Soldering Iron

[john3]

thanx guys.

 

[WorldIndustries]

Thinking pro, he should use the cold heat solderer!

Dave

NOOO. I've been soldering for years, and Cold Heat is complete CRAP. You can't use it on electronic boards (the voltage from Cold Heat will fry anything that is possible to fry), the tips break easy, it's very awkward to get a contact point from it. I'd rather use my $10 solder iron I got from WalMart.

 

[HAVOC]

Thinking pro, he should use the cold heat solderer!

Dave

This is what i was thinking about recommending too , but couldn't remember what it was.... One of those late night infomercials that you listen to in your sleep when you've passed out on the couch at 4:00am..

 

[john3]

well, from what industries is saying, its not good. and i just need a basic old school iron, which i already got.

 

[Crysalis]

it is a really basic thing to do, but takes a LOT of practice to get good at it. Its like welding... takes alot of patience and time to be really good at it.

First, twist the wire ends.

Second TIN THE WIRE AND IRON!!!! Tinning is when you put a small amount of solder along the copper part of the wire. This helps the wire to melt together with the contact your soldering.

Third - Don't melt the solder with the iron itself... let the iron touch whatever you are soldering to and WAIT for the heat to build up and melt the solder.

Fourth - Move the solder, not the iron. Like you are painting.

Fifth - take away the iron and let it cool for a few seconds.

Sixth - snip of any pointy soldering joints.

Good luck!

 

[john3]

k here is my question, how exactly do u 'tin' the iron, do u let it melt straight to the tip? just a dab of it? and tinning the wire, do u just place a small strip of it along the contact points, then when it is heated it melts, then u put more solder?

 

[Crysalis]

You've got the tinning the iron part... for the wire tinning, you just melt some solder along the wire BEFORE you solder it to the contact.

 

[WorldIndustries]

This is what i was thinking about recommending too , but couldn't remember what it was.... One of those late night infomercials that you listen to in your sleep when you've passed out on the couch at 4:00am..

Have you actually used the Cold Heat? It's the biggest piece of crap I have EVER, EVERRR wasted my money on

The average rating of it on Amazon.com is 1 and a half stars out of 5.

Here are some helpful reviews:

"I was so eager to use this wannabe soldering iron. I tried it 1 time. I didn't even manage to solder anything the tip melted off and fell and made a burn make in my cars interior. DO NOT BUY."

"A hellish nightmare to be sure, brought to earth by the most sadistic tormenters from hades. Will not solder even the most conductive metals saturated in flux, but the tip makes a connection just enough to barely melt the solder to leave a mess. Think you'll at least get a decent pair of wire strippers they offer as a bonus with the product? Guess Again After sending them the 6 dollars for shipping the only thing you'll receive are unanswered emails."

"If you want to get this thing to heat up, throw it in the fire where it belongs."

 

[Crysalis]

i've actually heard nothing but good about those things... not specifically the Cold Heat, but others. I've heard they are really worth it.

 

[john3]

k guys, well i did it on a test wire. and well it didnt go so well.
here is the picture of the end result.

its awful, one side is soldered and other isnt. for some reason i couldnt heat the wire hot enough to melt the solder by itself, so i used the iron to help it out, so the solder melted fell on the tape (non adhesive side) and i just started to dip the wire in the melted solder. im gonna try again later today, right now im sanding my speakers......here is the link to the page of my progress.....
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107301