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Post by closeyetfar on Jul 14, 2008 11:13:32 GMT -5
I have a 35 Watt Radio Shack soldering iron. It works fine for the most part, but it will not melt the solder on my Strat pick guard components. Im guessing I need more then 35 Watts. Can anyone recommended a Wattage rating or a soldering iron model that will do the job. Thanks
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Post by D2o on Jul 14, 2008 11:42:15 GMT -5
I have a 35 Watt Radio Shack soldering iron. It works fine for the most part, but it will not melt the solder on my Strat pick guard components. Im guessing I need more then 35 Watts. Can anyone recommended a Wattage rating or a soldering iron model that will do the job. Thanks I wouldn't go much above your current 35 watts. Maybe 40 watts ... 50 watts max. To a degree, you want to be able to melt the big globs quickly and get out of there before you've really heated things up and caused damage, but if you get into big wattage soldering irons, your completion of wiring your guitar will be close, yet far - and you won't enjoy replacing the molten pieces. Don't even think about a big soldering "gun"! I've used 25 watt irons to melt the ground globs on the backs of pots ... I don't recommend it, but it can be done. I would think that, so long as you let your 35 watt iron heat up properly, you should be able to get away with it.
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Post by kuzi16 on Jul 18, 2008 23:14:34 GMT -5
i was under the impression that you want a high wattage iron so that you can melt very quickly and not give the surrounding metal time to warm up. as in a hot gun will be so hot that it will INSTANTLY melt what it comes in contact with and it will melt so fast that the heat will not have time to conduct to other parts.
I have the 35W radio shack iron. i need time for it to "reheat" i also feel that if i had a 45W iron i would have less down time.
as far sas not melting the solder... how old is that strat? I had a Harmony from the mid 70's and the aolder would not melt no matter how long i had the iron against it... unless i hit this little discolored patch next tot he solder first. then it hit me: flux.
some solder requires this. i never thought it was in guitars till i opened up my harmony. who knew?
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dugg
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
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Post by dugg on Jul 19, 2008 13:02:46 GMT -5
A low wattage pencil iron in the 35w range is exactly what you want. The thing is, the tip has to be kept absolutely clean and 'tinned'. If it's dirty and corroded it won't work well at all. You can file or sand it before plugging it in. When it's warm, drag it across a damp sponge to clean the tip and then coat it with solder. As you work, keep cleaning the tip on the damp sponge. I think you'll find that a clean tip works much faster at melting even big blobs.
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Post by D2o on Jul 19, 2008 14:21:04 GMT -5
i was under the impression that you want a high wattage iron so that you can melt very quickly and not give the surrounding metal time to warm up. as in a hot gun will be so hot that it will INSTANTLY melt what it comes in contact with and it will melt so fast that the heat will not have time to conduct to other parts. I was too , but as I read more and more I found that - on balance - less is more. Heh! You should try it with a 25W! But, if you let it heat up - it does work. Your 35W will too, but you cannot take shortcuts - it has to be in good working order and properly heated (see Dugg's post above). Yes, I have had that happen too. But it's a relative rarity, so if you go big, you've got a nice one trick pony when it comes to desoldering globs ... but it can't really be used very well for delicate soldering. By the way, I acknowledge that - at only 25W - I bought too small an iron, but it works really well, and I still get through those same types of Mike Tyson* globs, without damage. DD "My defense is impregnable, my offense is impetuous." Matt Damon impression of Mike Tyson from the movie "Stuck On You".
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