Best Iron for chassis soldering

[ckpop]

Hey just curious what you guys use to unsolder or solder connections to a chassis. For FP capactiors and old fender ground connectios.
I'm looking to make a clean, neat solder connection with a high powered iron or what was used to get such clean chassis solder point when fender made the connections ?

[Andy Le Blanc]

I use a 35w pencil for most things, it's pretty good up to point.

I have a 150w gun for chassis grounds and would like to get better.

having enough heat is one thing, having flux is another.

get a tin of the paste you dip solder tip in.

[Ken Moon]

Any good temperature-controlled solder station (I use a Weller WTCPT) can do this. I can easily solder multiple wires to a solder lug bolted to the chassis with an 800 degree chisel tip (not good to try to solder right to a slab of metal, use a solder lug/tag if you possibly can).

The cheapest way is to get one of those big honkin soldering guns. But be careful where you point it

If you REALLY want to get serious, a MetCal soldering station can literally solder a half-inch diameter wire to the hull of a ship with a small pencil iron. They have amazing current capability due to the huge power supply tower.

[Firestorm]

The trick to soldering a steel chassis is the surface area of the iron, rather than just its power in watts (also important, though). Weller makes a 175W iron with a 5/8" chisel tip that does the trick.

[billyz]

I have the Weller gun 100/140w , and a Weller 80 w iron. The 80 Iron works the best. It does take time to heat up though. The chisel tip on the iron is big and that is why I think it works better.

Always clean ( scratch ) and flux. Make solder connections that look exactly like the original.

[selloutrr]

we had a post like this last august.

sears sells a solder gun that came very highly recomended.

personally i've had 4 weller solder guns break on me, for what that's worth. they failed to transfer the heat properly and burned the heating core out. they lasted about 4 amp repairs each.

i have had the best luck with a hot air rework station but it's a pricey way to go.

[Structo]

Not sure if this has been mentioned previously but be careful using a solder gun around guitar pickups.
It has a big inductor in it and can partially demagnetize a pickup or I suppose fully if held too long near it.

We used to use those old guns to degauss TV picture tubes.

[billyz]

I only use the Gun for defretting guitar necks. And yes , keep it away from the pickups. mine is ancient and works as well as it ever did, the tip ( soft wire ) looks like hell though.

You can find a decent 80 W iron at Hobby Lobby for cheap. They use them for Stained Glass soldering.

[Blindog]

You can find a decent 80 W iron at Hobby Lobby for cheap. They use them for Stained Glass soldering.

+1 That's what I use. Works great, nice fat chisel tip with good surface area.

MArk

[Bill Moore]

I use a Weller gun, but like others have said, the surface area is the ticket with whatever you use. Having used guns for years, I know you can use 12 ga, copper wire, and make your own tips. Make 2 bends to leave 3/16" of flattened copper at the tip, before bending to fit the iron, cut off excess. Now you have a lot of heat transfer area, and can easily solder to the heaviest chassis.

[Cliff Schecht]

Any good temperature-controlled solder station (I use a Weller WTCPT) can do this. I can easily solder multiple wires to a solder lug bolted to the chassis with an 800 degree chisel tip (not good to try to solder right to a slab of metal, use a solder lug/tag if you possibly can).

The cheapest way is to get one of those big honkin soldering guns. But be careful where you point it

If you REALLY want to get serious, a MetCal soldering station can literally solder a half-inch diameter wire to the hull of a ship with a small pencil iron. They have amazing current capability due to the huge power supply tower.

I use the same iron and I agree totally. It's very easy to do chassis soldering, just crank the temp to 850 and make sure the solder is completely melted before releasing the heat. I always make sure that the part is physically touching the chassis before I release the heat too, it assures you that there is a strong electrical connection.

My new favorite method of construction is using steel chassis with terminal strips soldered directly to the chassis. It makes a strong and usually very convenient grounding point for between-tube connections.