enough soldering iron for 259's ?

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i was at a yard sale yesterday and picked up a orange handled Weller 80 watt soldering iron brand new in a unopened blister package for $5 . its got a big azz chisel tip on it . is this hot enough to properly install 259's on coax ? i only use 8x with the reducers . ive read 100 watt or more is best , but i was hoping 80 watts is close enough . figured for 5 bucks brand new i couldnt pass it up .

 

[Wire Weasel]

Nah that'll be great Booty. I frequently use a 40 watt pencil iron for 259's. That Weller will do a fine job.

Try Silver Bearing electrical solder in your work. The silver content makes the solder flow easier, stick better and is a superior conductor compared to typical non-silver bearing solder.

You can even get small, small diameter rolls of it at Radio Shack. See item numbers 64-013 and 64-035

I bought a whole 1 pound roll of slightly larger diameter silver bearing, rosin core electrical solder at ebay a few years back. I use it for all my electrical-electronic work and geez this 1 pound roll will be nearly a lifetime supply.

Good luck!

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks WW . and my next question was about what solder to use and if phone shack had something good since they are nearby/everywhere , but you headed me off at the pass . is the solder you mentioned also among the better/best for use on circuit boards/components ? is more silver content better ? the radios shack is %2 but googling shows higher silver content solder from other places .

 

[Wire Weasel]

Absolutely Booty...ALL electronic soldering use ESPECIALLY on circuit boards.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks again sir .

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

BTW Booty, I use an 80 watt iron for soldering my PL-259's and it works great. The iron was meant for doing stained glass work and has a BIG tip. WW is correct about the silver content solder. I use it on all my RF connectors and for most circuit board work. Even the 2% stuff at RS is fine. Usually you only see 2 or 3% stuff anyway unless you look real hard but there is no need to go with any higher silver content.

 

[Beetle]

That's a perfect iron, Booty. As CK said, it's sold mainly for those who work with stained glass, but it does a great job on PL-259s.

Just a picky little point, going back to your first post about whether it'll be "hot enough". It won't get much hotter than any other iron, regardless of wattage. The key feature is the massive tip, which contains a large quantity of heat energy.

A smaller, lighter tip can be just as hot, but if you touch it to a room-temperature 259, the small tip will instantly cool down as the connector sucks the heat energy out of it. Then the iron has to heat the tip up again, but this time it has to heat the whole connector as well, so it takes longer and causes more damage to the coax.

The large, heavy tip doesn't even blink when it touches the connector. It transfers heat instantly and stays hot while you apply the solder and remove the heat. Takes maybe three seconds per hole.

You'll love that iron!

 

[mackmobile43]

I use this with a chisel tip;\

American Beauty

 

[GLR]

dang skippy it will work

 

[jazzsinger]

you can even get away with using a 25w soldering iron on pl259 to rg58c/u or rg213/u,its mainly technique/preparation and quality solder.

for rg214/u a 50w temp compensted iron (minimum) upwards is best due to if you use anything less the tip temperature will get pulled down when trying to solder the shield.

pretinning all solderable conductors and cleaning iron tip make things easier.removing nickel plate on cheaper/inferior plugs before tinning helps improve the joins both electrically and mechanically.

silver plugs should be relatively easy to solder too with less preparation required.buy amphenol 83-1sp if you can.

weller irons are good booty,its well up to the job,you got a bargain.antex make in my opinion slightly better irons but its more down to personal taste than anything else.

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

thanks guys . its a model SP80 . looked online and they sell for between $20 - $40 bucks depending on the vendor , so i got a good deal .