Popeye and Mae West

[logicprobe]

With regard to which wattage should I use, I don't think anybody said whether the 20 or the 40 is better, or if it makes any difference.

Not much difference for what you're working with.
Try the 20, especially for the small circuit boards. If you find it's not enough heat, bump up to 40.

For wire to wire, 40 would probably be best. Not much chance of damaging any components or traces there.

Once your confidence and skill are up (it won't take long), you'll probably run the hotter setting all the time.

[ssdcinc]

Pfurman,

For soldering wire about 30watt (or up to 40) is fine, and what
you want to use is a nice 60/40 resin core solder (all this can be found
at your local Radio Shack), some tips to keep in mind:

1. make sure the iron is enough (you can test this by just melting
sold with it) whenit is make sure to TIn the tip fully before
trying to solding with it (this is mearly just covering the tip with solder
then wiping off the excess, which nring up to tip 2

2,. make sure to have either a little piece of sponge or a wt paper
towel handy (sponge is best) for clean the tip, its important to make
sure the tip is always clean, not only does it give you a better
solder job but it help make the tip last longer.

3. when soldering make sure to only leave the heat on the wire
long enough for the solder to flow.

4. its always a good idea to tin your wires before soldering (this is basicly
covering the wire tip with solder), here's a good method of
tinning: strip about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the end of the wire,
I usually put some heavy on the other end of the wire (about 1 inch
off where the tip is, let a pair of wire cutters) and let the tip
go over the edge of the work-bench, put the soldering iron
under the tip and place solder on the top of the wire, now as the
solder flows just start pulling the soldering iron closer to the tip.

*basicly your making a nice fine coat of solder on the tip of the wire,
when your finished you can take a little bit off the top with wire cutters
-- it is always better to tin your wire before soldering, this way it
give you a better connection and makes it easier to solder the wire
to something.

of course these are techniques I've learned over the year, they
are my opnion, or course there might be a better and eaiser way
and i;m not saying someone might not like these methods, its
just what I do and though you might find it helpful.

also i thing you might want to do since it is a good idea to solder
wire to your volume contollers outside the machine, when
you go to install them you might to use the quick connect
connectors (also available at RS) this way you dont have to solder
inside the machine.

...sorry for the long message, lot of info
good luck
feel free to ask any question

[slotter]

This whole process will be a lot easier than you think pfurman. In fact, I generally use a much-too-hot 100w soldering iron and it works fine, too, as long as I don't hold it too long on the pot. (Not recommended for fragile electronics, of course...)

[pfurman]

Go to any good RC hobby store and tell them you need some solder for hooking up some RC wiring and they will sell ya the rite stuff mostly comes in a round plastic tube and you pull out as much as you need , Your soldreing iron will work , Is it the pencel type with a pointed end ( these are bestfor what you are doing) or the gun type with a trigger? these will work but from the watt you said I think you have the rite one

Sorry it took so long to respond. I decided enough Pachi stuff; time to go out for the evening, and just got back. First, what exactly is "RC Hobby"? Second, it's a pencil type. And, with what I figured out before about just soldering 4" of wire on each side of the controller before installing it in the machine, I'm feeling much more confident that I'll actually be able to do this.

[pfurman]

Pfurman,

For soldering wire about 30watt (or up to 40) is fine, and what
you want to use is a nice 60/40 resin core solder (all this can be found
at your local Radio Shack), some tips to keep in mind:

1. make sure the iron is enough (you can test this by just melting
sold with it) whenit is make sure to TIn the tip fully before
trying to solding with it (this is mearly just covering the tip with solder
then wiping off the excess, which nring up to tip 2

2,. make sure to have either a little piece of sponge or a wt paper
towel handy (sponge is best) for clean the tip, its important to make
sure the tip is always clean, not only does it give you a better
solder job but it help make the tip last longer.

3. when soldering make sure to only leave the heat on the wire
long enough for the solder to flow.

