Soldering irons & wattage

CTN

CTN

The Drama Dude
I have a little 25W Weller soldering iron.

It has served me well for a number of years and I have been using it for mostly guitar work. Fortunately, despite the fairly low wattage, I've never had any problems with heat damage on pots or anything like that.

But today I tried to install new screen grid resistors in my amp, which has all PCB mounted components a la Soldano. Tried to unsolder the old SGRs, and my soldering iron just wasn't melting the solder. I didn't want to leave the iron on the solder too long because i could feel the resistor heating up significantly.

Now I'm not sure if this is a different formulation of solder than the 60/40 rosin core that I use for guitar work, or if the components are just all acting as a heat sink, but I need to figure out a solution.

Any advice?
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

Be careful....as you have been.
Mike uses some pretty stout traces, as you can see, but just be careful.
Is this a "newer" Soldano.?
Is it possible they started using ROHS Lead Free.?
That stuff can be real hard to melt/work with.
One thing you can try is to ADD some of your solder to the board, then see if that will help to desolder what you need to do.
Some of those traces can get pretty big, and then yeah....like you say, act as a heat sink and wick away the heat from your tip.
Can you borrow a Weller 40 watt from somebody.?
Or maybe it is time to buy one.?
I am out of suggestions/guesses.
Best
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

It's a Jet City 100H. Couple years old. PCB entirely designed by Mike Soldano, and has the same characteristic thick traces.

I was thinking it might be prudent to get a higher wattage iron.

another option I thought of was snipping the old resistors off and soldering the new ones to the exposed snipped leads which are still attached to the board. Pretty sure I could make a good electrical connection, but it's just a sloppy idea and I'd rather not do that.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

I've gotten angry in the middle of some projects before and threw my iron in the trash can. Well, I did wait till they cooled.

If you can't get a pro soldering station, at least get a 40W iron. At least they melt those difficult cold solder joints.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

try litle metal clips between where you are soldering and the resistors body it will stop any heat damage and should also make the job easier for you
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

I am going to throw in 2 cents and then run. Make sure your soldering iron is clean, then really give it a good tinning. I mean waste about 3" of solder on it. Now with it nice and shiny.... try again. 25 watts on PC boards is pretty decent and should work. I think it is just a heat transfer issue so please try my suggestion before hitting the big 40!!!


Cleaning - hot iron, wet sponge, brass wire mesh at the most for getting the crud (carbon) off. Never ever use sandpaper or metal to scrape a tip.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

briggleman said:
I am going to throw in 2 cents and then run. Make sure your soldering iron is clean, then really give it a good tinning. I mean waste about 3" of solder on it. Now with it nice and shiny.... try again. 25 watts on PC boards is pretty decent and should work. I think it is just a heat transfer issue so please try my suggestion before hitting the big 40!!!


Cleaning - hot iron, wet sponge, brass wire mesh at the most for getting the crud (carbon) off. Never ever use sandpaper or metal to scrape a tip.
Click to expand...

A well-used tip can not only get carbon deposits, but it can get pitted. File it smooth and clean, re-tin, good to go. Only problem is that it will still only be 25 watts. I've been soldering for over 50 years and find that a 40 wattere is minimum to do good work. Yes, most of the time a 25 watter will do the job, but not as good as a 40+ watt iron.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

Plus...

with a 40+watt iron you can use a thinner, more precise tip and get the same heat transfer as a 25 watter with a fat/clumsy tip.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

GuitarDoc said:
Plus...

with a 40+watt iron you can use a thinner, more precise tip and get the same heat transfer as a 25 watter with a fat/clumsy tip.
Click to expand...

+1
To me, a fine precise point made all the difference. Then again, I did that the same time I moved from a small Radio Shack soldering iron to the Weller WES-51.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

I picked up a 40W iron. Gonna give it another go later tonight, and I will make sure to use a clip on heatsink to be safe.

The 40W iron also has a pointier/more precise tip than my 25W iron.

Will report back tonight.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

Got 'er done! the 40W iron worked like a charm.

And now my amp is back in full working order! Huzzah!

Thanks for the advice guys!
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

ConvoysToNothingness said:
It's a Jet City 100H. Couple years old. PCB entirely designed by Mike Soldano, and has the same characteristic thick traces.

I was thinking it might be prudent to get a higher wattage iron.

another option I thought of was snipping the old resistors off and soldering the new ones to the exposed snipped leads which are still attached to the board. Pretty sure I could make a good electrical connection, but it's just a sloppy idea and I'd rather not do that.
Click to expand...

Yeah I wouldn't want to do that either. I have a 40W with an adjustable temp control on it & it works fine, but I hate soldering on PC boards. I am always afraid I am going to fry something.
 
Re: Soldering irons & wattage

karpathion said:
I've had this one for like 3 years now. Still use the original tip. It's adjustabe, cheap, and very reliable. It's a nice option for the money.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weller-WLC1...719?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3372e7d78f
Click to expand...

That's the same one I use (but under a different name. These were/are made by a manufacturer for many brands). Great iron, very reliable, lots of "power" when you need it. I think I paid about $15 for mine.
 
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