Joe Zullo said:
David Maynard said:
Sister Mary Bruno didn’t understand, she just called me lazy, and broke a few yardsticks across my hands.
I can relate to this… I attended a missionary school in 4th Grade in Quito, Ecuador …I understand a ruler on the palm can be very painful.
(On the OTHER hand, my best friend’s father had been eaten by the headhunters - sheesh…maybe I need therapy? (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif))
The flux keeps the metal clean.
Solder runs towards the heat, hard to push, easier to draw towards,
Fingers leave oils that stop solder from flowing…
Heat is your friend, too little and you’ll get frustrated.
This thread has been reported to the moderator by: ROOSTER…Is FLUX really necessary ?
Rooster ’ said:
This thread has been reported to the moderator by: ROOSTER…Is FLUX really necessary ?
Depends on your Flux Capacitor.
Yes
John Caughey said:
Rooster ’ said:
This thread has been reported to the moderator by: ROOSTER…Is FLUX really necessary ?
Depends on your Flux Capacitor.
Yes
Since Rooster is always in Flux except when he’s not Yes it is necessary (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Eric Mueller said:
David,
Thanks. Part of the issue is my soldering iron is, in fact, nearing end of service life. I’ve been dithering on getting a new one, as I really don’t use it that often. To be fair, it is a reinforcing loop of stupid: I am not good at it so I don’t do it so I don’t get a new one so I don’t take on new jobs so I remain not good at it… Time to break the loop. A nice soldering iron is on the post-COVID buy run.
As for flux. Oh. I assumed those coils that say you don’t need it meant I didn’t need it. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)Assume…a word comprised of “ass” and “me.” Thanks for that tip, too!
Aloha,
Eric
Ah, a new soldering iron? Gee, the one that I am using, I got so many years ago that I don’t even remember where and when I got it. Just as long as the tip is cleaned, tinned, and the thing still gets hot, it should work. As for flux, I use that to help the solder flow better. Yes, I have rosin core solder, and yes, in a perfect world, that will work fine without flux. You don’t want to use an acid flux, but a tiny bit of flux will help, and it certainly will not hurt anything.
But the bigger issue that I see is folks not tinning their wires. One member of the HO club was trying to solder a feeder wire to a rail, and he hadn’t tinned the wire, and he wasn’t using flux. He had to hold the iron into the rail for a long time, and he kept adding solder. The solder would ball up and drop off until enough rosin from the core of the solder got to the joint to clean the joint and join the wire and the rail. He melted several ties in the process.
I like soldering and I’m fairly good at it.
You don’t even want to see my pre 1970 Weller gun. Plug broke so another cord was spliced on. Dropped it and broke the case; electrical tape wrap holds it together. Probably related to the drop; it doesn’t heat unless the two rods are held apart, so a scrap of wood is jammed in there. I don’t use it often, but last month while I was using it to make up heavy cables for a 2000 watt inverter we were putting in a work truck, I decided it’s time to replace it! Still haven’t ordered it.
And my 1980’s radio shack pencils are getting worn out. Tips are galled in place so they can’t be changed.
But the resistance set I got used from Bruce still works fine. I just need more practice with it.
David,
My iron has one has a serrated tip. I took it in donation at the great price of “free.” If I were to file it to shape, would the thing still safely work? Or am I better off investing in a new one when I venture out to buy flux?
Thanks,
Eric
I have filed the tip on mine to reshape the tip, and mine still works. I bought some replacement tips for mine, but since I filed the tip of mine I see no need to replace the tip at this time. The tip on mine is bent, from being dropped years ago, but it still heats up just fine.
As for purchasing another one, I have a brand new one still in the package, just in case mine does die. Its always good to have a backup, especially now.
What I am saying is that sometimes people blame their tools, when the fact is they just need to learn how to do the job properly. I make no secret of the fact that I am cheep, so I don’t have expensive tools. But sometimes I can do the job better with my cheep tools then some people can do with their expensive tools, The club president I spoke of, has an expensive soldering station, with a digital readout of the iron’s temperature. During a work session, he gave up soldering in some slide switches. He said there was something wrong. Once I scraped the terminals clean, used a small bit of flux, and tinned the wires, I was able to solder the wires to the switches quickly and without issue.
