Is 30W Soldering Iron enough for Cardas Binding Post work?

Gardenstater

After fixing the cold solder joints which was a little more difficult because I needed this soldering iron to fix this soldering iron. Anyway I was not impressed with certain dastardly assembly methods such as gluing the rheostat knob onto the shaft so it can't be removed and gooping up the securing nut for the 5 pin front panel jack with some rubbery tar like substance to make it even harder than it's inaccessible location already made it. The soldering station works better now. Maybe this is how it always used to work I don't know because I never tried any demanding soldering jobs with it. The dial says that it goes from 200 C to 480 C. Well it doesn't. According to my Type K Thermocouple it goes from 160C to 320C. Won't go higher than that. So this will not be up to the task of Cardas Binding Post soldering.

Gardenstater

Well the ol' Weller 140W worked pretty *well*! I went for the minimalist solder technique with this one so it may not be pretty but I bet it has better conductivity. Didn't take nearly as long to flow the solder as the 30W (gee go figure!) and the tip being less massive didn't seem to be a big problem. I wanted to make the solder fillets small so that there was enough mechanical strength without excessive solder bridges for electrons to travel. The technique of binding it with non-denuded Cardas 29awg works well and can be removed after soldering. I think it's important to not have too much tinning buildup on the wire prior as well as having a tight physical contact prior to the solder flowing. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it (until I change my mind)

PS: I really want to try the mini butane torch method next

JayCee

Gardenstater wrote: »

PS: I really want to try the mini butane torch method next

+1 for this. I've soldered 20+ Cardas posts and my iron just didn't cut it. Used my wife''s "Crème Brûlée" butane torch and the posts were so much more manageable. Used a Pony vice to hold in place.


Torch is simlar to this:


Many available for less than $15 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Torches/b?node=678532011

Gardenstater

Did you secure your binding post to be soldered in the jaws vertically (in that v -notch) or horizontally? I chose horizontal so that solder could pool evenly around the wire. Didn't you need to use some thermally insulating material like wood between the jaws and the BP, or is all that a problem of the past once you get enough btu's to work with the mini torch?

JayCee

My soldering skills are limited to XO work I've learned since coming to CP. Applied to Gimpod boards and stock XO's used to upgrade 1C's, CRS's, 3.1's, 1.2's and the posts for dreadnaughts. Very comfortable 11 years later.

Gardenstater wrote: »

...vertically (in that v -notch) or horizontally?

Horizontal.

Gardenstater wrote: »

Didn't you need to use some thermally insulating material like wood between the jaws and the BP, or is all that a problem of the past once you get enough btu's to work with the mini torch?

The torches are effin' hot and based on the very minimal time to bring to temp, I theorized the vice was better off acting as a heat sink once I backed off. To be honest, first time or two I was worried I would melt off any base metals.

Edit to add....

Forgot, a "helping hand" is very useful to hold the wire in place and lets you use one hand for torch, the other for solder. Mine's similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ram-Pro-Magnifier-Flexible-Flashlight-Alligator/dp/B071NDZRPZ/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=soldering+station+helping+hands&qid=1598404002&sr=8-16