Soldering revisited

I've got a tub of that stuff, also about 40 years old, perhaps its from the same shop :-)

Not what I'd do...

Clean the iron in use with a wet sponge by wiping the hot iron on the sponge prior to every operation. Sponges are usually fitted below a typical soldering iron stand. Its the water which cleans the iron, the sponge just holds the water.

If the iron is really filthy.... Try to clean it by working it around in a pool of solder, then remove the majority of the solder from the tip using unsoldering braid (*) or onto some scrap etch. If that fails, try solder cleaner (tiny tub of stuff which seems to be a mix of flux and solder). Cleaner usually works a bit, but eventually the soldering tip is knackered and its time to replace the tip.

(* Either bought from (eg) Maplins. Or, DIY unsoldering braid is made from multi-strand mains wire. Strip the insulation off a few inches, lightly twist and then fluff apart the strands, put a bit of flux on the wire. Use to "suck up" excess solder).

I assume you know you should clean parts immediately prior to soldering - use abrasive of choice, be it fine wet&dry, Garryflex block, nail polishing stick, fibre-glass pencil (last resort IMHO because of the glass fibre splinters).

When using solder paste (I use the Carr's product sometimes), you should be careful to wash parts afterwards. I try to wash with cream cleaner (Cif/Jif) and scrub with an old wet toothbrush, before thorough washing/rinse in water. I do this at the end of any building session. If you don't wash, the flux in the paste will corrode and form a nasty white powdery surface over your model. Also, keep solder paste away from your best metal tools, or if they get near the stuff (including any spray from the soldering action), clean the tools thoroughly. Otherwise they will rust very quickly and cease to be "best tools".

If the paste gets a bit thick (it usually does due to evaporation), then let it down with a few drops of (ideally distilled) water. I do mean drops of water, not even a thimble full ! Stir thoroughly with a cocktail stick and it should go back to the nice easy to manage liquid.

I find that thin multi-core works well for many applications (in reels from Maplins). I also use Carr's stick solder (the green 188C stuff is the main one) combined with liquid acid flux brushed on with an old paintbrush or a cocktail stick. This flows nicely into a very thin layer - no good for filling in any gaps, but ideal on decent etches which fit properly. I sometimes use paste where it feels appropriate, particularly track construction. Paste is good for getting small amounts of solder under small parts. Though with practise I find I can pickup equally small parts of solder from a stick. If I want tiny amounts of solder, I slice *tiny* bits off the end of stick solder with a knife.

In theory one shouldn't change solder types on the same tip. You end up with a wierd cocktail of solder which is probably a combination of the worst aspects of all the constituent parts. In practice, I find that most medium-high temperature solders are fine on the same iron (solder paste,

188, 226). I keep different tips for occaisional forrays into low-melt solders, but generally avoid such stuff, and don't need to solder whitemetal very often. (Almost all decent 2mm kits are now etched, even the springs/axle boxes come from multi-layers of etch. There are some whitemetal detailing parts, but I usually glue those on at the end of construction).

Dunno, I just like the Antex ones so stick with them.

If you like Weller, I can't think of a reason not to use them. There is a logic to using one size of soldering iron tip system (if possible) as it reduces the numbers of types of spare tip you need to keep around.

Don't be stingy on tips - when they are worn and don't work (not surprising with acidic fluxes flying around), its time to change them rather than struggling along with a corroded piece of rubbish.

- Nigel

And I always thought it was the sponge and the water to stop the sponge burning

Don't be tempted to use a file/scraper to clean the bit, as most soldering iron bits are copper coated with iron/nickel to prolong their life. The moment you damage the coating, the copper will quickly corrode when used with acidic fluxes.

Cheers, Mick

Chris,

Use a bit of *natural* sponge damped with water. Don't use plastic sponge or you can get a nasty burnt mess.

If you're feeling brave, use your finger. It a bit like passing your finger through a candle flame - flick it quickly across the tip and it doesn't hurt :-) That;s the way my father did it and I learned from him. It was only years later that I saw people using a damp sponge :-)

Jim.

Chris,

I meant to add this to the previous message.

Your flux is probably Fluxite which was a favourite for many years and is pretty good. It doesn't leave a corrosive residue, so is good for trackwork, etc., but the residue does need to be cleaned off if paint is going to be applied. Hot water and a tooth brush are usually sufficient.

I couldn't find any Fluxite locally, but picked up some Templer Telux Flux which I've also found to be very good, with no nasty after effects from any residues. I got mine in the local B&Q but here's their web site.

Jim.

Whenever I've seen Fluxite used for trackwork, unless cleaned off the whole thing turns green (verdigris?). I believe a suitable substitute these days is Powerflo - in a yellow container.

I tend to stick with phosphoric acid based fluxes for general etched brass/whitemetal work, making sure that the kit gets a quick swill in at least water after every session and also a scrub with mild detergent every few sessions.

If I'm putting together the basic shell/chassis, then I try to use Multicore cored electrical solder with the non-corrosive flux, (200+ melting point) then add details using 188 or 145 solder with externally applied flux. Although the best solder I've got is sold as "low melting point" from Multicore with a MP of 188 deg C. It contains silver which acts as a wetting agent and with extra flux it is simply superb for long runs between two pieces of brass. Expensive, but very, very good.