4. its always a good idea to tin your wires before soldering (this is basicly
covering the wire tip with solder), here's a good method of
tinning: strip about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch off the end of the wire,
I usually put some heavy on the other end of the wire (about 1 inch
off where the tip is, let a pair of wire cutters) and let the tip
go over the edge of the work-bench, put the soldering iron
under the tip and place solder on the top of the wire, now as the
solder flows just start pulling the soldering iron closer to the tip.

1. I got a soldering "station" at RS, and I think it lights up when it's ready/hot enough.
2. The soldering station comes with a little sponge
3. I've read it only takes about 2-3 seconds, and to remove the solder first, then the iron, and don't move the parts or it'll end up a cold solder
4.cool idea. thanks.
I got 60/40 resin core solder at RS, but I think the diameter is too thin. Everybody else is talking about .75 diameter, and this says .032. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. It says "Light Duty Resin Core Solder". I also got a 63/36/2 "High-Tech Silver Bearing Solder" at .022 diameter, but I think that's for jewelry, and I don't plan to use it on the pot.

[pfurman]

This whole process will be a lot easier than you think pfurman. In fact, I generally use a much-too-hot 100w soldering iron and it works fine, too, as long as I don't hold it too long on the pot. (Not recommended for fragile electronics, of course...)

OK. Probably by the end of the weekend I'll have at least turned the thing on and played around with it. As I said before, I'm feeling much better now that I figured out how to get the 2 "starter wires" onto the pot/volume control from Syscom, which I can then pretty easily install into the machine, rather than trying to solder them directly onto the wires in the machine, because that in itself makes a world of difference, IMHO.

[slotter]

Your method of doing the soldering first with the starter wires will take the pressure off, for sure. It's a good way to do it, and good thinking, too, but after you find how easy the soldering is, you might do it differently next time.

[MrGneiss]

Sorry it took so long to respond. I decided enough Pachi stuff; time to go out for the evening, and just got back. First, what exactly is "RC Hobby"?

R/C, Radio Controlled, Hobby Shop.

I love soldering, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it pretty quick.

I have one tip for you, Soldering iron + skin = ouch!

[ssdcinc]

pfurman,

Dont worry its actually easier then it sounds, a little practice,
and you'll do like "WOW, why I even think that was difficult".

...and if your reading this after you tried and succeeded,
congraulations.

have fun!!!

OK. Probably by the end of the weekend I'll have at least turned the thing on and played around with it. As I said before, I'm feeling much better now that I figured out how to get the 2 "starter wires" onto the pot/volume control from Syscom, which I can then pretty easily install into the machine, rather than trying to solder them directly onto the wires in the machine, because that in itself makes a world of difference, IMHO.

[pfurman]

Yeah, RIGHT! Easy my foot. I just tried out the soldering iron for the first time. I might be way off base here, but I'm betting the soldering iron should NOT turn blue/black half-way up the metal shaft, 4 inches at least above the tip!! I think I got a bum soldering iron!! I set it to 40W, let it warm up, tinned the tip, and then tried soldering the end of the wire, as ssdcinc suggested. That part went pretty ok. But then I tried soldering that wire to some heavy duty aluminum foil I'd wrapped over a couple of times and punched some little holes through, sort of to get a feel for doing the Syscom vol controllers. I held the iron like a pen, firmly against the both the wire and the foil, for 2-3 seconds, then put the solder on the other side of the wire. Nothing. OK. I cleaned the tip, retinned it, held it against the wire and the foil for 5 seconds, put the solder against the other side of the wire. Nothing. Then I tried putting the solder right on the tip of the iron, and it melted into a blob. Then I noticed that the shaft had turned blue/black halfway up from the tip. I don't know. I think there's definitely something wrong with this thing. Fortunately, there IS a radio controlled hobby shop in a nearby shopping center. I'm going there tomorrow, for sure! I'll keep ya all posted. (And keep those well wishes coming; looks like I'm really gonna need em!!)

