Trader Posted November 9, 2011 Share #1 Posted November 9, 2011 Doing a search on the forum for "Soldering" provided a lot of very good tutorials, tips and links to articles on how to solder...and how to fix the E4 error, which my 88 is experiencing All the tutorials speak of a soldering IRON. I remember my Dad had one, a big clunky beast about 10" long with a shaft about 1/2" diameter. I'm sure they come smaller but what I'm wondering is there any reason why I can't use a soldering GUN? Is there a quality issue here or some other reason everybody refers to an "Iron" and never a "GUN"? Are they one and the same as far as soldering is concerned? Am I over complicating things or is there something here I don't understand? Also, a lot of emphasis is placed on having CLEAN connectors to solder. If you have a solder joint that is bad (you can see the ring around the post) how are you supposed to clean it well enough to solder? The corrosion is probably inside the solder dome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 9, 2011 Share #2 Posted November 9, 2011 Here is a decent iron and it is fairly reasonable. You never want to use a gun on a circuit board too much power. Use alcohol and an acid brush to clean the area to be soldered. Make sure the tip is clean and properly prepared. Alsway use flux only rosin core never acid flux. If it is a cold solder joint you will want to re-flow the solder. If you think there is corrosion under the joint use a vacuum extractor or solder week remove the solder and put new on be careful not to measle the board. Remove excess flux with alcohol and the acid brush again. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3086619 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted November 9, 2011 Share #3 Posted November 9, 2011 So Joe the new gun kit I bought is useless? It is 180 Watt. 120v, 60hz, 1.5 amp. Claims a higher capacity melting range of 1135 F. I too was wanting to get to that winter time stuff. Mine is getting real close to being a "right now" job. Got to play with the plug to get it to work now. Sometimes a real job. I could take it some where where they know what they are doing?? I'm lost when it comes to soldering. Glad you posted this I was probally getting ready to destroy it this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 9, 2011 Share #4 Posted November 9, 2011 So Joe the new gun kit I bought is useless? It is 180 Watt. 120v, 60hz, 1.5 amp. Claims a higher capacity melting range of 1135 F. I too was wanting to get to that winter time stuff. Mine is getting real close to being a "right now" job. Got to play with the plug to get it to work now. Sometimes a real job. I could take it some where where they know what they are doing?? I'm lost when it comes to soldering. Glad you posted this I was probably getting ready to destroy it this winter. Too hot for circuit boards, great for doing wire splices. If you are really careful it may work, I have a tendency to be very picky when it comes to soldering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted November 9, 2011 Share #5 Posted November 9, 2011 Too hot for circuit boards, great for doing wire splices. If you are really careful it may work, I have a tendency to be very picky when it comes to soldering. Humm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcarl Posted November 9, 2011 Share #6 Posted November 9, 2011 Joe is right,,,a gun is much too hot for this job, along with the fact that it is super clumsy to work with. Get a small soldering iron, and a wire stand to go with it. Although I have an actual iron I might suggest CTC #58-6310-0. It looks kind of handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playboy Posted November 9, 2011 Share #7 Posted November 9, 2011 Good post what causes the solder not to flow into the wire I have melted insulation and still wont flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 10, 2011 Share #8 Posted November 10, 2011 Good post what causes the solder not to flow into the wire I have melted insulation and still wont flow. If you do not use flux and the wire is dirty it will do that, you can use an anti-wicking tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemo Posted November 10, 2011 Share #9 Posted November 10, 2011 Also, besides always using a proper flux, always hold your heat device on the wire or terminal only and let those hot items melt the solder, as you touch the solder to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted November 10, 2011 Share #10 Posted November 10, 2011 Good post what causes the solder not to flow into the wire I have melted insulation and still wont flow. One of 3 things causes this, dirty wire as mentioned, to small of a soldering iron, or two high of a temperature. When soldering wires (or any joint) if it takes more than 2 or 3 seconds to heat the wire hot enough to melt the solder then the iron is to small. with to small of an iron the wire is able to carry the heat away faster than the iron can generate heat, this will cause the wire to carry heat up into the insulation causing it to melt long before the wire gets hot enough to melt solder. When soldering NEVER use the iron to melt the solder, use the iron to heat both parts of the joint and then touch the solder to the joint so the the wires melt the solder. For most of us the Radio shack soldering iron that is 15W / 30W is fine, use 15W on circuit boards