On Sun, 07 Oct 2018 19:44:55 -0700, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

There's your problem. 15 watts is far too small for the heavy gauge
wire you're using. The pointed tip is too small to retain enough heat
to solder some of the larger parts in your photos. You also didn't
bother to disclose whether you're using a temperature controlled
soldering iron or a crappy wood burner. I'll guess(tm) a wood burner,
probably with unplated rusted iron tips that can't be cleaned, wetted,
or tinned.

These are just bog-standard soldering irons with no fancy temp control.
But their tips are in much better condition than you imagined above,
thankfully!


I had problems finding can type electrolytics so I used axial leaded
electrolytics as a substitute. They fit inside the old can, so I just
ripped out the guts from the defective capacitor and crammed the axial
caps inside. I used 85C caps which lasted about 6 months. I replace
them with 105C caps and they've been running for about 2 years.

Maybe it was the additional 'jacketing' that caused the issue? You'd be
trapping a layer of warm air in there causing a build up of heat, I'd
guess?

Thanks for the pep-talk btw. :-)



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