HI Steve

Steve Firth wrote:
wrote:

ALDI are about to do a soldering iron kit for £6 that includes an 80W
iron. I read somewhere that you need 120W so I guess 80W would be too
weak. Any thoughts?

You need a really, really, big soldering iron. The local lead specialist
uses one that looks like a small copper axe with (I think) a 500W
element. I've seen suggestions that the smallest iron to consider for
lead canes is 300W.

http://www.tracysworkshop.com/p-1571...ht-soldering-i
ron.aspx?currencysetting=gbp&affiliateid=10051

http://tinyurl.com/6nlk3o

About £100 or so.

Oh, here you go, one of the right type at a sensible price (£25). I'd
get one quick before they go back up to £100.

http://www1.westfalia.net/shops/tool...ng_equipment/s
oldering__hard_soldering/soldering_irons/239971-1_soldering_iron_300w.ht
m

http://tinyurl.com/56nydh

I'd say that the OP doesn;t need anything like that amount of power -
and is likely to do more harm than good with an over-powerful iron.

Some folks use a 200W iron with a 'dimmer'-type controller - but you
really should be able to manage with a 100W iron.

With a non-temp-controlled one you'll have to wait for it to heat up
in-between joints - but that's no big deal.

Apparently solder 'guns' won;t do the job because thay can't be operated
for long enough to get the heat into the work.

There's a fair chance that the lead is perished anyway - in which case a
simple job becomes a complicated one fairly quickly.

If he were to get a local expert round to give an estimate then he might
find that a re-build of the window was recommended. If the OP still
wants to go ahead with this then there's a fair investment in tools &
materials - and it'd be worth buying a piece of plain glass to fill the
'hole' while he dismantles / rebiulds the window at his leisure.

A photo of the window & the damage would be interesting...

Adrian