Soldering iron bits

Badly.

Antex actually. I had three irons. One was a huge thging te size of a squirrele with a 1/2" diameter copper bit. Then I had something in the

40-60W range, then I had a 25W antex.

I had to wait 5 minutes between jonts with the antex if it was a big lump of copper to be soldered.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher
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I did fine in the 60s. I did have a problem in the 50s but that was just because my dad didn?t realise that with those mains powered soldering irons, that you had to leave them on all the time. Once I worked that out, it was fine.

I hardly ever had a big lump of copper to solder.

Reply to
Aaron

I blame the aunts. Fed up blaming the parents and/or the Government.

;O)

Reply to
soup

Never had to do that as such but have soldered big stuff (like putting a lug on the end of a 200A 3 phase SWA) and used a blowlamp. ;-)

Dad also had a 120W iron that had a tip as big as the ones you put in the fire and I have use that for 'big stuff' over the years (again, when you want to get some heat into a job 'quickly').

Ah, I had to do that loads of times with filters in 300 Baud modems for BT. The soldering the lid was easy, the de-soldering less so (without cooking the contents of the filter). ;-(

Agreed. I actually assembled an active constant current load kit yesterday on my new_to_me / repaired soldering station. I kept tweaking the temperature up until I could solder a component nearly instantly (touch iron tip on pad and leg as I introduce solder to the combo).

I still have (and use) my (50W?) Weller temperature controlled soldering station from when I was at BT (so 40 years ago) and have repaired it a couple of times along the way (the last being a new tube).

I think this new_to_me station (with hot air reflow gun) can run a couple of different power irons and I might get a different one as a spare / alternative (for bigger or smaller jobs). [1]

I still have one and also find it invaluable if 1) you want something quite powerful or 2) as you say, need to work away from mains (like when soldering up vehicle stuff). I dare say a battery iron could also be good but I'm not sure you could charge one as fast as you can re-gas a gas iron. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] The station / iron can have fume extraction but the PO removed it. I might re-instate it so at least I *can* use it if I feel the need.
Reply to
T i m

What I don't like is that they don't seem to show the bits or what bits are availible who's interested in the internal workings, it's not something you need to show off. The poorer irons have their temperature sensors far from the tip so don't regulate as well as you might expect. I've no idea what any of these irons on eBay are like they might be fine. But then I'm not really an ebay fan but I was on it last night checking for a wine rack to hold beer bottles.

Reply to
whisky-dave

Things were a lot easier to solder then partly because they were larger in size. We've gone from a pin spacing of about 5mm now we use a microscope and have pin spacing of 1m or less. 2.54mm being the largest spacing.

Those were the days, and you could stand a few granite pillars in a field and put a lintel on top up and call it an astronomical observatory !.

Reply to
whisky-dave

Why not blame BREXIT ?

Reply to
whisky-dave

Very true. But then components were very much larger than now.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yes - I got my first Antex in the 60s. Had rather an appetite for elements, though.

I stuck with Antex - but low voltage temperature controlled. They suited my fingers rather better than the industry standard Weller of then.

Not really looked at what's around today, as still happy with Antex. Until spares become a problem.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

On 18:53 5 Nov 2018, Brian Reay wrote in news:prq3jf$fng$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Here's one shipped from the UK.

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How do they make this stuff so cheaply? I hope they don't have a tendancy to burst into flames like those Chinese USB power supplies used to.

Reply to
Pamela

Conversation just now with my son. His strides into my workshop with a proprietorial air and steals a new condition storage box. Me: "Oi! I'll want that back!" Son grunts. Me: "I suppose I'll get it back when you put my ashes in it." Son: "No, it's too good for that. That'll be an old cardbox box."

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

Bottle conditioned beer needs to be stored upright. Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

I don't have that at home, the beer I do get is always stored on supermarket shelves & upright, spitfire, hobgoblin, ESB, ghost ship, old percular, abbots ale, bishops finger, frusty ferret, bombadier.

Reply to
whisky-dave

I'm cautious with USB PSUs as I know the design theory. The Ikea ones are good but my favourites are Anker. Not cheap but worth it.

As for the soldering irons. I've looked inside mine and the quality looks pretty good.

My 93? type iron is similar to the one in the link but has a hot air gun as well. I forget the exact brand, Y something I think.

The thing with that style is being sure which elements it uses- there are several types which look the same but aren't compatible. Of course, you could just replace the whole thing.

As for price, the last time I bought and Antex, a long time ago, it was about £15.

Reply to
Brian Reay

These are nice, and frequently on sale at about £30.

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Reply to
dennis

I've still got one (125W). The handle is wood!

It used to belong to my Grandfather, and he died in '83... It doesn't get a lot of use mind.

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

I've got assorted Solons upto 125w plus their predecessor. I'm certainly grateful not to be soldering with a copper lump with a wooden handle on a gas ring. But it is doable.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Yeah, this one is the same Andy (I think it's painted black). The electric 'hot knife' also has a wooden handle but is varnished. ;-)

No but they are often those things that can be dragged out once_in_a_blue moon and (still) provide excellent service.

I think I last used Dads (now mine) for soldering tags on the end of sub-C nicads to make an RC electric car main pack.

Give the iron a good while to get to full temp, make sure the tags and battery ends are clean and fluxed and hit the tag and battery with the iron and solder fast and then get the iron off. Not as good as spot welding probably but I didn't have one of those and the batteries never seemed to suffer?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

They are all second rate, irrevocably spoiled by filtering, pasturisation, and carbonisation.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

Well you obviously didn't do much electronics with war surplus stuff..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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