Sorry if this has be covered before, I have no idea how to search past posts. I have a digital soldering station (cause it was cheaper than analog), my question is what temp should it be set at for hand laid track, rail to pcb tie? What temp for decoder wiring? thanks, thad
Not a bad question. I have asked it, too. AFAIK, there has been no answer here on TB. This question might be better in DCC and Soldering. I will leave this here and copy to DCC and Electronics, so you will have to check both locations for answers. (Keep working on how to search for answers. It will save a lot of time.) For myself, I set 425 degrees F for H0 scale decoder wiring using a 1/32 inch spade tip. (My station goes to 480F.) I felt that was better than 400F as it gave a higher temp and a faster solder joint. I have no experience with track soldering.
the rule of thumb is the hotter the better. That way you can get on and off the work quicker. Also you want to get yourself a set of heatsinks to keep the heat from wandering away from your worksite
Never heared of such a thing, though it seems to make a lot of sense. Anything you can recommend? A quick check showed lots of versions.
For track heatsinks this works really well. http://www.rodneysrrtools.com/n3n1info.html I just blazed through about 100 solder joints attaching feeders on my NTrak modules using one of these as the heat sink, barely an upset tie in the mix. Another benefit is that you can get the bottom scribed for parallel track spacing too!
The temperature is not as important as the technique. If you do it right, you don't need much heat, but just enough and no more. The best way to solder rail to PC ties is to use a paste flux (the old Radio Shack white tube was excellent, RIP) on the inside of the rail. Pre-tin your tip, then apply the iron to the outside of the rail. The inner flux should smoke right away, and bubble for a while. This part is the most important, it is the bubbling that will pull the solder under the rail, where it will actually do some good! Lift the iron after you see solder appear on the inside on the tie surface. LIFT UP RIGHT WAY, or in any event stop after 3 seconds to prevent delaminating the PC tie. If you need to try again, clean up the solder surface with 91% alcohol or a Q Tip of paint thinner. Most times, you won't have any problems. when soldering the points of turnouts, use a wooden tie between the point and stock rail to create a solder dam so you don't get soldered to the stock rail. S Scale 2x4s are the correct tie material for N Scale PC ties from Clover House, They are also the height of the NMRA point gauge, which makes it sooo easy to gauge points using the solder dam method. Avoid Radio Shack soldering iron tips like the plague, they sucketh swamp water! Weller is a good iron company.
Having worked in electronics most of my life, and having been certified in the Navy to complete microminiature repair, I do know a little bit about this subject. First lets cover the Decoder. For that you want to use a low wattage iron, the smallest you can find. Since I can not find at a reasonable cost a good variable soldering station I personally use a wood burning tool to solder my decoders in place. This is a very low wattage iron and does not produce enough heat to ruin any of the components of the decoder. I do not make my own track but I do solder my flex track and my curves together. I use a small tip iron to keep from melting the plastic. I have a soldering gun but have not found that I have needed it for my HO train layout. The rule of thumb I was taught through out my career in the Navy was to use the smallest iron you can find that will melt the solder and not give a cold solder joint. I use nothing but rosin core solder. It saves time and mess. I also use the smallest size I can find to buy. In the case of soldering more is not always better. Happy railroading.:tb-biggrin::tb-biggrin:
This guy is phenomenal in soldering, the technique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN7UGWYmBY&feature=related
May I point out that the question is, "What temperature should be set in the digital soldering station?" The excellent video referenced above specifies 610F for one of the applications. That's the first time I have heard someone specify a temperature.
To specify a temperature would be misleading based on all the variables involved. The idea is to heat the soldering segment to a point where the solder will liquefy on contact. The temperature in which the element can withstand varies. Tip size effects the amount and time of heat transfer to the soldering segment. A heat sink absorbs heat which detracts from the heating action of the element. Sometimes a sink will divert the heat causing one to maintain tip contact to the point that the surrounding area is scorched. Notice how the chip leg is being soldered without overheating the chip. The key is to get the soldering leg hot enough to attract the solder and then back off. This is dependent on the tip,solder,flux and solder piece. Inobu
I agree. He's really good. One other thing to keep in mind especially for decoder soldering (if using wired decoders) is the speed needed to keep from melting back the insulation on those fine wires. It's a careful balance between heat and speed. Too much heat might get a quick solder joint, but it will then be only a fraction of a second before the insulation will start melting back.
That sounds reasonable. It also explains why no temperature is specified. You must look at the solder action and be knowledgeable enough to know when it is working correctly. For all that I don't know about this, I don't have cold solder joints and have installed several decoders correctly. It seems to work well almost all of the time. For someone who has no help on this, you could just solder a few spare brass pieces, track, wires, etc. to get the idea and then you are on your way! No worries. Again, that is a great video. It is for soldering items much finer than I use, but still a good one to see what is possible. inobu: Thanks for the specific information and a good explanation of the variables in the process. [edit] I'm still using 425F on my soldering station with a 1/32 inch spade tip. I am soldering decoders into H0 scale engines.
After a lifetime of slotcar & RC car racing,electrical maintainence for a few large corporations,years of model RRing,and 20 years of building/wiring custom motorcycles,I've spent thousands of hours with an iron in my hand,wore out dozens.I own five right now.If the temp on your iron is accurate,tin melts at 450 degrees,so that's the absolute minimum.Actual temperature you should use is strictly a function of iron wattage,and the size/type of tip.A long,skinny tip will require higher temps,because the heat can't recover to the tip as fast.An iron with the same exact size point,but a short,fat shaft,will need lower temps to do the same job,but you'll have to be faster.The true secret to soldering is a good,hot iron,a clean joint,and a fast technique.There have been times I didn't feel like running upstairs to get my Weller station,I used a 60 watt monster with a tip as big as your pinky to wire micro helicopter motors,something as bad as a decoder.. Soldering irons can smell fear,practice on junk with a low wattage iron until you get good.
But the most important rule is that dirt and solder do not work and play well with each other. So clean the items you want to solder. For track work like attaching feeders this means running a file or sandpaper on the area of track where you want the solder to stick. Do not rely on flux to do the job. With a properly cleaned surface and a hot iron [let it warm up for about five minites] soldering is a snap. Tinning both pieces [applying solder to both pieces] before soldering them together also helps.
