Soldering Help!!!

[tomikawaTT]

Pre-tinning (or just tinning) is applying solder to one component of a joint before putting the joint together.  In the case of wire used for drops:

• Strip the insulation.  If the wire is silvery, check the cut end for that nice reddish copper color.  If it's there, your wire was pre-tinned by the manufacturer and you can skip the following steps.  If the wire is silvery all through you probably have aluminum wire, which is basically unsolderable.  If you see plain copper, go to the next step.
• Stick the bare wire into your little snuff can of non-acid paste flux, or dip it into liquid flux if you have some.  (Both liquid and paste flux are available in local electrical/electronic supply stores.)
• Melt a droplet of solder on the tip of your soldering tool and touch it to the wire end.  The solder will coat the wire surface - which will then be dead easy to solder to when making the final joint.

The same techniques are valid for all kinds of soldering.  I even tin the raw rail that I solder into hand-laid specialwork.

I just checked a couple of internet electronic suppliers.  All list soldering paste/flux and 60-40 solder.  It's a safe bet that paste flux sold for electronic work will be non-acid.  Incidentally, paste flux is applied with a toothpick, not a shovel, so one container will last a LONG time.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[Vail and Southwestern RR]

In my mind the things that help in soldering are clean surfaces, fine solder, and a clean, tinned, tip.  Heat the surfaces and touch the solder to them, you are not really using the iron to melt the solder.  If you don't heat the surfaces first, you are asking for a cold joint.  Low power with a clean tip and fine solder will do the trick.  A little flux is good, non-acid liquid will work, though paste would be nice.  Paste for plumbing is almost certainly acid, not the same thing!

The hardest part is that you need three hands, one for the wire, one for the solder, and one for the iron.  So you end up holding the solder in the fingers of one of the other hands, whichever works.

When you've made a good joint, you'll see the solder run to cover the hot surface, in a bad joint, you'll get more of a blob.

[dsabourne]

Here is another question?

To date, I have only been able to find rosin core solder in Canadian stores, no flux paste.

Flux paste for plumbing is not the same thing?

Thanks,

David 

[OhioGuy]

OK silly question. What is pre-tin? Steps for it?

[tomikawaTT]

Basics of soldering is a topic that has been covered many times in these forums.  This is a repeat:

Soldering wire to rail:

1. Use an adequate soldering tool.  Since the trick is to transfer a lot of heat quickly, my weapon of choice is a 325 watt (they don't make 'em that big any more!) Weller gun with a massive tip.  Make sure the tip will melt solder BEFORE touching it to the rail.
2. Clean the wire end and the spot on the rail to be soldered, both mechanically and with alcohol.  Even unweathered rail fresh out of the box may have contaminants on the surface.
3. Use rosin core solder and non-acid paste flux.  I have sometimes found the flux in the core too little, too late.  Any excess flux can be cleaned off with alcohol and a Q-tip.  DON'T use acid flux, ever!
4. Use 60-40 or 63-37 electronic/electrical solder.  50-50 is meant for plumbing.  The CPSC-mandated non-toxic solders are a bad joke.
5. Pre-tin the wire end - apply a little solder to it - before pushing it against the rail.  Some wire comes pre-tinned (it shows copper when cut, but the outer surface is silvery.)
6. Make sure the joint is mechanically sound and that nothing will move until after the solder has solidified.
7. After assuring that the wire won't move, apply heat and a little fine wire solder to the paste-fluxed joint.  If the tool is hot enough and the tip is big enough, it should take a second or two to melt the solder and complete the joint.  Touch, melt, get off - quickly.
8. Dont move ANYTHING meant to be part of the completed joint until the solder goes from liquid to solid.  If the finish is smooth, you're good to go.  If it looks crackly/crazed, something moved and you will have to re-heat the joint.

A side note on soldering tools.  Most people need two - one heavy enough to solder rail (I build my own specialwork) and rail power drops at both ends, one small enough to make fine connections to inside-the-locomotive wiring.  The latter should be an iron.  Guns and electronic components are a serious mismatch - the electronics will lose every time.

