[TowerTalk] Soldering up a tower

[Jim Lux]

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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