Soldering iron and tips

[Terry Toenges]

I'm fixing to jump into uncharted territory here and try to solder some little bitty wires. What do you guys use when soldering stuff to PCB boards? I have a Radio Shack soldering iron but I think it's too big. Like a little bitty tip maybe? Do they make those?  I have not done much soldering at all in my lifetime.
I took apart my wounded On30 Porter and I'm going to try to use the decoder, sound, and motor in my HO Lifelike Teakettle. I tried to put the Tea on the Porter chassis but that wasn't too good and this will work out better I hope.
Since I took the big motor out of the Tea, I should have room for the Porter motor and electric stuff. I'll cut the front of the boiler off the Porter so I'll have the headlight and wires intact and put that on the Tea chassis. I'm only using the old Tea body for now to see if it can be done. I have a new Tea to use if it can.

---------------------

------------------------

-------------------------------------

-------------------------------------

---------------------------------------

[Len]

I use one of these Weller soldering irons for PCB and decoder work. The temperature range is variable from 5-40 watts and there's a built in iron stand. There's also a set of different size and shape tips available for different jobs.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=Wahl+25W+soldering+iron&qid=1612564349&sr=8-5

Len

[Hunt]

Terry,
The soldering iron I use cost more than you need to spend.  The Weller WLC100 Len uses is one you should compare to any another iron 40 Watt in your price range being considered.

Solder - suggest using Kester "44" Sn63 Pb37, .015" diameter Rosin-core solder. Kester part number 24-6337-0007

Most important with your heath condition,  time soldering must be limited and only done in a very well ventilated work area.

[jward]

I also use a Weller I got at Lowes. It came with a variety of tips, the two I use most are a chisel tip, handy for building switches, and a pinpoint tip that would be good for what you want to do. I also use silver solder, which has a stronger bond than regular rosin core solder, though it's a bit more expensive. Do NOT use acid core solder. It is not intended for electrical work.

[rich1998]

I have been using a Weller WLC-100 soldering station for some years with plated wedge tip and fine pointed plated tip. No filling needed. I use Cardas Quad Eutectic Silver solder from Amazon for many years.

Edit> What I liked about the Cards is that is went from liquid to solid faster than any other solder. It is used in high end audio devices last I read.
An Optivisor helped a lot. for close work.
Rich

[jonathan]

Here's another two cents worth:

For fine solder work, I use a 15 watt iron with fine tip--looks like a sharpened pencil.  With that iron, I've soldered some really small stuff, like bonding magnet wire to surface mount LEDs... tiny is an understatement.

Probably a matter of what you get used to.  I use a standard radio shack 25 watt iron for everyday wiring and trackwork.  'nuff said.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Terry Toenges]

Thank you all for the responses.
I was already looking at that WLC 100 on Amazon.  I see there is also a tip assortment I can buy extra.
The solder that I have right now is Radio Shack High Tech Rosin-Core Silver Bearing  .022 dia. solder. I'll look at the kester solder, too. The .015 would be better I think.
Thank you Hunt for also reminding me of my limitations. I was looking at some of those butane pens and miniature torch things. I wasn't thinking. I can't be using anything with an open flame with me on oxygen. I can't even Bar-B-Que anymore or have candles in the house. We usually have my daughter or SIL do the bbq. We have all electric in the house so no pilot lights or gas stove.
Only soldering I'll be doing is the motor wires to the board and the wiper wires. I'm trying to keep all the wires intact.
I want to put on a rear light like I had on the old one if I can. I just had that hooked to the headlight. Maybe I can figure how to do it as a backup light and solder that.
I figure I might as well use the guts from the Porter since I already have it and a new Teakettle only cost me $35. I have to enlarge the hole in the Tea motor base so the new one sits low enough to mesh. The Porter has a smaller gear so the Tea will be lower geared but not as much top end. It's way too fast on the top end anyway as it is.
I can't figure out to how to get the front step board (or that back piece) off the Porter. I have removed all the screws I could find. I looked at the diagram and still can't figure it out.
I'm sure uncertain about trying this with the soldering part but I won't know if I don't try. I want to do the Tea for sentimental reasons because that was my first steam loco but I want to start with a fresh body and have the DCC in it too. I can change the cow catcher to step boards, add knuckle couplers front and back, add a different stack, cut the doors out, and put on a rear light like the old one.
Those are Arttista "S" Scale figures in there and they don't look oversized.

[rich1998]

When I use to solder with the WLC-100 I used the wedge tip at 75 and the pointed tip at 50 but practice with scrap material fist is always best but I have soldering since about forty years and came up though the ranks you might say. I was soldering to code 100 HO rails with the wedge. 50 might be a little high for PC board work but practice makes perfect. I used a scratch brush from Micro Mark.

Rich

[James in FL]

Terry,
No need to buy a new soldering station.
From a Goggle search, what you have is a 15W soldering iron.
That will work just fine for what you stated your intended purpose is, "little bitty wires" and "soldering stuff to PCB boards".
However, that tip will need some attention before you start.

Good luck

[rich1998]

Terry.
You will find the soldering station will be a worth while investment over time.
Many have and no filing of tips, ever.
I still have my old 90 watt soldering gun somewhere. I put a plated tip on it many years ago.

Rich

[Terry Toenges]

I ordered the WLC this morning and the extra tips. I ordered the .015 Kester solder.  
I see now in real fine print at the base of mine it says 15 watt. The last time I used it was probably about a year ago when I soldered a light wire that had come loose on a Lifelike Amtrak passenger car.
Since people do solder stuff this little when they install decoders, I know it can be done. It's just intimidating to me. I'll definitely practice first.

[rich1998]

You should do ok with a little practice.

Rich

[jward]

Tin the bare wire and you should be fine.

[Fred Klein]

Terry,

I've owned the WLC 100 for several years and am very happy with it. The only thing I did was to order the pencil tip at the same time. All of the other tips that came with the set are resting comfortably in the bottom of my tool drawer. At the time I purchased the soldering station, I was working in N scale and the pencil tip was perfect for everything I did. Now that I've switched to On30, I find that it is still my go-to tip and has handled everything I've thrown at it, from soldering rail joiners to installing decoders on PCB boards.

Even though I'm a retired electrical engineer, I still learned something new recently from David Popp on MRVP and that is to use some additional flux, besides what is in the solder, and your soldering jobs will go so much smoother. Just goes to show, you're never too old to learn. I use SRA rosin paste flux #135 (Amazon) and apply it with a toothpick - a little goes a long way. You definitely want to use a non-acidic flux for soldering anything electronic. Anyway, after I started using the flux, all of my soldering went a lot better and used a lot fewer "colorful" words.  Hope this helps.

[rich1998]

I have used Rosin flux since I started soldering in 1955 and brushed with alcohol after.

Rich