Ive asked this before but I need some help bad. Soldering Iron

[hesamadman]

I have the Weller WTCPT. This piece of junk costed me around $150 new. Does anyone use this successfully in the amp world? I had a 12 dollar one from parts express that seemed to do better than this. Heres what I cant do with it:


1. Desolder using a wick. I can hold the tip on there for 1 whole minute and it will not remove solder.


2. Desolder using a bulb. I can hold the iron on a part for 1 minute and it barely changes the consistency of the solder.


3. Solder a part under 1 minute. I literally just tried soldering one pin of my heaters on a tube socket. It took about 2 minutes before the solder even melted on the iron....mind you it STILL wasnt hot enough to take on the actual pin.


What have I tried:


1. Sent to Weller for repair. Nothing wrong. $40 dollars later....new tip.


2. Changing solder types.


3. Changing soldering methods.


4. Oh and flux all day long changes nothing


No joke....im going nuts here. I am more than close to smashing this with a sledge hammer. Do I need a new station. Do I absolutely suck at soldering. Is this shitty magnetic tip mechanism not good for this kind of work? What to do?

[sluckey]

The Weller WTCPT is an excellent station. FAA and the USAF use them. I used one at work for over 30 years. I have one in my shop for over 25 years. All my amp stuff was built using it. Soldering is fast and easy. Desoldering with braid or sucker works well too. If mine breaks today I will order an identical unit before nightfall.

Tell us about your soldering/desoldering procedures.

[hesamadman]

I just dont feel like it gets hot enough or something. I heat the part (for well over a few seconds....like mentioned before....many many seconds) then touch the solder to the part..right at the tip of the iron.....and nothing.

[sluckey]

I was hoping for a little more detail. When I turn my station on I grab the sponge and go wet it. Every time I pick up the iron I wipe the tip clean. Then I touch the tip to my solder briefly just to 'wet' the tip. You don't want a blob on the tip. Just make the last 1/4" of the tip shiny. If you get a blob immediately wipe the tip on the wet sponge again. (Wetting the tip will make the heat transfer to joint to be soldered much faster and efficiently.) Use flux on the joint. Tin your wire. Then make the solder connection.

I use an 800° tip (#8) for all tube work. KEEP THE TIP CLEAN! Don't stick this tip in flux. Flux goes on the item you want to solder. Never use a file or sandpaper on this tip. That wet sponge is all you need to keep the tip clean. Use good solder. 60/40 with flux core works well. 63/37 works even better.

[hesamadman]

im going to change my tip and my solder. I think that might help. The tip I have is a 700. And the solder sucks. I try to keep my tip clean. I may need a new sponge. I havent wet my tip before soldering. That would help to. Thanks Sluckey

[HotBluePlates]

I've also found that while some tips may be pre-tinned, that it is very important that the first time you use a new tip to thoroughly coat it in solder. Places on the tip which do not get tinned this way will oxidize and seem to never transfer heat very well.

I sometimes miss a Weller iron I had which used a copper tip... If it ever got oxidized after prolonged use, I could file the tip to expose bare copper and re-tin it.

I'm not familiar with that particular Weller station, but keep in mind different tips that go on it are different temperatures; you need the right tip for the job you're doing. Additionally, a small, thin tip is always a bad choice when you're soldering to something big. The big part that you're soldering will act as a heat sink, and drag down the part's temperature. This is referred to as "thermal inertia" and boils down to "use a small tip when soldering small, delicate parts; use a big, heavy tip (and higher iron wattage) for soldering to large items."

[hesamadman]

I was hoping for a little more detail. When I turn my station on I grab the sponge and go wet it. Every time I pick up the iron I wipe the tip clean. Then I touch the tip to my solder briefly just to 'wet' the tip. You don't want a blob on the tip. Just make the last 1/4" of the tip shiny. If you get a blob immediately wipe the tip on the wet sponge again. (Wetting the tip will make the heat transfer to joint to be soldered much faster and efficiently.) Use flux on the joint. Tin your wire. Then make the solder connection.

I use an 800° tip (#8) for all tube work. KEEP THE TIP CLEAN! Don't stick this tip in flux. Flux goes on the item you want to solder. Never use a file or sandpaper on this tip. That wet sponge is all you need to keep the tip clean. Use good solder. 60/40 with flux core works well. 63/37 works even better.

Its starting to seem to me that I don't know how to solder. Im kind of tired of the hiccups I keep getting in this damn Gretsch build. I have not had much time to work on it and seems when I do, something happens. So yesterday I noticed something. My tip will not take solder. I can not pre tin it. The solder will..at most.. bead up on the tip. So what I need to determine is what I am doing wrong. Since this is a brand new tip, I am concerned. Also considering the fact that this tip now looks discolored. (could that indicate a bad tip?) If its a bad tip, I need to determine, why its bad since its maybe soldered 5 joints? My methods have never consisted of pre tinning my tip. But always hit the sponge after a solder. I just ordered two new 800 degree tips like you mentioned before. Im hoping that will help. And I really do hope its something I am doing rather than the equipment. One thing I should mention is the solder I have been using. Radio Shack solder. And I just now noticed...its lead free. I have only used solder from there. My old $12 station worked fine with it however I have never used lead free. I appreciate your time and help.

