timelessbeing
Member
When soldering heavy gauge wire and other large things the iron can't handle, and extra heat doesn't pose risk, that's when I pull out the gun.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
When soldering heavy gauge wire and other large things the iron can't handle, and extra heat doesn't pose risk, that's when I pull out the gun.
Nice, can you share this solder blob technique?
What looks like lubricant in Hakko wool is rosin and it does make it easier to solder and clean. It could be different in other wools used like Weller or clones. The Hakko wool is only $4 and I've only replaced it once in 10 years.
...
The brass sponge does not compare, you have to re-tin the tip after wiping and it smokes upshowing you picked up contaminant oil from the sponge which has to be burnt off. Maybe the sponges come good after enough use?
The blob rules.![]()
The blobs are made from waste solder, basically every bit of solder in my workshop is either on a PCB or ends up on the blob. No fresh solder was harmed during the making of the blob.I use a couple (a few?) 250g rolls of solder a year, so it probably took the waste from 20+ rolls to make a 2kg blob.
I suppose it's a bit of a recycling thing too, no solder goes out in my trash although occasionally dead components do.
Maybe I didn't give the brass thing enough of a go, I didn't like the way it was springy so tiny splatters of solder flung off all over the place, and I don't think my brass had flux on it, it was some type of oil that felt slippery and left the tip needing to be re-tinned each time. It's still sitting in the workshop somewhere. Maybe with enough use the oil would burn off and the springyness would pack down?
So then what do you do? Melt the waste solder and drip it down onto the blob? How does it become aerated?
...
I have a weller and it has served me well for over 20 years, and at the time of purchase it was close to $200 i left the shop wondering if i had bought the right item for the price i had paid.
I have NEVER been sorry for the investment of a good tool.
As for adjustable temperature control my view is, i would not even consider it with a good quality iron as if the iron is always at a constant temp then you quickly learn to adjust your soldering time to suit.
Mine spends hours upon hours running on the bench for years upon years, and the only fault it has ever had was a wire broke in the lead to the iron from excessive use.
The most important thing to consider when buying a good iron is the availability of spare parts and replacement tips as the tips do wear out.
With Weller the range is huge on the tips and i use a 0.6mm tip as it allows for me to do SMD work as well.
To also solder a 6mm cable i can if needed.
The weller dont have all the bells and whistles that some offer, but if you want a reliable work horse than you will be hard pressed to find better. IMO.
I think it around 30 seconds from power on to able to solder with the iron.
Pete.
I know it's been a while since I posted about this, but I recently came across a tip thermometer for $14 on goodluckbuy.com. It was so cheap, I decided to try it for S+G.
Cheers.
I tossed my Weller around 1992. Brand new out the box. It failed after minimal work. Lasted around at most 100 Hours.
Spares were very,very expensive. Got rid of the POS and bought a locally manufactured Magnum station. Same principle as the Weller...except uses better heat sensing technology. No mechanical switches that wear out...
Weller had a great name many years back.....then it was bought out by Cooper Tools who stuffed it all up. Cooper Tools are a useless company....they stuffed up Crescent too.
I stay away from all Cooper products now. **broken link removed**