I got my iron today. I used it to shorten my throttle servo wires. I was able to use the tiny tip to do it Inside the case so I don't have a splice in my wires. The iron worked perfectly heated up really fast. I am really impressed so far. I will give another report as I use it more. The rma flux I got worked really well too. Iron was set at 650 degrees.

Sounds good. The small stuff, 600-625* should work just as well.

I just read your soldering "lesson"...GREAT JOB...i already solder but it was cool to read over this...

A refresher never hurts.

Man you ain't kidding
Nice tut.

Been a while, needs a bump.

The erosion process increases with heat, (I think its on the level of doubling for every 10*C) and in the presence of reactive compounds like acids. (flux is a form of acid, RMA is weak compared to other types and is best for long tip life) Iron as we all know reacts easily with oxygen (rust) even at room temp, and acids make this worse.

A bump is always good.

Thanks much for posting this Marine6680. As someone who has been doing this off/on for about 20 years from trial and error, your post and videos have definitely shown me what I've been doing wrong. Hopefully I'll never have another DNF due to a solder joint coming loose after I redo all my wiring this weekend.

You,re welcome. Good Luck

Hi,

Just wondering if I've bought the right solder. I went to an electronics store and got the cheapest I could find $1.95 60% tin 40% lead. Is that good enough?

I can buy solder from my LHS if I need to, they sell the following:

Much More Super Solder:
Ag:4%, Sn:62%, PB:34%
Thickness:1.0mm
Temperature:179degrees Celcious
26grams

And they also sell "NOVAK LEAD FREE SOLDER 15G"

Thanks for your help!

Best write up on soldering so far. Thought I was doing it right but went and bought the 63/37 lead solder and flux. Night and day, made a world of difference. I think my tip is ruined since I was using sand paper to clean it but lesson learned. Thanks.

Like I said in my post, 60/40 is fine. It is the most common and cheapest. Silver solder is costly and not needed. Avoid lead free solder like the plague.

Get 63/37 if possible. (63% tin 37% lead)

Glad to help.

This may have been asked already in this thread and if so I apologize but why is a soldering station better than a soldering iron? Is the performance that much better to justify the price difference?

Thanks.

A simple soldering iron, is just an on/off affair with a coil wire heating element.

A soldering station (a good quality one) has a ceramic heating element that lets you select a specific temperature.

In a word... Yes they do justify the price. Someone posted one that is cheaper at around $50 if the others are a bit too much.

The full first post gives a good set of reasons as to why they are better, but if you have any specific questions let me know.

Creating a good solder joint with a cheap iron is difficult. Even with all my experience, I find it a pain to use one. In the hands of less experienced persons, it can cause issues, and you wouldn't even realize it. Bad solder work can cause failures in ways you would never think.