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Re: [TowerTalk] Soldering up a tower

To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Soldering up a tower
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 07:15:16 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
On 7/28/15 3:09 PM, Bill Feissner wrote:
Having been reading about soldering irons I have a question. Just
recently had to do some soldering about 25 feet up my tower, I had to
run 150 feet of #12 extension cord out and part way up the tower. I was
using a 25 watt iron that gets a tip temp of 750 degrees F. An
occasional breeze would hinder the solder from melting using a conical
tip. I did manage to get the job done but was wondering if the
screwdriver tip and a 1000 degree F tip would have made the job any
easier, retaining more heat when the breeze blew. Any thoughts on this
would be helpful for the next time.


More massive tip (chisel/screwdriver) or a higher wattage iron is a better solution than a higher temperature tip. You need "high enough" temperature that is stable, and that means either big thermal mass or high wattage and good controls that can dump heat in quickly when the tip cools too much, but doesn't overheat. 25 watts is pretty low. The venerable Weller WTCP series is something like 48 Watts, and sometimes it works in the wind, and sometimes it doesn't.

If you're boiling water, a big low temperature burner is better than an oxy-acetylene torch.





Thanks
Bill, AI3Q
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