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In Reply to: RE: Very timely posted by David Smith on September 29, 2015 at 05:53:04
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I found I needed the temp at max to get shiny tinned wires. In my case on a Weller WES51 I got better results at 850°F than at 750°F. I found the wire trick particularly helpful when attaching the wires, it helped keep things stable when removing the iron. Continuity seems to check out, it will be another week or two before the arm is mounted and operating to report further.SACD
Edits: 09/29/15 09/29/15
Are you using solder with high silver content or conventional Tin-lead solder?
Going above the eutectic point of the alloy is not good practice - you want to set the iron to the "correct" temperature for the solder in use. Flux is optimum at 280°C (536°F). Going to 450°C is going to boil off the flux and increase the risk of poor joints!
Heat the part not the solder...then you will find the surface wets more readily. This can be achieved at MUCH lower temperatures than you are setting!
Regards Anthony
"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats
Thanks Anthony, I was using Wonder Solder. I started at lower temps but did not appear to be successfully tinning the wire. I'm sure you know the Cardas wire is somewhat different than regular wire and so is not a standard solder job.
Dave
I am familiar with Cardas tonearm wire - I rewired two of mine tonearms with it until I ditched them in favour of KAB's (mechanically superior) Superflex (actually I tested out Kevin's prototypes). It's straightforward to strip the lacquer - it's all about contact time and tip shape. DON'T use the very tip of the iron - use the side of the tip (or if it is a wedge shape - it's obvious which part to use). You want to maximise the contact area and ensure that the "part" is heated to the ideal temperature.
Kimber Wonder Solder has a low melt point of 380F and they recommend an iron temperature of 750F - the iron temperature being higher is just to enable a "reasonable" time of contact for the part to get up to the right temperature for the solder to flow over the surfaces to be welded. I think this is where most people panic about the contact time in case the insulating sleeve starts to peel back.
I use a 750F tip for everything and have no problems with litz wire or dry joints (well I wouldn't be a good engineer if I did!!).
You MUSTN'T get the molten mixture higher than the recommended temperature/eutectic temperature of the alloy otherwise the flux will evaporate and you get "bad"/unreliable welds (dry joints/high contact resistance).
..and to pre-empt anyone saying "but I use 850F and have excellent results" I say, let's talk in a few years time and discuss contact resistance and dendritic growth!
Bottom line, your iron is FAR too hot for reliable solder joints long term. Use a lower temperature and an (appropriately) longer contact time and you'll get superior solder joints and long term reliability.
Regards Anthony
"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats
850F was for tinning the wires, as I stated I did start at a lower temperature and the wires didn't tin. For soldering the clips I used a normal temperature, I don't recall whether that was 700 or 750, it's whatever I normally use. If Garth's advice was that bad I'll just have to solder them again in 5 years I guess.
Dave
People always turn up the iron because they don't leave it in contact with the component/part for "long enough".
For litz wire, I place the iron tip (you can have a small amount of solder on if you want) on the stripped section on top of a non-flammable hard surface (actually I just use newspaper on a wooden table), press down for a couple of seconds and drag the iron tip down over the stripped wires. With my 750F tip, this gives tidy tinned wires. You could use a crucible, but that is overkill and potentially dangerous from a personal safety point of view!
You can follow whatever advice you want - I'm just passing on correct information according to industry-standard "Best Practice".
Regards Anthony
"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats
Appreciated Anthony.
Dave
Curious to know what method you followed.
1) Dipping the wire into the molten solder pool on the solder tip?
2) First burning the plastic sheath back with the hot iron before tinning?
I'm planning on tackling this over the coming weekend.
I did #1, really not a lot of difference as the plastic insulation melts away instantly. The hard(er) part is getting the wires tinned, the enamel that coats them is tenacious. The clip preventing excessive melting of the insulation and the wire steadying the clip were the really helpful tips. I used a razor to cut off the thin white Teflon or whatever it is that is between the shield and wires.
Dave
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