon getting interested in converting DC locos to DCC I decided to get a better tool. I found that several folks liked this Xytronics LF-389D (about $59 now) so went with that. It was a very good choice IMHO. I bought a couple of extra tips but so far have only used the pointed tip and the temp control and/or tip metal quality keep the tip from deteriorating. I bought from a supplier (Jameco IIRC) who had the extra tips I wanted; i.e., a 2nd pointed tip and one with a flat blade.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Xytronic-Industries-LF-389D-60W-Mini-Type-Digital-Soldering-Station/122214262402?epid=9019105475&hash=item1c7489a682:g:~moAAOSwo4pYH17W
https://www.amazon.com/Xytronic-LF-389D-Mini-Type-Digital-Soldering/dp/B00E4WUN8O
https://www.jameco.com/z/LF-389D-Xytronic-Industries-60W-Mini-Type-Digital-Soldering-Station_2174733.html
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
to the forum. Your initial posts are moderated, so will not hear back from you until Monday.
Randy, one of our electrical cognicenti, recommended a Xytronics, and I am happy with that.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
.
Hope to see you in here with us for a while.
I have two, a good quality variable temperature soldering station and an 80 watt monster for soldering the feeder bus wires.
You do not need to get as expensive as mine, but variable, and measurable, tip heat is important.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Hello All,
I was using a pencil type soldering iron with no temperature control. It was a "plug and play" type, so to speak.
There was an article in the NMRA magazine about soldering and irons. One point the author talked about was the possibility of damaging decoders from electronic leakage from a non-grounded tip.
Personally I have never damaged a decoder using my pencil-type soldering iron. But it was time for an upgrade.
In the article the author recommended a Hakko FX-888D soldering station. This unit does have a grounded tip and a digital readout.
An internet search found one at TEquipment for $99.42, with free shipping!
I also purchased the Hakko T18-BL tip. This is a fine needle tip for intricate soldering.
Some have commented that $100.00 for a soldering station is too much to pay.
As an electrician I always invested in the best quality tools, no matter the price. I still have my Fluke 23 meter that I bought in 1989 for, at the time, exorbitant price of $200.00.
This meter has served me well over the past 30-years, and shows no sign wavering into the future. Amortized over the years I guess less than $7.00 a year has been a worthy investment.
I still use the pencil-type for soldering rails and track feeders, after disconnecting the booster, but for all my other soldering needs the Hakko unit has served me well.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
That's a pretty good deal for a Hakko. Usually they are a lot more expensive than that, which is why I went witht he Xytronic. Couldn;t beat the price and it's served me well for nearly 12 years now.
You can get Fluke level quality from non-Fluke brands, but they are no cheaper. That said, i do have a pair of very nice meters that were definitely less than a Fluke with the same features, one is a Brymen and the other a UTI. Neither is an electrician's meter though, while legitimately rated to Cat IV standards, they are more like electronic meters with modes and ranges more suited for such things, though the Brymen does have a no contact electric field sensor so I can tell if a wire is energized without actually touching a probe to bare wire.
I also have a venerable old Fluke 8060 I restored, one of the few True RMS meters that can handle high frequencies (20-25KHz), and two Fluke bench meters.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.