Soldering Iron gas or electirc

[asbo1991]

Hi all

 

as per title can you let me gas or electric and where you buy them from?

[Sitting Duck]

well this ain't bad for starters...

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-920c-89-9203-bs-plug/soldering-kit/dp/SD01157?mckv=KVVcLu8u&CMP=CPC-PLA

 

something like that will do ya proud, wouldn't use more than 20amp for intricate console work

but for airsoft a 30w is ideal for deans & trigger switch stuff

the "grease" I think they refer to is flux which helps though most decent solder has a trace of this in

but still good to have use - dab some on, wipe off excess - you don't pile it on or you get yellow joints

then the flux helps to draw the solder to the contact/wire - and solder sticks to solder like $hit to a blanket

 

Most of the soldering nightmares is down to a few things....

Wrong iron/tip/wattage - I welded a psx coz I was using a 50w chisel tip - not wise

intricate work need fine tip low wattage & decent low temp solder (get in quick & solder & get the hell out without melting)

airsoft is nothing like that so 30w is fine

 

Solder - decent solder is a must - intricate stuff you want low melt temp solder on consoles & SMD work

Airsoft you will be ok with most half decent stuff - but avoid poundland crap ffs

think most of that is for industrial MIG welding or something

 

practice & common sense - a mini vice or helping hands to hold deans steady so you can solder on wires

or at a real push locking pliers/molegrips taped to table holding deans or desperately tape the deans to bench

freeing up your hands so you can neatly affix the wire onto the connector

(or smother it in tons of silver metal and still don't hold - flux helps)

hold wire in place, ttzzzz pull iron away but keep the wire steady as it cools and sets

 

Job done - half decent stuff, bit of practice, take time & get prepared shaping & tin the wires etc...

piece of cake once you get ya head around it

 

Airsoft is a little more forgiving than consoles & other intricate stuff

I'm no expert - I'm not that great at soldering but honestly airsoft soldering is fairly straight forward in the end

[asbo1991]

28 minutes ago, Sitting Duck said:

well this ain't bad for starters...

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-920c-89-9203-bs-plug/soldering-kit/dp/SD01157?mckv=KVVcLu8u&CMP=CPC-PLA

 

something like that will do ya proud, wouldn't use more than 20amp for intricate console work

but for airsoft a 30w is ideal for deans & trigger switch stuff

the "grease" I think they refer to is flux which helps though most decent solder has a trace of this in

but still good to have use - dab some on, wipe off excess - you don't pile it on or you get yellow joints

then the flux helps to draw the solder to the contact/wire - and solder sticks to solder like $hit to a blanket

 

Most of the soldering nightmares is down to a few things....

Wrong iron/tip/wattage - I welded a psx coz I was using a 50w chisel tip - not wise

intricate work need fine tip low wattage & decent low temp solder (get in quick & solder & get the hell out without melting)

airsoft is nothing like that so 30w is fine

 

Solder - decent solder is a must - intricate stuff you want low melt temp solder on consoles & SMD work

Airsoft you will be ok with most half decent stuff - but avoid poundland crap ffs

think most of that is for industrial MIG welding or something

 

practice & common sense - a mini vice or helping hands to hold deans steady so you can solder on wires

or at a real push locking pliers/molegrips taped to table holding deans or desperately tape the deans to bench

freeing up your hands so you can neatly affix the wire onto the connector

(or smother it in tons of silver metal and still don't hold - flux helps)

hold wire in place, ttzzzz pull iron away but keep the wire steady as it cools and sets

 

Job done - half decent stuff, bit of practice, take time & get prepared shaping & tin the wires etc...

piece of cake once you get ya head around it

 

Airsoft is a little more forgiving than consoles & other intricate stuff

I'm no expert - I'm not that great at soldering but honestly airsoft soldering is fairly straight forward in the end

Cheers Duck,

 

Thank for the guide above have done a fair amount of soldering in the past just never was the best at it and am definitely out of practice.

 

Tried my hand at airsoft soldering but have crap soldering iron so makes my work seem even worse all though the solder might not be the best for that matter.

 

so you would say electric then yeah?

[Sitting Duck]

yup electric - gas goes in ya pistol

I mean gas is cool & handy perhaps but most use a mains soldering iron think

(just easier & got a couple of 'em diffent tips/condition & a 20w plus a 30w or something)

Gas well if you want but not a must tbh...

suppose you could say if a deans connector fell of at a site a gas could solder it back on

but then 2 things I could argue:

 

1 - there are 12v soldering irons for car use - though take a while to warm up

2 - you didn't solder it on properly in the first place - get somebody else to do it

(it should stay put if done correctly is what I'm meaning)

 

Don't sweat it - all done to practice & experience like most crap in life

watch anybody who is a pro or damn bloody good at something

NOT ME BTW I'm crap at most stuff a trainee apprentice you could say...

 

Watch anybody who knows their stuff - a plasterer skimming a great big wall, an artist or other stuff

 

Cor - that looks easy others might think

Nope - they are THAT damn good at it they make it LOOK easy

I often watch really good players from the dead zone and fully get why I'm in the zone and they are still on the field

 

half decent stuff is fine - bit of practice and it will all fall into place

 

flux helps though the solder in this deal is too bloody thin for airsoft - ok for console but too thin AEG...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electronic-Solder-Flux-Paste-40g-3m-Fine-low-melting-pt-solder-wire-for-50p/121029581296?_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D1ede45732d1749a68d1ce4d4a1a1d7b2%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D48%26sd%3D141490692497

 

you might have had higher melting point solder and a low wattage iron

so it wouldn't have reached a high enough temp to properly melt quickly and make contact

moved the wire before cooling or just crap stuff all round

 

console stuff using chisel tip 50w iron any old wire that burnt back so easily = disaster

kynar, flux/flux pen, fiberglass pen to clean contacts, low temp solder, low watt iron - walk in the park

(forget the above list - just a demo of sometimes the stuff used can make big difference)

 

half decent solder - probably the kit one will be fine & light smidge of flux - job done

(flux is your friend and likely to be included in kit as "soldering grease" wtf ???)