[luckydog]

the tip of the soldering gun will turn dark, it is being heated.

I think part of your problem is trying to solder to aluminum.

cut a piece of scrap wire strip the ends and then try soldering the ends together.

[Tulsa]

Just take two stripped ends of wire and twist them together, lay the tip on the wire then place the solder on the wire while the tip is still there. The solder should simply melt right on top of it. If you get some on the tip that's fine. You can use the tip to spread the solder as necessary.

That should surfice as a next test case for you. Don't worry about the color changes, if that iron is getting hot, it's working.

[pachinkojohn]

You're doing it right. The soldering iron sounds like it's okay, discoloration isn't bad, as long as the handle where you're holding it isn't getting hot. The reason you can't solder the tin foil is because it's conducting the heat away too fast. They use it on heat sinks, etc. for that reason. So the solder can't grab. Keep practicing on copper wires, they're the hardest to do. House wiring is a good size to practice on. The insulation won't melt quite as fast when you're holding the iron to it a bit too long.

After building a Heathkit television, two stereo receivers, shortwave radio, and other assorted stuff it comes second nature to me. But I still do globbers and melt insulation now and then. Biggest secret I think is to always wipe the end clean on the wet sponge/cloth constantly, and then 'pre' touch the point of the iron with just a teeny dab of solder before you touch the connection. It helps it flow much faster.

Can't remember what iron you bought, but usually the bigger Rat Shack ones with big chisel tips (big thick tips that end abruptly in a sharp cone point) are harder to use. Tips are overkill big, and they don't keep a nice sheen of silver on the tip, you have to clean it constantly. After suffering through those kind I finally wised up and I've had a small Weller 40 watt for about 30 years, quite small point, about the size of a worn pencil tip that slowly gets bigger as you go up to the handle, but only to maybe 1/8". Big difference. Of course for one job you don't want to spend too much.

John

[d mowery]

That is the same Wewller I use , I have a blue one that must be 30 or so years old , cord getting stiff but it works excellant for all my elec RC work

[Lazarus]

Stiff?

[d mowery]

as in old - not flexable as used to be

[d mowery]

Laz ,quit lookin at yer avatar when ya readen these post , Referance ( stiff)

[pfurman]

Well, it's definitely back to the drawing board for me. I hope it's not a "guy/gal" thing, but this just ain't workin out too well.

I went to the RC Hobby shop which just happened to be right next door to the radio shack. They only had a 100 W iron, and the saleman said (I swear) "Just go next door to Radio Shack; they'll have what you need". So I did. I got a simple 30W pencil tip iron. I also got some .062 diamter 60/40 solder. I gave up trying to solder to aluminum. I got a thing called "helping hands", which is two clips, a magnifying glass, and a holder for the iron. I clipped in the Syscom volume controller (At this point I didn't mind wasting the $3 if I ruined it, which I probably did), took 4" of 20g stranded wire, stripped about 1/2", was able to "tin" it, and then I put that wire in the other clip, and set it all up so that it was through one end of the volume controller, and everything was stable. (Except maybe for me, but that's another matter). I held the iron against the wire and the metal area on the vol controller. I was sort of able to get a little pyramid of solder, and it looked kind of ok. (Shiny, etc.) But then when I tried to do the other side, instead of it making a nice little pyramid, the solder just ran everywhere BUT in a nice little pyramid shape. I had bought some solder wick, so I tried to use that. But basically, I just ended up with a mess. I'm not going to give up, but I'm going to give it a rest for a day or so. It was very discouraging. But trying to learn a new skill can be frustrating at first. Anyway, that's the update. Thanks to everyone for all your encouragement. (Maybe switching to prayer might help. LOL)

P.

[luckydog]

before you try the volume controls again, try soldering a few pieces of copper wire together.
practice makes perfect
you will get the hang of it in no time

[MrGneiss]

Would flux help?