by RichD » Sat Jan 27, 2018 7:45 am
I use a 45 watt Ungar. The best irons have the heating element in the tip, irons that have the tip screw into the heating element don't work as well. For chassis work an iron with a chisel tip works best, for some electrical connections a pencil tip is better, but you can often just use the corner of a chisel tip. Even if you are soldering thick material you don't need a big iron, it is heat transfer that is important. The tip of your iron must be clean and shiny. When you are not actually soldering you should turn the heat down. You can buy a soldering station with a heat control built in, I just use a light dimmer. The parts that you are soldering need to be clean, shine them up with steel wool or fine sandpaper. For electrical work use rosin flux, for chassis work acid flux is the way to go. If you use acid flux be sure to wash your project when you have finished soldering. You can use electrical solder for chassis work, but silver solder is much stronger. It is best to tin the parts before you solder them together. Flow a little solder where the joints will be and wipe off the excess solder with a damp sponge if necessary.