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Soldering

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farflungstar

Active Member
Hi everyone - I've only ever done a little soldering and have never seemed to get it quite right - more by luck than skill. I've always used cheap soldering irons and they never seem to get instantaneous heat to the solder when I need it resulting in heat exposure to components.

My question is - is this my own lack of skill or do I need a better quality iron - what watt rating? I'm thinking of recapping an amp and don't want to screw up.


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I have a Weller WLC100 station. Its far from perfect, but it's done most of the jobs I've thrown at it. A more precise unit is required by others, but in my experience its done well. I think they run about $60.00, too.

Many have had good experiences with the Stahl STSSVT from PE. Although finding tips in a pinch would be a challenge. Under $15.00.
 
farflungstar said:
Hi everyone - I've only ever done a little soldering and have never seemed to get it quite right - more by luck than skill. I've always used cheap soldering irons and they never seem to get instantaneous heat to the solder when I need it resulting in heat exposure to components.

My question is - is this my own lack of skill or do I need a better quality iron - what watt rating? I'm thinking of recapping an amp and don't want to screw up.


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Why not just get the Hakko special from B&D Enterprises:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=496674


If you're thinking of recapping an amp but can't solder well, chances are you'll screw things up worse than they (possibly) are. You could lift traces, etc. Practice on perf-board with cheap resistors, diodes, etc. THEN tackle your project. A respectable (>$20, at least) soldering iron or station will make all the difference in the world. Just my $0.02.
 
Buy a proper temperature controlled soldering iron, the only thing you get with a bad iron is bad soldering.

Hakko models are very good.
 
A bad soldering iron is not a death knell to quality, but it creates a hurdle to be sure.

With an inexpensive soldering iron, you need to let it warm up to operating temperature first. This can vary from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the iron, the tip, etc. If you do not have solder tip sponge, just use a damp paper towel, and set it where you are not going to rest your hand on it. Whenthe tip is up to temp, if you do not have brightly tinned tip- clean it on the paper towel first, apply jsut a small amount of solder and then apply the tip to the area to be soldered. If you are attaching a wire lead to something able to draw out heat like the lug of a potentiometer- apply the heat to the lug first, or primary contact- place solder on the opposite side, and when the solder begins to melt- make sure it wets the lead and the terminal- it is not required to fill the loop with solder, but it is increase reliability many times when you are jsut begining to get the hang of it.

If you already have a 25 to 45 watt soldering iron, this will take longer to work repairs on most tube gear, but will work with PC boards, however you will still tend to lift the conductive traces.
 
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