Also, unless you have an industrial model, shy away from those 'cordless, cold-tip' soldering tools you see in commercials on late-night TV.  They don't even make good paperweights.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with LOTS of soldered joints)

[rrinker]

 I have a 40 watt soldering station that I use. Not a super expensive Weller, this was actually quite modestly priced, and the best soldering device I have ever purchased. And I do a lot of soldering - I never had problems with electronic components using typical pencil irons, but a temperature controlled soldering station has one huge advantage - it doesn't keep heating continuously as long as it's plugged in like a plain soldering iron. This keeps the tip in good shape longer.

 For soldering wires to track, I use some of the paste flux I got from this supplier: http://www.ccis.com/home/hn/. It's water based and completely safe for electronics and electrical work. M method may be a bit unconventional but my ties don't melt so I must be doing something right. I don't used weathered rail - if you do you need to polish it where you intend to solder wires as the sodler won;t adhere properly on the weathering. On my Atlas track I don't even clean it off - these are new sections, not old used track, but I haven't found any byproducts of the manufacturing process interfering with my soldering. I strip the feeder wire and bend it to shape, then dip the end in the paste flux (end up with just a TINY amount - too much is just as bad as not enough). I put a ball of solder on the tip of the iron, hold the wire to the rail, and press the iron on top. It flows instantly. Remove iron, let it freeze, and you're done.

 A key to good soldering is a clean tip. My soldering station came with stand that included what looked like a scouring pad but is copper rather than steel. This works way better than the wet paper towl or wet sponge. In addition, the supplier of the flux also has a very nice tip tinner, just touch the hot iron tot he material and you get a nice shiny coat on the tip. The soldering iron tip should be bright and shiny, not dull and blackened.

 You also need the right tool for the job. This 40 watt soldering station won't work to solder feeders to my #12 bus wire. For that I have a 150 watt soldering gun. I used to have 2 irons, a 15 watt for fine decoder wire and electronic parts and a 40 for track. The sodlering station is small enough for the decoders yet had enough heat to work for track. It also has a variety of interchangeable tips so you can use the right one for the job, from small fine points to wide spades. So far I've found the standard tip it comes with to be fine both for installign decoders and soldering the track feeders.

                                                      --Randy

 

[mobilman44]

Hi,

I'm in the process of doing the same thing.  I'm 65, and have had layouts since the mid '50s, and can say without hesitation that soldering is a skill that - if not used regularly - needs to be "relearned" when you get back to doing it.

In soldering my 20awg feeders to the HO code 100 rails, I use a 40 watt iron.  But in soldering those feeders to the 14awg bus wires, I use a hi watt soldering gun.  Getting under the layout maze isn't easy, and wearing long sleeves & pants & safety glasses is a must - for solder will drop on you sooner or later. 

There are alternatives to soldering, with various connectors on the market (i.e. Scotch "suitcase", etc.).  Some folks swear by them, and I used them on the previous layout (which was DC) as it was - imho - more appropriate. 

Mobilman44

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Soldering the wires to the track is easy IF you do it properly. If you're rosin core solder it will likely ball up and fall off every time. I apply a small amount of paste flux (non-acid) to the rail and the wire end, put the wire in place, place the soldering tip to the area and apply the solder. The paste will insure that the solder goes where it needs to go and it won't ball up. Using a hot enough soldering tool is also key. Many swear by the low wattage (30-60 watts) irons but all those make me do is swear period. I use a Weller 140/100 watt soldering gun with no problem. The gun is only on when I have the trigger pulled back and I don't have to worry about melting a hole through something with an eternally hot iron.

[simon1966]

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=solder+track+feeders&search_type=&aq=f

Try this lot from a Youtube search.  Loads of good material for you to look at there!

[OhioGuy]

All, My wife and I just ran our bus and we started to do some of the drops to the bus. We are going to solder the feeder wires to the track. We tried to do this and had a heck of a time doing it. Basically it was a mess/disaster.

 Can someone point me to a good place to learn exactly how to solder a DCC set up? I do not even know what tining is! Any tips would be appreciated also.

 

Thanks as always guys!