Hi all:
I was reading the thread on soldering and having been soldering for a long
time,thought I mightt be able to offer a few tips.  First the type of iron
you use will depend on the job you are trying to solder.  Things like coax
connectors and heavy ground wires will require more heat.  For things like
that you would use one of the weller guns that usually have two heat
settings,  100 and 140 watts. The weller 8200 gun is one such model. This
gun heats fast and cools fast.
For things like 1/4 watt resistors, disc capacitors  electrolytic
capacitors, and transistors and ics, you would want to use a smaller iron
somewhere in the 25 to 40 watt range such as one of the weller soldering
stations or other small iron.   If you are new to soldering and you are
interested in soldering small components you might want to try one of the
battery powered irons.  Many of these heat fast and cool fast and give
enough heat for small components.  As you get more proficient you can go to
one of the soldering stations.
Be sure that the component leads and connection are clean before trying to
solder. Before I mount components, I scrub each lead with a dry scotch
bright  pad..  This takes off the tarnish.   You can also use an acid brush
with some 91 percent alcohol  to clean the leads.  This is one step many
people forget and it can caus some real bad joints. I use 60-40 rosin core
solder.  You can get this at radio shack or any of the mail order houses.  I
use solder with diameter of .025 or .032.  This is thin but for most
components, it works well.
When heating the joint, I put the iron on one side of the joint and touch
the solder to the other side of the joint.  If the joint is hot, you will
feel the solder give.  You don't need a lot, and you can experiment with
this. After the solder cools and the joint feels tight, I usually clean off
the flux with the alcohol on the acid brush.  You might want to practice by
soldering a couple of wires together or by soldering a couple of resistors
or other components together.  You could also take a piece of heavy wire
like a piece of number 14 solid wire and solder component leads to it.  To
do this, make a small hook in the component lead and put it over the heavy
wire.  Then take a pair of nedle nose pliers and squeez the hook.  Now,
solder as above.  After you do this you will find that it gets easier and
then on to some real projects.
I hope this helps, and if anyone needs more information, pleas contact me.


Tony McCloskey, WA3CAO