well, bought a 140/100 watt gun and tips. The standard tips fell apart at the tip. As if the tips were soldered together. Very funny HaHa.
Is there a heavier duty tip for the 140/100 watt gun ?
I used one in HS that would blow a hole thru the fridge door. This gun is not that. Nor did I experience tip failure.
opinions ?
The Weller 8200 isn't much use IMO. I have its big brother, the D550, which I use for making FR4 shield boxes, soldering to brass or copper stock, that sort of stuff.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
I doubt the gun would do that. I have one that I got about 50 years ago and another. I also have two others that each one is higher rated than the other.
There are two types of tips that I know of for soldering. One is copper and the other is silver color. Then there is a tip made for cutting plastic that has a wide flat on the end. There may be more. I am thinking of a silver colored one that comes out to the end and wraps around that does not have the buldge on the end and is flat at the end, but could be wrong about that one.
The only times I have had the tips fall apart is after a lot of usage.
I've done that by tightening the nuts which twists the copper tip wire. When it gets hot, the wire softens a little, causing it to break. I've also done that by "pushing" on the tip, causing the wires to spread and eventually break.
Hmmm... You said "tips". Duz that mean you destroyed more than one? What were you doing to make that happen?
The standard soldering tip is the 7135 and variations. Heavy duty (premium) soldering tip is 8125 and variations. Make sure you don't get a tip made for the D550 or D650.
Or, if you're a cheap tightwad penny pincher, roll your own:
Other than for cutting plastic rope, I don't see the soldering gun to be very useful these daze. I would not use a gun to repair any manner of electronics on a PCB. May I suggest you invest in a soldering iron instead?
Find a cheap replacement tip and sell it and the gun. Buy a soldering iron and some desoldering tools. More free advice after you disclose what you're trying to solder/unsolder/destroy.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
I have been using properly shaped lengths of #12 copper wire as tips for my Weller for years. True, they don't last as long, but they are a whole lot less expen$ive than the "real thing". At first use, heat a new tip slowly and carefully (so it won't oxidize), and tin it quickly but thoroughly.
Isaac
That's normal.
The act of soldering corrodes the tip (which is why better soldering irons have plated tips), and the very tip of the tip is where the action will be. I never had a tip that didn't break out at the tip.
That said, early on (I got my first gun in 1972, already used, I finally bought a "new" used one a few years ago) I was given about a metre of really large gauge stranded wire, each strand being about the size of the copper used in the soldering gun tips. So after buying a few tips, I just started using that copper, cutting to size. I've just about run out, all these decades later, though of course as time went on, I used the gun less.
Someone once suggested silver plating the copper (or find some already silver plated wire), but that seems like overkill, just get another piece of copper wire.
Keep in mind that newer guns are made differently. The old ones had lugs that the tip fitted into, then you tightend those lugs. New ones have scres to hold the tip in place, and I gather those don't provide as good contact. I ended up buying on of those newer guns at a garage sale, never got around to using it because I found an older one at another garage sale (the plan had been to just use the casing of the new gun on my old one, the 1972 case being in really bad shape). So taht may impact on things, if you have the newer gun.
They aren't literally guns, so I have no idea what you're talking about there.
Michael
You might try plating iron onto the copper wire: I haven't tried this, mostly because I don't need it, but it does look like one can make a somewhat better tip with this method.
If you want longer life, there's nickel, on tungsten-cobalt, on copper:
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
There are plenty of times that I grab my 50 year old Weller gun. Just can not beat it when I want to solder a couple of antenna wires and don't want to wait on my 100 watt iron to heat and cool down. Those puney PC board irons will not hold enough heat to solder a pl259 coax connector. I have used one to solder to a PC board,but the irons are usually beter.
I guess that I did remember correctly that there were some tips that were sort of flat on the ends instead of having that bump on the end where you soldered.
The older ones that the ends are bent to an L shape and go through the nuts are the best. The newer ones with the screws that go in the sides are crap. One of my larger guns is that way. Works ok of you take the tip out and clean the connections, but most of the time it will work loose and not heat as well. I ran some tests on the current "wattage" used by the guns and found that it was almost half when the connections were bad.
I don't own a soldering gun. I abandoned soldering guns about 40 years ago and never looked back. When I "inherit" one, I clean it up, install a new tip, and either sell or donate it. Instead, I have a variety of soldering irons and tips. If I need to do something big, I have two big copper chisel tips, a few odd irons, and a benchtop propane furnace, like these: I use these mostly for sheet metal work, where bigger is better.