OK, I don’t understand this “COVID boredom”. Anyone in this wide and varied hobby should never get bored. I’ve been retired for seven years and have yet to make a dent in getting projects done let alone have time to be bored. I can understand folks without hobbies getting bored during all of this but not hobbyists.
Eric Mueller said:
David,
My iron has one has a serrated tip. I took it in donation at the great price of “free.” If I were to file it to shape, would the thing still safely work? Or am I better off investing in a new one when I venture out to buy flux?
Thanks,
Eric
Yes you can file the tip smooth and flat, if there is any pitting or dark spots on the iron’s tip those areas will not transfere heat properly causing a poor or impossible job.
Understand that once you file the tinning off the tip (the shinny stuff) to bare metal it will not solder at all until re-tinned.
To tin the iron you need a good flux but should really use a product called Salammoniac, Heat the iron and rub it on the Sal block along with solder and the tip will become
tinned instantly.
Always keep the tip shinny with solder, wipe it off occasionally with a rag and don’t let the iron overheat, that burns up the tip and then you need to file and re-tin again
I always turn off the iron after each use then turn it back on and wait for heat up, sure it slows you down but not as much as filing and re-tinning or fighting a “dirty” iron does.
Gary Buchanan, FOG said:
OK, I don’t understand this “COVID boredom”. Anyone in this wide and varied hobby should never get bored. I’ve been retired for seven years and have yet to make a dent in getting projects done let alone have time to be bored. I can understand folks without hobbies getting bored during all of this but not hobbyists.
Bored, well not really. A case of cabin fever? For certain. I have not ventured beyond the mailbox at the curb in 2 weeks, and no further than a grocery store in 4 weeks. An Alice Cooper song comes to mind…
Gary Buchanan, FOG said:
OK, I don’t understand this “COVID boredom”. Anyone in this wide and varied hobby should never get bored. I’ve been retired for seven years and have yet to make a dent in getting projects done let alone have time to be bored. I can understand folks without hobbies getting bored during all of this but not hobbyists.
Bored, no not really. Tired of being cooped up in my house, yea…
Projects? Well, I am chipping away at them. I do some work on this one, then I do some work on that one, then I do some work on another one, then I …
I have also backed up all of the files on my computer, as well as opening it up and blowing all of the dust out of it.
Then there is the window that I broke.
That’s more like how it is lol
Jason
David, John, Jon, and Anyone Else I missed:
Thanks for the soldering help. I filed off the serrations, retinned it with the 60/40 solder on hand, remembered to tin both the wires and the soon to be attached LEDs, and, voila! I only had to redo one of four soldering points. Also, thanks for the help regarding the iron. Since I seem to be able to do basic repairs with what I have, I guess I can “solder on” with what’s on hand. Once everything opens up, I can get what I need to complete the repair to the tip per your guidance.
Aloha,
Eric
Glad you got it Eric. I was going to chime in but had nothing more to add that wasn’t already said. I have found clean is the key. I still get very frustrated trying to solder but I have gotten better.
Yes Eric, I am glad that you are on the way to improving your soldering skills. I used to be real good at soldering, because I used to get a lot of practice. Now I am sort of good, since I no longer stuff and solder circuit boards as part of my job.
Clean is one of the keys, like Devon said. And tinning the wires is another key. Components are already tinned, but their coating could have oxidized, so a bit of cleaning would not hurt component leads.
Gary Buchanan, FOG said:
OK, I don’t understand this “COVID boredom”. Anyone in this wide and varied hobby should never get bored. I’ve been retired for seven years and have yet to make a dent in getting projects done let alone have time to be bored. I can understand folks without hobbies getting bored during all of this but not hobbyists.
Perhaps not bored but in a Saabatical ? I have personally been on a few Saabaticals over the years
Rooster ’ said:
Gary Buchanan, FOG said:
OK, I don’t understand this “COVID boredom”. Anyone in this wide and varied hobby should never get bored. I’ve been retired for seven years and have yet to make a dent in getting projects done let alone have time to be bored. I can understand folks without hobbies getting bored during all of this but not hobbyists.
Perhaps not bored but in a Saabatical ? I have personally been on a few Saabaticals over the years
Yeah boredom maybe not the right word. I have way to many hobbies and have no clue what boredom is.
It’s the right word if your are staying in place 30 miles from your trains … trust me
