Best soldering iron???

[Sumner]

I have ....



.... 3 of the irons above and love them.  Extra tips of various shapes are cheap and last a long time.  They are listed as 60 watt with variable temps and go up to 450c/840f.  Not sure what their actual temperature is but solder virtually everything, decoders, electrical projects, throttles and build turnouts with them, all at max temp.  I just vary the time I'm on a solder joint from a second to several seconds depending on how small the items I'm soldering are. 

I'm a firm believer in using a good flux, clean the tip with tip cleaner and a sponge between almost every solder joint.  The tip should be shiny for each solder joint.  Also get on and off as soon as the solder has flowed for a second (no cold solder joints).  This transfers much less heat to anything other than the solder joint which can be a problem using too low of a heat.  Make sure you can see the solder joint well enough to see the solder flow between what you are soldering.

More info on what I use for irons (links to the ones above), flux and solder and a cheap soldering/cleaning station here....

https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Servo%20Control/page-7-b.html

Sumner

[peteski]

At over 800 deg. F you can lift (delaminate) the copper pads off the PC board.  When using standard electronic 63/37 (Sn/Pb) solder 700 is plenty hot. 650 is even safer. However nowadays most electronic circuits are soldered using Lead-free solder, which melts at higher temps than the 63/37 solder.  For soldering any of the existing solder on decoders I crank the iron temperature to about 740.  But with any new soldering on the board I use the 63/37 solder.

[ednadolski]

What do you use to keep all your soldering stuff organized?   wire/paste solders, tip cleaner, tip tinner, flux(es), tips, etc?

I have the typical bench top mess -- crap everywhere, iron wires dragging over stuff, always having to hunt or reach for things, etc.  I have seen a few caddy/organizers/mats on Amazon and I was wondering if anyone has any particular faves.

Ed

[Tad_T]

"Buss" is also an affectionate nickname for a small child in the southern United States. When my daughter was little, that's what my mother-in-law called her. My mother-in-law was from Arkansas.

Doug

That’s taken from being kissable.

Grew up partly in Arkansas, mother’s family is all from there.

Tad

[peteski]

What do you use to keep all your soldering stuff organized?   wire/paste solders, tip cleaner, tip tinner, flux(es), tips, etc?

I have the typical bench top mess -- crap everywhere, iron wires dragging over stuff, always having to hunt or reach for things, etc.  I have seen a few caddy/organizers/mats on Amazon and I was wondering if anyone has any particular faves.

Ed

Keep things organized? If that's directed at me, that's funny. Here's my workbench (as discussed in this thread ). 



Well, the soldering iron stand is hidden by the blue nitrile gloves in this photo.  That stand also contains a tip cleaner (looks like bunch of curly metal shavings), and moist sponge.  The black wire over the gloves is coming from the soldering iron.

The items like solder, flux and solder wick are in random locations on the workbench.  Spool of solder is right next to the tips of the caliper,  and small container of flux paste has a white lid with a small orange plastic applicator taped to the lid with a piece of blue masking tape) is between the 2 small upside down amber glass cups. Solder wick is likely under the pile of stuff or maybe back in the drawer in the storage unit over the  work surface.