I don't solder my wire antennas, so that's not a problem for me. Soldering interferes with my ability to make changes in lengths.
I use a Weller TC-201/202 with a 750F 1/4"(?) chisel tip. It takes about 5 minutes to warm up and does a good job with coax connectors.
Yep.
Weller 8125N or 8125W:
The tip resistance is much less than the xformer winding resistance. I've been tempted to use a capacitor ESR meter to measure the contact resistance, but never had the need or opportunity. Try it next time you run into a suspected bad connection.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Agreed, the Weller gun can help in an area where you need to apply a lot of heat, yet you don't want an open flame - like soldering ground braids together deep inside a pinball game! Otherwise the gun sits in the tool chest like many other tools we use once in a while...
Jeff, your solder furnace looks nice, but a gun is a lot more portable.
A solder gun is just another tool that can be used correctly or incorrectly.
John :-#)#
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"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."
I also agree about the usefulness of a soldering gun, and I will add that you can make your own tips from the 100amp single strand copper wires for house wiring.
Not even connectors?
Years ago I got a call in the middle of the night from the local campus pol ice. In a wind storm the antenna had broken on top of the electrical engin eering building, where the university ham radio club had their shack. W9YT I think.
It turned out the mount for the rotator motor for a 20 M beam antenna had f ailed. The motor and beam were dangling a few feet below the top of a cran k over tower; the coax had snagged on the mount or the whole thing would ha ve come crashing down. The university had just spent $100,000 replacing th at roof, and if we damaged it we were in real trouble (weren't even suppose d to step off a walkway on that roof).
So we had to crank it down. But anybody who's used a crankover knows the b ig jerk you get after each tooth, and we had to stand directly under the mo tor. The motor and antenna were hung on the antenna coax which is plenty s trong, but the connection was a barrel connector. Double SO-239, and two P L-259s? I no longer remember the numbers. Anyway, if that soldered connec tor let go, we'd trash the roof and probably one of us.
I asked the station engineer "who soldered that connector?" "Uh, you did." Oh crap. But the solder held and it came down fine.
Sorry for the off topic veer.
t s
ctly.
Coming in late to this, but I have two soldering guns - both yard-sale $1 i tems, both essentially pristine, barely used devices. As my primary interac tion with electronics is vintage radios, such a device is quite useful for chassis and sheet-metal connections and other high-heat broadside applicati ons that even a 40-watt pencil will simply not touch, and for which even a micro-flame torch is too much.
The second one is likely destined to be given away at Kutztown in May - At $1 for the full kit and plastic box, I could not resist - and so I will pas s that luck on at the show.
The Keeper is a Sears dual-heat monster that I could use to boil water for tea. It makes enough heat even for 18 gauge sheet metal connections. Useful , when needed.
Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA
I don't attach connectors directly to the wires of a wire antenna. If the antenna is permanent or needs to be portable, I might solder lugs to the wire ends, which then attach to an insulator or balun via a bolt and nut.
Personally, I avoid using UHF connectors and greatly prefer crimp type connectors[1]. Crimp connectors do not require soldering, which is especially handy when replacing a connector on a tower, in the wind, rain, etc. There's a reason that *ALL* CATV connectors are crimped, not soldered. If one follows the instructions and uses the correct tools, crimping connectors is fairly foolproof and easily mastered. I can't say the same for soldering connectors, where bad connections and sloppy soldering seem to be rather common.
If you include the spares, lug crimpers, D-connector crimpers, Cannon connector crimpers, and Nicopress collection, I have about 50 assorted crimping and cable prep tools. Part of my coax and CATV tool collection:
[1] Yes, I know that there are UHF crimp type connectors:-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
the tip. As if the tips were soldered together. Very funny HaHa.
not that. Nor did I experience tip failure.
the gun is an 8200 for auto primary wire 14/14 14/12 then connectors 10 and 8.
solder to copper lugs
found Weller-Ungar 7135 unplated copper tips at Amazon n bought 4.
the standard tips offered at Weller are an unusual ripoff in the tool area.
I did not expect crap from Weller.
need to look for the dumpster copper house wiring
gnaw, nothing special just holding tip to wires...zaaap fell a part....2 pa rts.
there are 3 Weller Home Depot irons with aftermarket chisel tips. and a wir e pipe cleaner for the barrel. Not enuogh for 12ga.
one works fairly well.
nice collection of nippers. hard losing track if there are 3 or more.
Ford's E250 lighting is under control with 3 more on the roof 2 driving and one spot for the berm.
