Bump... Don't want this thread to get lost from inactivity.

Marine, I just want to say thanks. I'm slowly getting back into the hobby, and thanks to you I'm soldering better than I ever thought possible. Everything you recommend makes a huge difference in the ease and quality of the finished product.

Thanks again!

No problem, glad to help. And thanks

I say thanks to Marine too.

I purchased a RMA flux pen, Sn63Pb37 no flux wire, Sn63Pb37 58% RMA wire and Sn63Pb37 66% RA wire, and the Team Associated soldering station, and I made experiments with all the combinations of them, remembering all the concepts expressed by Marine.

Now my soldering works are drastically better than before and now that I understand how correct soldering work looks like I smile if I think at how I soldered before!

For me the flux and the technique of putting the soldering wire to the *heated* joint make the big difference. Likely it's only because rosin-based flux is inert at room temp and needs high-temp to do his job.

Glad I could help guys.

Whew! That was a nice, long "work break"!

I just found this post and am very glad I did! I've only been soldering for various hobbies for 15+ years - all self taught, probably like 90% of everyone else in the hobby - and I can easily see that I can get a lot better just by following the advice you've provided here and getting some better equipment.

Thanks marine6680!

-jake

No problem, and thanks.

I wish I had kept my Weller soldering station I got from my shipyard worker friends while stationed in Philly on Big John. Now I have this stupid cheap Radio Shack pencil iron. It's temperature controlled by me unplugging it when it gets too hot. Very informative post. I really need those helping hands things when soldering Dean's on my stuff. I have old Archer (radio shack) 60/40 resin core light duty solder that I have had forever. Love it. Thanks again.

I have found that having a large tip is helpful when using a cheap iron. If you can find replacement tips that fit it, get a large chisel type tip, and it may help.

Cool, thanks. I'll hit up the shack.

Awesome guide thanks for reminding me about some of things I have forgotten over the years.

Frustrated
 

I've been amateur soldering for like 30 years. Just every now and then. Sometimes not for years, sometimes a few times per year. So not a lot but I know what I'm doing.

I'm now trying to solder a deans plug to a battery and all of a sudden the soldering does not "work" anymore.

Okay, I use a cheap soldering iron ($10) but I've used it many times before.

The problem is that the solder does not "stick" to either the iron, the wire or the plug. It also does not liquefy very well and instead of quicksilver I get something that is the opposite of shiny (sorry, English not mother tongue).

The solder almost looks static. The wire I put some solder on looks really weird. All individual wires are still there. It did not liquefy and melt together. Real strange. I actually wasted some plugs because I applied the iron too long and the plastic melted. Super hot but the solder did not melt. It did but in a static way; wire and plug did NOT want to "merge"

Any clues what goes wrong? I use S39 (flux?). I also tried another iron thinking temperature was a problem. Also bought new solder. Still same result; static solder that does not want to merge/melt/blend...

Have 4 new batteries but can't get the ready without soldering :flaming:

I would try some new 60/40 resin core solder and cleaning your tip by letting it heat, tin it (coat with melted solder), then wipe off on a wet sponge. If it isn't melting it to a shiny silver, your iron is probably bad. I just bought a 15/30 watt soldering pencil at Radio Shack for $10.99. It works well and 15 watts is plenty. My old one was a 30w pencil and I continually had to unplug it as the solder just fell off.
What you're describing is "cold" solder. If you solder something and it isn't quite hot enough for the application, the solder won't wick into the wiring strands and it cools quick and looks very dull. That's what we called a "cold" solder joint and wasn't acceptable in the Navy, or anywhere else.

You both describe the problem exactly:

I actually changed the tip already. The solder went on the tip nicely but (again) refused to get on the plug or wire in a fluid way. I'm starting to think my flux is the problem. It's a rather large bottle and I've been using it as long as I can remember (10 years?). Could that be an issue; flux past "due date"?

Marine 6680,

Big thanks for this. I learned to solder from my dad when I was a kid, but did not pay attention to the finer points. also the years have eroded my memory of those lessons.

Watching your videos, and working carefully and neatly has improved my soldering jobs 1000%. I can't wait to solder something else! Somebody send me a battery and a deans plug!;)

thanks again!