Soldering iron problems
 

Do some practicing with other things first. A few things:

- As someone pointed out, you may have lead-free solder, which has a higher
melting point. But you should use it for the repair, since the connector
probably has the same stuff already on it.

- There may be an invisible coating on the soldering iron tip, or it may not
be properly tinned. The last couple of mm of the tip should have a coating
of melted solder, applied by you.

- Some coaxial connectors have a nickel (?) coating that is hard to solder.
Using fine sandpaper on them really helps, as does a rotary wire brush.

Your soldering iron looks fine (low-end, of course). Is the tip tightly
attached? Try loosening and retightening the screw while it is hot (use
care).

Soldering iron problems
 

On Jun 12, 8:06 pm, "mc" wrote:
Do some practicing with other things first. A few things:

- As someone pointed out, you may have lead-free solder, which has a higher
melting point. But you should use it for the repair, since the connector
probably has the same stuff already on it.

- There may be an invisible coating on the soldering iron tip, or it may not
be properly tinned. The last couple of mm of the tip should have a coating
of melted solder, applied by you.

- Some coaxial connectors have a nickel (?) coating that is hard to solder.
Using fine sandpaper on them really helps, as does a rotary wire brush.

Your soldering iron looks fine (low-end, of course). Is the tip tightly
attached? Try loosening and retightening the screw while it is hot (use
care).

Mass is more important that wattage.

BH

Soldering iron problems
 

I'm just trying to desolder the existing joints at the moment.

Ah. They may have a clear plastic coating.

Your soldering iron looks fine (low-end, of course). Is the tip tightly
attached? Try loosening and retightening the screw while it is hot (use
care).

It's back in the packaging. :) Don't think swapping it for a 50W iron is
a
better idea? How about a flat tip instead of fine point?

30W is plenty for electronics; 15W would do.

Soldering iron problems
 

On Jun 12, 8:33 pm, Antony Gelberg wrote:
On 2007-06-13, BH wrote:





On Jun 12, 8:06 pm, "mc" wrote:
Do some practicing with other things first. A few things:

- As someone pointed out, you may have lead-free solder, which has a higher
melting point. But you should use it for the repair, since the connector
probably has the same stuff already on it.

- There may be an invisible coating on the soldering iron tip, or it may not
be properly tinned. The last couple of mm of the tip should have a coating
of melted solder, applied by you.

- Some coaxial connectors have a nickel (?) coating that is hard to solder.
Using fine sandpaper on them really helps, as does a rotary wire brush.

Your soldering iron looks fine (low-end, of course). Is the tip tightly
attached? Try loosening and retightening the screw while it is hot (use
care).

Mass is more important that wattage.

Mass of the tip, correct?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Correct