Recessed headlamps produce a remarkable dark channel off the center grill t hat is tiring, unacceptably dangerous. A hella spot cured this then corner lamps as I have stopped n got out with a flashlight finding the street side s to turn off into. And raised road approaches like once RR tracks....great view of telephone wiring.
here:
Ford people are pleased.I wuz in Dakota speaking with Ford guys getting air for a spiked tire. I wuz explaining the effects of adding anti roll bars n Bilstein shocks .... mechanic yelled from the back that everyone knew as e veryone was reading my stuff online.
damn Weller.
nd one spot for the berm.
that is tiring, unacceptably dangerous. A hella spot cured this then corne r lamps as I have stopped n got out with a flashlight finding the street si des to turn off into. And raised road approaches like once RR tracks....gre at view of telephone wiring.
And you absolutely blind me when you drive behind me. Or approach me. How about a little consideration for other drivers on the road?
and one spot for the berm.
ll that is tiring, unacceptably dangerous. A hella spot cured this then cor ner lamps as I have stopped n got out with a flashlight finding the street sides to turn off into. And raised road approaches like once RR tracks....g reat view of telephone wiring.
ow about a little consideration for other drivers on the road?
That is not the way of the lighting-obsessed. But some have reasons.
I know of at least two otherwise sane individuals, one male, one female, wh ose vehicles look like spaceships taking off when they drive. How did they get that way? Both are *barely* survivors of hitting a deer. Lights and dee r whistles are what let them get back behind the wheel.
Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA
e:
ng and one spot for the berm.
rill that is tiring, unacceptably dangerous. A hella spot cured this then c orner lamps as I have stopped n got out with a flashlight finding the stree t sides to turn off into. And raised road approaches like once RR tracks... .great view of telephone wiring.
How about a little consideration for other drivers on the road?
whose vehicles look like spaceships taking off when they drive. How did the y get that way? Both are *barely* survivors of hitting a deer. Lights and d eer whistles are what let them get back behind the wheel.
this is all I found:
It talks about Connecticut regulations and references some apparently compl icated Federal standards. It does say no part of the high intensity beam c an hit an oncoming driver's eyes.
When we lived in Europe, regulations required the headlights be adjustable either manually or automatically for vehicle loading, so that for example a couple of heavy back seat passengers didn't raise the headlight beam into the eyes of an oncoming car. They also had strictly enforced limits on ope rating extra lights - fog lights could only be turned on when weather requi red, and you'd better have reduced your speed if you were operating them.
The tips have to be properly tinned, and you want to avoid any flux getting into the back side of the bend. If you let it get in there, it will dissolve the copper, and cause the tip to open.
My homemade tips lasted a long time, since I tinned them in a solder pot, instead of in the iron. I always had suitable scrap copper wire or brass rod to make tips from.
I also made my own solder wick when I was repairing piles of Commodore
64 computers. I bought a surplus 1000 foot reel of 1/8" tinned copper braid, and a bottle of Kester 1544 flux. A simple jig allowed me to fang five foot pieces, and apply a few drops of liquid flux at a time, till it was saturated. Let dry, and use. :)-- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
at the tip. As if the tips were soldered together. Very funny HaHa.
OK will bear down on the tinning..... and research wick/fang.
on lighting...the standard Ford system is excrebale for over the road. The design is delivery truck where lamps are 'protected' during day time delive ry or service use age.
extra lamps are usually accoutrement to Mitty/ego/unfulfilled intent/style/ macho PR .......
however there are sprinkled into that mix a squad of off roaders who use th e vehicle$ as off road bashemup pseudo racing toys. needing lights.
I'm involved with animal behavior research often in the desert. The current use was traveling across the St Johns River plain from Florida's hi countr y to Daytona. The plain is mainly dark state forest with deer and bear comm uters. In facto the highway is named the BEAR HIGHWAY...bears are taking a beating.
We cannot control lighting users disregard for oncoming traffic. Nor adjust ments: my lights are aimed at the ground or berm. You may see a bright twin kle in the distance but then the twinkle disappears.
BTW, a WOLO motorcycle compressed air double horn fits under the front hood lip slipping down between rad n grille when hood closes. WOLO's higher ton e added to the FORD belch has fixed deer/elk/rabbits/armadillo to roadside. They stay on the berm watching me pass.
Most aware deer country truck people are mounting grille deer guards.
anyone know where the yellow green wire is on the blunt cut customer acces s ?
inside the female connector ?
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