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Has anyone tried resistance soldering on slot cars? It looks interesting but the units look fairly expensive. Just wondering on what the results are like.

Brion.

Brian,

Personally, I think a really good soldering iron, flux and solder just can not be beat.

Now the soldering iron does not need to cost a whole lot of money. I've been using an Inland Deluxe Studio 100 watt iron for going on 3 years now with the same time.

Of course I control the heat via a light dimmer switch that you buy at any of the home improvement warehouses. I run at about 50% power, but still have the ability to turn the wick up should the situation merit it.

Once you have a decent soldering area set up, just get some wire and brass and start to solder the pieces together. Most people do not use an adequate amount of heat when they solder. We can get you soldering like a pro.

Just my opinion of course.

Resistance soldering units are great for large heavy brass plates like those used to build brass train engines as they only heat the area you want to solder. For the price difference a good iron works out much better, and you can have several irons compared to the cost of one of those resistance units. I have 2 Haako's, one 35 watt, and one 55 watt. I haven't ran into anything I couldn't solder with the 35 watt. The 55 watt is a beast, and it doesn't get used often. Just my opinion. :)

Thanks for the response guys. I remain curious though. Did a quick search and found a couple of links for DIY units. Might have to try one.

The fact that they heat just the area of the joint looks good to me. When building sprint cars there can be small fiddle bars adjacent to a group of larger bars that need a bunch of heat to get a good joint and the little ones almost always come undone.
Also set up jigs might last a little longer. When using an iron the prolonged heat and flux usually destroys the jig in short order.

Brion.

The owner of the club/home track I now race at built himself a DIY resistance unit. I've only had a quick look at it, but he said it works good, but it'll take some "getting-use-to" before it would replace his soldering station. I'm still an Ungar iron guy, myself.

Speaking in wide angle terms, essentially, you need to examine the purpose of the soldering. For brass chassis steam engines, you have a lot of stuff to attach. For slot cars, you only have a few good bonds to make. That is enough to make the decision by itself. Whatever else you have to consider, the essential decision is whether it matters for your purpose to make many attachments, or a few.

Yep,

You want a resistance unit when you want to localize the heat, and not have the part next to where you are working fall off! Brass chassis steam engines are a prime example of this. For slot car chassis, not so much. I have a 250 watt unit and when you need one there is no substitute. The question is, do you need one? I have not built my own slot car chassis yet, but from those I have seen, resistance gear is not necessary. If you're good with an iron, you'll probably want to stick with it, IMHO. I use mine for brass trains and some fine brass structural work, but you have to be careful because you can generate enough heat to damage things. A powerful rig can vaporize small pieces! (ask me how I know :roll: )