moloch
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 25
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Post by moloch on Apr 26, 2006 22:45:53 GMT -5
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Post by sumgai on Apr 27, 2006 2:41:44 GMT -5
moloch, Strange serendipity, this. I just posted in your other thread that you should now buy your own iron. Hmmmm...... Your butane idea is a good one, for almost all the reasons you mentioned. Just be aware that the "smoke" you fear is from the rosin within the core of the solder itself, and the source of heat is not of consequence. (Meaning, you could use butane or battery power or house current, it won't matter, so long as heat is generated to melt the solder.) Use good quality solder, don't apply heat for too long, and you should be fine. But perhaps if you can get near an open window while perfroming your works of wonder......  Allparts generally sells pretty good quality. If you're inclined to work with them, you shouldn't have a problem with service, either before or after the purchase. You might find better deals elsewhere, but there is that comfort level of dealing with a known good dealer. I've never heard of Grizzly, but that doesn't mean squat, someone else here may have.  As to your toggle switches, I'd say the first link is showing the better quality unit, the one for $12 or so. The second unit is obviously a cheapie, and I'd avoid it unless I saw other guitars with it, and they were trouble-free for years. The third link you show is bogus, it comes up with a bunch of words, but no beef. No price, even.... how do you know it's $20? One more thing - the first two are from Allparts, the third link is from WD. WD is a pretty good name too, so you could always go straight to their site to see what the have to offer. But that brings up my final point - why not just buy directly from the vendor's site, and skip paying Amazon for zero added benefit??? HTH sumgai p.s. Which MOS they got you plugged into? |
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moloch
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 25
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Post by moloch on Apr 27, 2006 8:37:06 GMT -5
my mos is 2847 unless i get changed in the next 5 months of school.
I'm buying from amazon because I already have my account & crap setup & they have everything I'm needing to get, so I just order from one site and BAM its all there. I'll try and fix that link. I realize that the smoke is from the flux & rosin mostly, but thats inconsequential.
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Post by UnklMickey on Apr 27, 2006 16:02:37 GMT -5
moloch,
one thing that you will soon learn about the butane soldering irons:
they generate tons of heat in the zone behind the tip.
you will need to use more caution than you would with an electric,
so that anything heat sensitive in the area along-side of the iron, is given a wide berth.
on the plus side, that super hot air can be sort of handy, for shrinking heat shrink tubing.
i don't much care for the butane units myself.
i consider them as a last resort, emergency kit sort of item.
but some folks are capable of doing good work with them.
Y.M.M.V.
unk
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Apr 27, 2006 16:38:51 GMT -5
I got a pretty good deal a few months ago on a new-in-box Weller WLC100 (40 watt) soldering station. A couple of things I like about a station rig is the lighted switch, which makes it less likely that I'd wander off and leave it on/plugged in; and the holder for the iron is attached to the nice, sturdy base, also a safety feature IMO. It's adjustable from 350° F to 850° F. I think they were MilSpec. Discontinued in 1999, though. www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5265The same company that had the Wellers on eBay (RSR Electronics, Electronix Express) was my source for a can of MG Super Shield™, some wire strippers for 22-30 gauge, tips for the Weller, and some other odd and ends. www.elexp.com |
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moloch
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 25
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Post by moloch on Apr 27, 2006 18:30:01 GMT -5
the portability is a pretty major issue with. I don't think a base station sort of setup is going to work at all. Not only for worrying about the smoke inside, but also for packing the b  h into a seabag. I mean I only really need this for screwing around with my guitar on occasion. I'm going to talk to my dad about it though hes an electrician as well. |
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Apr 27, 2006 19:12:37 GMT -5
the portability is a pretty major issue with. I don't think a base station sort of setup is going to work at all. Not only for worrying about the smoke inside, but also for packing the % into a seabag. Yeah, I forgot about that aspect. Well, along those lines, a small-but-sufficiently-powerful iron and supplies for using it could fit in a package about the size of a shaving kit, I think. Another advantage of electric over butane, then, would be not having any problems with power (fuel). I dunno how airlines would be about allowing a refill canister ( compressed flammable gas) on board, or what rules Air Mobility Command might have, either. ("Mother MAC," in my day, and I once watched a C-141 crew decline to transport a LOX cart. It was only an exercise; they said they'd have loaded it if it was a "real" deployment. And yeah, the LOX cart was a hell of a lot bigger than anything marked "Ronson" and stowed in your seabag would be.) |
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Post by sumgai on Apr 28, 2006 1:19:20 GMT -5
moloch, I *thought* they'd changed some since my day. I started life as a 31E, but also earned 31J, 31K, 31M, and 31P qualifications. These are all electronic, various sub-genres. For old war-horses out there, I was also a 71H!! ;D Well, that's cut-and-dried then, nothing else to ponder about savings and such.  But there is that sort-of hidden benefit of updating only one website when you get stationed to a new post. Can't be all bad, for that alone. Butane irons are useful, but they require a different soldering technique, like unk said. It's all in the hands, but timing is also involved. Better put in some practice time with this, if you decide to get one of these. Battery powered units are usually less powerful, but the other side of that is, they cool down pretty quick, so you can put them away soon after you're done, instead of waiting until Taps.  Oh, yeah.... I've never set off a smoke alarm of any kind, no matter how hairy the job got. Of course, I have been to the hospital a time or two for inhalation of harmful vapors......  j/k ;D sumgai |
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moloch
Apprentice Shielder
Posts: 25
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Post by moloch on Apr 28, 2006 14:27:47 GMT -5
Well, I ordered the weller portasol butane model. Showed it to my dad and he said it seemed solid & might actually get one for himself. Hes been an electrician since before i was born & now owns his own company & whatnot...I don't think hes ever given me bad advice so I took it (almost a first ). So I've got 2 new push/pull pots, a new toggle switch, some new pup springs, a soldering iron wire strippers & some solder in the mail. I'll probably be back around here in a few days figuring out how I want to wire it all up Thanks for all the help & advice. BTW, do you happen to know what a tech controller does? It was previously a sgts & above mos, but now they've got a pilot program running through with some of the guys in my class to open it up to pfc's & l.cpls. Nobody around here f king knows what they do though. Something with the land satellites that put up a point to point array for com. The stupid-high power radios that fry birds that fly through their beam. Has to do with the computer systems that control those we think. |
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Post by Mini-Strat_Maine on Apr 28, 2006 15:04:41 GMT -5
Well, I ordered the weller portasol butane model. Showed it to my dad and he said it seemed solid & might actually get one for himself. Hes been an electrician since before i was born & now owns his own company & whatnot...I don't think hes ever given me bad advice so I took it (almost a first ). " When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned." -- Mark Twain I've been on both sides of that one, now.  Only a couple of us know, and we're not allowed to say. It was previously only open to upper grades because those guys probably don't want any (more) kids, so working around anything that can "fry birds that fly through their beams" wouldn't matter. Oops, I guess we were supposed to keep that part under our hats.  The Pfc. and the rest of the group can reset their BS Detectors now. ;D |
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Post by UnklMickey on Apr 28, 2006 16:24:47 GMT -5
...Only a couple of us know, and we're not allowed to say.... i could tell you, but then ... |
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But there is that sort-of hidden benefit of updating only one website when you get stationed to a new post. Can't be all bad, for that alone. 
