Soldering Iron for Computer Cables

[tony sayer]

In article , dave scribeth thus

Yep best Irons ever, hate to think what age ours actually are been around since the 80's at least!:))

Proper solder is around..

[John Stumbles]

No, but beer was nothing like £2 a pint when you or I were students either ;-)

I had (still have) a TCP with a 12V element (very handy for use away from mains) and for years had a spare element tucked away just in case. Eventually had to fit it and found that the new one was a different diameter so the sleeve which holds the bit on wouldn't fit :-(

[John Stumbles]

Pah - Johnny-come-lately! ;-)

Was using the TCP in the early '70s, and the miniature high-output versions with the curved bits for soldering thick-film stuff for jet enine controllers, when I did a stint at Lucas Aerospace.

[Adrian C]

5W and 200W are both strange examples to use in the context of general electronics work.

[Kevin]

is was a reply to "any soldering iron will work it does not have to be decent", it a bit like paint brushes or air brushes, one soldering iron is not a 1 stop for all jobs shop

[Ian White]

Their mistake. Maplin still haven't realised that they jumped to the wrong conclusions about 5 years ago. They are perfectly free to sell tin/lead solder to anyone, and most DIYers are perfectly free to use it.

Unleaded solder is *not* compulsory for anything that is not "placed on the market" within the specific legal definition of that term. See sections 1.15 and 2.1 of:

only exception is in repairing recent equipment that has already been placed on the market under these regulations, and therefore was "born lead-free". In that case, unleaded solder must be used for repairs. So even though a repair using tin/lead solder is easier, more likely to be successful, more likely to be reliable and more likely to save the item from going to landfill, I couldn't possibly advise you to do that :-)

Leaded solder is easily available from a wide variety of electronics suppliers in reasonably small quantities (for example, try

It's just Maplin that is out of step.

Antex have uprated their more recent irons from 15W to 18W to work better with unleaded solders. However, as a company they are still unduly fond of the skinny pencil-type bits which have about the worst possible heat transfer from the heating element to the work.

[Andrew Gabriel]

It was 49p a pint. Actually, I've never liked beer, but I did occasionally serve it in a student bar.

[Rod]

Youngster. 12p a pint for Fed keg.

Ah - you did say beer... :-)

[Frank Erskine]

Youngster too - I used to pay 1/5d (ca. 7p) a pint when I (legally) started drinking...

I was going to give it up when it became 2/- a pint, but you know how it is.

;-)

[geoff]

As in what I do ...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As I said before companies like Rapid have a minimum order value which is far more than a reel of solder - and I guess the OP is far more likely to just want a tube or card of the stuff. And I don't know of anywhere you can get that non mail order - certainly not the sheds etc. Screwfix don't sell it - although strangely they do still sell lead type for plumbing.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm feeling old. First pint I bought cost 1s 11d. That's just under 10p.

[Alan]

In message , Frank Erskine wrote

the days when breweries printed the list rather than a chalk board which can be changed every 5 minutes :)

[Ian White]

Fair point (and thanks for helping me notice that Rapid have increased their small order charge into the more normal £4-5 band).

But there are still small firms that supply small quantities with reasonable P&P charges. For example, see

and select Hardware from the drop-down list.

SOLDER 5 CORE FLUX 60% TIN, 40% LEAD

18SWG Approx. 5 mtrs £1.50 22SWG Approx. 10 mtrs £1.50

OK, that's expensive per metre, but such very small quantities always are. Alternatively:

500g reels 18SWG Approx. 60 mtrs £8.50 20SWG Approx. 106 mtrs £8.75 22SWG Approx. 170 mtrs £9.25

P&P £1.00 on the small quantity, £2.00 on a reel.

If the OP's Antex is well and truly bust, they sell those too.

It isn't reasonable to expect them to know about the right kinds of solder for DIY electronic construction or repair, as it's well outside their core business.

[S Viemeister]

Just under _5_p, I would have thought.

[Ron Lowe]

Seconded.

Yes, I have exactly the same, from the same era.

I bought it after doing a few weeks student's apprentice work at Ferranti in Edinburgh, before my 1st year uni. This was standard-issue there. They were so good compared to my previous one that I had one bought for me for xmas! It was around £50 at the time, as I recall, and quite a big ask!

I still have it, it's still my main soldering iron. I've got the usual bag of tips, for different temperatures, and different sizes. ( At my work, we use a lot of HMP solder. )

It's an older one who's transformer base station is wider than it is deep, with the iron connected by a 2-core cable to a pair of screw terminals, not one of the fancy 'cube with a sloping front' ones with a plug-in pencil. Nor does it have any digital fancyness. Just curie-effect magnetic thermostat.

It's probably my longest-serving piece of electronic kit, and I expect it to continue indefinately.

( Second is my AVO-8, but I don't use that much. I keep it as a museum piece. My work-a-day meter is my Fluke 87. )

[Chewbacca]

5 pints of real ale, a packet of crisps, a stripper and change from a £1 - what better way for a group of lads spending Sunday lunch time when you are 18......

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Frank Erskine saying something like:

Shortly after I started, it went from 1/6d to 1/10d a pint and that was bad enough, then in a couple of years it rose through two bob and hit 2 and a tanner. Calamity, on apprentice pay.

[Bob Eager]

How do you work that out? 10p was 'two shillings'...

[S Viemeister]

Perhaps my brain is tired - but 11d (eleven old pence)is 1d less than a shilling (12 old pence), and 5 New Pence was one shilling, wasn't it? So

- eleven old pence is just a bit less than 5 new pence.