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Club night chat / Soldering Workshop: Extra Information
« Last post by Jim (Chairman) on 28/05/2015, 10:19:30 AM »All,
Thanks for the great reception to my Soldering Workshop last night. Hope you all found it useful.
Here's a couple of extra bits of information that came up.
Soldering Iron Selection
If you select a variable temperature controlled model where you can set the exact temperature, then you should set it at 400 Degrees Centigrade for working on thick silicon wires (like battery wires) and battery connectors (like XT60s or Deans). If you are doing smaller wire or circuit boards, drop the temperature to around 320 - 350 Degrees.
Here's some temperature controlled irons from Maplins:
50 watt (simple) for £25: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-50w-solder-station-n78ar Set knob to about 75% to solder XT60s etc
48 watt for £50: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/48w-professional-2-line-lcd-display-solder-station-n34fb
60 watt for £60: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-a55kj
If you go for a fixed temperature mains iron, then you should go for one that's rated at at least 50 watts. 18, 25 & 30 watt irons do not have enough heating power to get the large battery connectors and wires hot enough for the solder to flow nicely.
30 / 60 watt gun type for £15: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-30w-60w-soldering-gun-with-solder-feed-n80dv
80 watt for £34: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/weller-sp80n-soldering-iron-with-led-light-80-watt-230-volt-r37qa
Soldering Iron Tip Selection
You can always change the tip on your soldering iron because they ultimately wear out.
For soldering large battery connectors like XT60 or Deans, I would recommend a tip that's about 4 - 5 mm diameter with a flat (or flats) on it. The flat gives a good large "contact patch" with the work piece.
DO NOT be tempted to file a flat onto a tip that doesn't have on. The tips have a soft metal core with a harder outer plating. If you file through hard plating, the soft core metal burns away very quickly.
When buying a new tip for your iron, I recommend that you actually take the iron itself along to (let's say) Maplins and make sure you're getting to right one. There are many different types of iron tip out there, and no real standards.
Solder Selection
I recommend that you try to find some proper lead / tin solder. The new style "lead free" stuff is pretty rubbish!
You want lead / tin solder with multicore flux (flux is built into the solder wire).
No diameter / gauge, they tend to be measured in millimeters, so you want solder between about 1.5 to 2mm.
The market leader in the lead / tin solder world is a company called "Multicore".
Maplins only really seem to sell the "lead free" rubbish and lead / tin solder without flux.
RS have good "Multicore" solders:
1.6mm Multicore Lead / Tin / Silver for £32 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0555099/ Expensive but very good!
1.6mm Multicore Lead / Tin for £19 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0557118/ Excellent
2mm Stannol Lead / Tin with flux core for £19 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0517996/
500 grams of solder will last a very long time for the amounts that we use.
Hope that help!
Cheers!
Jim
Thanks for the great reception to my Soldering Workshop last night. Hope you all found it useful.
Here's a couple of extra bits of information that came up.
Soldering Iron Selection
If you select a variable temperature controlled model where you can set the exact temperature, then you should set it at 400 Degrees Centigrade for working on thick silicon wires (like battery wires) and battery connectors (like XT60s or Deans). If you are doing smaller wire or circuit boards, drop the temperature to around 320 - 350 Degrees.
Here's some temperature controlled irons from Maplins:
50 watt (simple) for £25: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-50w-solder-station-n78ar Set knob to about 75% to solder XT60s etc
48 watt for £50: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/48w-professional-2-line-lcd-display-solder-station-n34fb
60 watt for £60: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-with-esd-protection-a55kj
If you go for a fixed temperature mains iron, then you should go for one that's rated at at least 50 watts. 18, 25 & 30 watt irons do not have enough heating power to get the large battery connectors and wires hot enough for the solder to flow nicely.
30 / 60 watt gun type for £15: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-30w-60w-soldering-gun-with-solder-feed-n80dv
80 watt for £34: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/weller-sp80n-soldering-iron-with-led-light-80-watt-230-volt-r37qa
Soldering Iron Tip Selection
You can always change the tip on your soldering iron because they ultimately wear out.
For soldering large battery connectors like XT60 or Deans, I would recommend a tip that's about 4 - 5 mm diameter with a flat (or flats) on it. The flat gives a good large "contact patch" with the work piece.
DO NOT be tempted to file a flat onto a tip that doesn't have on. The tips have a soft metal core with a harder outer plating. If you file through hard plating, the soft core metal burns away very quickly.
When buying a new tip for your iron, I recommend that you actually take the iron itself along to (let's say) Maplins and make sure you're getting to right one. There are many different types of iron tip out there, and no real standards.
Solder Selection
I recommend that you try to find some proper lead / tin solder. The new style "lead free" stuff is pretty rubbish!
You want lead / tin solder with multicore flux (flux is built into the solder wire).
No diameter / gauge, they tend to be measured in millimeters, so you want solder between about 1.5 to 2mm.
The market leader in the lead / tin solder world is a company called "Multicore".
Maplins only really seem to sell the "lead free" rubbish and lead / tin solder without flux.
RS have good "Multicore" solders:
1.6mm Multicore Lead / Tin / Silver for £32 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0555099/ Expensive but very good!
1.6mm Multicore Lead / Tin for £19 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0557118/ Excellent
2mm Stannol Lead / Tin with flux core for £19 (500g): http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/solders/0517996/
500 grams of solder will last a very long time for the amounts that we use.
Hope that help!
Cheers!
Jim