 

just buy the kit & you will be fine I'd say with a bit of practice

[Hangtight]

I do all my soldering with an Antex Gascat 75, but only because that's what I happen to have. Works for me, but honestly a proper solder station with variable output would be a better bet. For Airsoft stuff a medium chisel tip will get pretty much everything done, but it can be a bit chunky when trying to do signal wires on trigger contacts.

You want enough heat output that you can get solder to flow quickly on whatever you're soldering. Big battery wires and Deans connectors will pull a lot of heat out of the iron and you need to be able to get the workpiece hot enough to get the solder to flow over the whole joint.

Buy a pot of red jelly flux, make sure surfaces to be soldered are clean and grease free and practise.

[mintsauce5]

I use an antex 25w , not the most powerful but does the trick with some decent solder and flux where needed , soldered quite a few deans onto guns and batteries now :-) mines this one 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Antex-XS25-S-25-W-Soldering-Iron/122308660154?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151005190540%26meid%3Dd00447e335fa412c86a803a6b50da35d%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

[Iceni]

I've got one of these.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-mains-lcd-solder-station-a55kj

You can normally find them a fair bit cheaper than that price. I got mine from Maplin on offer a few years ago for £30.

The heat up time from cold is seconds. Meaning you end up switching it off a lot more when you solder.
The display displays real time tip temps. So you can see instantly if you are too cool after cleaning the tip.
Parts are pretty easy to find. You can get new elements, new full irons with cable, new tips without having to search overly far.
The tips are tool free to install. And take seconds to change.

Preset temps are really useful.
I have one for eutectic solder, One for regular leaded, and a hotter preset for de-soldering.

If you fancy a gamble there are some very similar units on ebay at good prices. Just make sure they have a returns policy and offer a guarantee.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KATSU-936-Digital-Electronic-Soldering-Rework-Station-60W-312087-/291975166952?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60W-Soldering-Iron-Station-6-Tips-Lead-Free-Kit-ESD-Safe-Digital-Display/310770328361?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140328180637%26meid%3De9db5e52c48a48d3b1bcef7ac3f4ae51%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D291975166952

 

 

For getting the best results stump up for some Eutectic solder. 63 37 grade is what I normally use. It goes from liquid to hard instantly at a set temp normally (183 Celsius) for that mix. So provided you don't overheat the parts you will get joints that set instantly. Again the digital solder station lets you set the temp 5 Celsius over the eutectic point (188 Celsius) so you have a really short freeze time, and no mushy phase. It'll also stop you cooking components. Thicker components may need more heat than 188 so you get more heat in faster. You also pick the soldering tip to match the weight of the part been soldered. So a deans is going to need a thicker tip that holds more energy, and a slightly higher temp probably 200 so you don't need to dwell on the part for too long.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcingmap-0-8mm-200G-Rosin-Soldering/dp/B015DLWY4A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1490304101&sr=8-4&keywords=63%2F37+solder

60 40 is aright in a pickle and Draper tools have a roll that is this mix that is normally available anywhere they sell tools (halfords) It doesn't have a flux core so if you use this stuff you will need a flux. Oddly when I use this stuff it's for motorbike/car electrics and generally use an acid plumbers flux (la-co standard), It's messy and needs cleaning afterwards or you will see copper leaching and verdegris but on thicker wires, or when making an earthing block/power split block with a blow torch it's a much cheaper solution than rosin. And far better at dealing with grease and dirt. 60 40 needs more heat than 63 37 and has a slight mushy phase so if you are using it for electronics you need to make sure the parts are well held so they don't move upon freezing.

Lead free is for plumbers. Avoid it it's awful for electrics. It often has a wide freezing point that makes it unreliable, and has a hotter melt temp so you will have more chance of heat damaging parts. If you have some cheap solder kicking about the best bet is to look on the solder wiki, find the mixture and write the melt, freeze temps ranges on the spindle.

Provided you stick with no clean fluxes you should be good, basic gel or liquid rosin on clean connections and clean wire is more than enough for good flow.

As flux gets more aggressive for re flow work it tends to get acidic and have a clean warning. While these fluxes are more powerful and will make the solder flow really well you shouldn't be using them on electronics unless you have really crusty connections. And then afterwards you will have to clean them or risk long term damage to the connections.

Gold/silver leaching. This happens when the solder dissolves the precious metals and they move into the solder puddle. It's not something you need to really worry about with deans and air-soft connectors as our connections tend to be plated over copper. If however you plan to solder circuit boards then you need to be careful with the solder grade you pick. Silver trace PCB's that have no copper backing are especially vulnerable to this as the wrong solder will dissolve the trace and ruin the board. In this instance you need to have a solder with some of the precious metal already dissolved in the solder stock to preserve the traces. If in doubt give the connectors a quick scrub with an abrasive pencil. If the contacts start to go copper coloured then you should be aright with regular 63 37.