and 30W for wires up to 16AWG, use your gun for 14AWG and bigger. I must have at least 10 different soldering devices to choose from to have the perfect tool for the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillrider Posted November 10, 2011 Share #11 Posted November 10, 2011 What the flyinfool said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfVenture Posted November 10, 2011 Share #12 Posted November 10, 2011 One of 3 things causes this, dirty wire as mentioned, to small of a soldering iron, or two high of a temperature. When soldering wires (or any joint) if it takes more than 2 or 3 seconds to heat the wire hot enough to melt the solder then the iron is to small. with to small of an iron the wire is able to carry the heat away faster than the iron can generate heat, this will cause the wire to carry heat up into the insulation causing it to melt long before the wire gets hot enough to melt solder. When soldering NEVER use the iron to melt the solder, use the iron to heat both parts of the joint and then touch the solder to the joint so the the wires melt the solder. For most of us the Radio shack soldering iron that is 15W / 30W is fine, use 15W on circuit boards and 30W for wires up to 16AWG, use your gun for 14AWG and bigger. I must have at least 10 different soldering devices to choose from to have the perfect tool for the job. I did not know that. The things one learns from this group is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 10, 2011 Share #13 Posted November 10, 2011 I did not know that. The things one learns from this group is amazing. Another $12.00 well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted November 10, 2011 Share #14 Posted November 10, 2011 This is what I use for circuit boards. Part# 64-2184. Works fine for those applications. I used to be a 2M (micro miniature) soldering tech, soldering under a microscope, and doing multi-layer boards. I am waaaay too shaky for that stuff now. Sorry, the pics got kinda squshed when I resized them. The tip is longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 10, 2011 Share #15 Posted November 10, 2011 This is what I use for circuit boards. Part# 64-2184. Works fine for those applications. I used to be a 2M (micro miniature) soldering tech, soldering under a microscope, and doing multi-layer boards. I am waaaay too shaky for that stuff now. Sorry, the pics got kinda squshed when I resized them. The tip is longer than that. \ What did you do to that poor tip on that Iron, and you call yourself a 2M tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted November 10, 2011 Share #16 Posted November 10, 2011 I just change my tips as they have differant heat ranges but I do this all day long at work anyways and flux is your friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted November 10, 2011 Share #17 Posted November 10, 2011 \ What did you do to that poor tip on that Iron, and you call yourself a 2M tech. Better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted November 10, 2011 Share #18 Posted November 10, 2011 Here's what I use. A lot of my soldering is done on site. So this works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etcswjoe Posted November 10, 2011 Share #19 Posted November 10, 2011 Better? I guess it will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share #20 Posted November 10, 2011 I've read about repairing the TCI, (replacing whatever part it is that swells and could blow up the whole works if it goes bad) And discussion about lifting the ribbon...tracers.....tracks....????? (not sure of the right terminology....gotta love "old timers") Question is....what is the cause and how do you avoid that from happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted November 10, 2011 Share #21 Posted November 10, 2011 The cause is age. When you learn how to stop the aging process, PLEASE let me know..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted November 10, 2011 Author Share #22 Posted November 10, 2011 Something tells me you are not talking about the circuit board anymore! ....trust me I know the cause of my poor memory! Too many years of abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted November 11, 2011 Share #23 Posted November 11, 2011 The cause is age. When you learn how to stop the aging process, PLEASE let me know..... Or send me a E-Mail about 20 yrs ago!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Butler Posted November 11, 2011 Share #24 Posted November 11, 2011 FYI Guys, I have been soldering wires in various forms for several decades and have more scars from burns from the standard pencil irons than I care to admit to. But a year or so ago I came across the slickest most friendly soldering iron I have used and I found it at Radio Shack. And the most beautiful feature is that I can pack it in my bike tool bag and solder wires on the side of the road or where ever I am. Here's a good Youtube video of it: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSwnMMTltT4]RadioShack butane iron: heat for heavy work - YouTube[/ame] Hope this helps, Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playboy Posted November 11, 2011 Share #25 Posted November 11, 2011 Well I guess that I now have two problems. Not enough tools and dirty wire what was that about the 12 dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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