[sluckey]

Use good solder. 60/40 with flux core works well. 63/37 works even better.

You have a top end station. Now get some good solder.

But always hit the sponge after a solder.

Hit the sponge BEFORE you solder. Wipe the tip clean. Then wet the tip with solder. Then make the solder joint. Develop this habit... Every time you pick up the iron wipe the tip clean. It usually only takes about 2 seconds.

[John]

Now get some good solder

Amen. I made the mistake of using some solder that came with that desoldering iron I got. Love that thing, btw. Anyway, I made a couple joints using the "free" solder, and started having trouble, much like what you described as beading up on the tip, not "wetting". I finally had to take a few minutes, scrub the tip with copper wool, and then tin/wipe/tin/wipe, over and over till I got whatever crap that was disguised as solder, off. FWIW, I use Radio Shack solder and it works just fine, either the 60/40 or the 63/37.   Oh yeah, I found that using flux as Sluckey describes makes a big difference too on joints. It's a step I never bothered with till he talked about it. It's worth the extra 3 second step, IMO.


Don't get discouraged!

[eleventeen]

I had one of those for maybe ten years and it was superb. Loved it. I would buy another in a heartbeat. It completely rocked on small, solid state stuff and maybe would have taken a little more time on a tube socket pin but it always seemed capable of throwing more heat into a joint if needed. OK, wouldn't do a  Fender-amp chassis ground connection, but you would not want that much heat for everyday use anyway. I seriously abused it by carrying it around in a cardboard box when I moved from bench to field and eventually mechanically destroyed it and I'm sorry I did. I have seen these things inadvertently left on for days at a time by careless bench techs and still work fine. The tips should last...a hell of a long time. When I first got mine I used the daylights out of it and I still think the tip lasted a couple of years.


It should melt thin, .03x or .06x solder almost instantly, I mean, right now.


Yes, try the 800 degree tips if you are having a problem.


Ditch the lead-free solder and get some real, fresh 60/40 or 63/37 solder.   


Keep the tip clean, with sponge, as Sluckey suggested. DO NOT use any sort of abrasive on the tip. That *could* be your problem but you'd really have to file it and remove material to have it not take solder. That comment on your part is a red flag to me. If you have done that...perhaps you've exposed an underlying metal alloy that is not only unfriendly to solder, but may have formed an oxide layer. If so...that could be it.  Oxides are terrible heat conductors and they cannot take part in the chemical reaction (yes, there is a chemical reaction, not just heat) that is a valid solder joint.


WHEN YOU SHUT IT OFF you should "put it to bed" by running it through the wetted sponge after powering it down enough to cool it down quite a bit (not just the tip, but the shank, as well) and melt some solder over the tip (it should be noticeably slower than when in normal use) and leave a film, even a blob (the blob will form because the tip has cooled down a lot) and put it back in the stand with that blob on there.

[PRR]

Also beware:

Using a 230V iron in a 115V land (thermostated irons may get "hot" but not HOT).

Working in a strong draft (when they fixed the ventilation in my shop my iron worked bad).

USE THE RIGHT SOLDER!! Hoffman and Radio Shed sell the right stuff. Tin 60%-63%, Lead 40%-37%, Flux core. Do not be confused by 40/60 (too much Lead) solder found online. Do not use mystery fish-oil flux, genuine pine-sap Rosin (activated). Do not fool around with Silver or No-Lead solder until you have chops using classic electronic solder.

[hesamadman]

Thanks everyone. My new tips should arrive soon. I will take better care of these and will follow the methods you have suggested. I bought some flux. I'm assuming you just brush that on the part you are soldering just as if you were soldering copper pipe? Thanks again everyone. I'm getting better at this slowly but surely. :)

[eleventeen]

Technically, you don't need the (separately-applied) flux since normal solder carries flux, and *enough* flux within it....barely. The extra flux is a move done to guarantee you have enough flux and to thereby produce an extra nice looking joint. Add'l flux increases solder flow and takes care of oxides formed during heat-up. If the joint you are soldering is made up of brand spanking new shiny metal, it's scarcely needed. It also reduces heat input because the solder wets the parts faster. This (less heat input) also helps make the better-looking joint. If the metal parts are a little older and tarnished from air exposure, it's a nice additional move.


The key is to be stingy with it. When you apply heat, it will thin out and flow, so use less than you think might need.   


In your situation...since you've been having problems...I would work to gain skill and confidence making ordinary solder joints without the extra flux to start out with. Keep in mind that 99.5% of all normal (meaning hand-made, not machine-made) solder joints on electronic stuff are almost certainly made without any more flux than what's in the solder. Get that happening w/o the extra flux....THEN....you will be able to see the add'l good that the add'l flux might do for you.

[hesamadman]

Holy Crap!!! New tip......MAINLY NEW SOLDER........jeeze guys this is great. Lovin it. Thanks again for all your time. It means a lot!


Most importantly.....taking heed to your advice on my methods. Everything is working better now than ever before!