My weapons of choice are an Antex 660TC soldering station with TC 50 iron and an Antex TCS50 in my toolbox that goes to club nights. At least the Antex irons have the bits that fit over the heating element and not inside them, thus being less efficient at heat transfer.

Cheers, Mick

Mick,

I've never seen that with the Fluxite I have used, but the tin was about thirty years old. It could be that they have changed the formula to work with leadless solders for plumbing work, because I have had that same problem with another flux which was designed for leadless solder plumbing work.

As a result, I got the Telux flux to try, I built up a brass chassis for a six wheel coach and intentionally left a lot of flux residue around and left it on a shelf. I checked it months later and nothing had started to form or to react. Now, some years later, the chassis is still clean of after effects - just checked it again ;-).

Jim.

Just to add to that bit, Brian Lewis' (man behind C&L and Carrs, for those who may not know) recomendation is to use a 50/50 mixture of his Cleaner Degreaser and water. Dip the tip into this, then wipe on a sponge wetted with the same mixture. He also (helpfully) tells you not to dip the whole iron into the mixture!

I haven't tried this myself, just offering it as another solution, if you'll pardon the pun! What I do myself is to use the tip cleaner tins, but make sure the tip is cleaned with the wet sponge afterwards to remove the residue from the tip cleaner.

Just to add to that bit, Brian Lewis' (man behind C&L and Carrs, for those who may not know) recomendation is to use a 50/50 mixture of his Cleaner Degreaser and water. Dip the tip into this, then wipe on a sponge wetted with the same mixture. He also (helpfully) tells you not to dip the whole iron into the mixture!

I haven't tried this myself, just offering it as another solution, if you'll pardon the pun! What I do myself is to use the tip cleaner tins, but make sure the tip is cleaned with the wet sponge afterwards to remove the residue from the tip cleaner.

Nigel,

... and Mick, Jim, Paul and any others who've very k> > Hi Folks,

..

with a

Also advertised as a cure for warts, bunions and Chesty coughs, as an animal feed and disinfectant :-)

cleaning your

Sorted.

Just to make clear, when I was talking about "cleaning the iron" what I meant was preparing to work with it and just before putting it away. I was taught by my dad (all those years ago) to give the iron a dip in this flux/rosin before and after use to clean it prior to use and to ensure it was clean before it was put away (no contaminates on the iron)

As for cleaning *in use* then yes, I do use a damp sponge/piece of damp rag.

...

Cheers this is a trick I already knew (from wiring electronics) ... never heard of solder cleaner though.

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I did but as always reminders are very helpful ... point of fact I'd been using wet/dry paper and a small brass brush however last week I got a fibreglass pencil (complete with refils and a brass refil) togethr with some other odds and sods ... great for those small corners.

Cleaning after use ... it's only really recently dawned on me just how different the various Carrs fluxes are compared to the paste I was using, thanks for emphasising my need to clean the work on finishing for the day.

Yes, for "plain" brass it appears to work very well.

...>

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And again thanks for the "tips" on tips, no one appears to have come forward to say "never buy Weller" so I think that I'll stick with them.

Don't have the time to reply to everyone's comments individually but please be assure that they've all been carefully read and I am grateful for your time.

Tips for fibreglass pencils:

1) only use as last resort (because of the splinters). 2) do the rubbing over a piece of kitchen paper. As soon as you finish with the fibreglass pencil, brush any waste onto the paper and throw the paper away with the splinters inside it. 3) if you do get a splinter in a finger, use selotape to pull it out.

- Nigel

As always cheers ...

Out of interest I tried my new "Solder Paint" (again from Carrs) for the first time last night to do a bit of laminating (buffer beams and rods) ... so damned easy!

Chris,

Note that you might have to use the Carrs neutralising solution after using the solder paint since it uses quite an aggressive flux which can cause oxidisation. It's probably not a great problem with external model platework where you can clean of any residues fairly easily, but I've got a set of scratchbuilt mild steel buffers on an S scale 3F on which the 188 solder paint was used and they keep seizing up with oxidisation. I've cleaned them and dunked them in neutralising solution several times, but to no avail.

The solder creams that C&L sell do have fluxes which cause no long term problems, but they come at a much higher cost than the paints.

Jim.

Aren't the fluxes are acidic?

If so a dunk in sodium bicarbonate solution (followed by water) may be an inexpensive way of preventing unwanted oxidation.

Ah I wondered why the price difference ... paste was my first choice but I opted for paint for my first "experiment" because of price.

Chris,

The main advantage of the solder creams is that they have a silver content which promotes a better flow into a joint when molten. If you've ever worked with silver solder, you'll know that it flashes along a joint when the correct temperature is reached. You'll find that the solder cream works in much the same way. The trouble free flux is a bonus.

Jim.

If you dip your fibreglass pencil into water you don't get splinters. Just rinse them away when you are done.

Actually I use meths and water because it will desolve the Powerflow flux I use.