Solder station recommendations.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Showed up today.

[R6cowboy]

Very nice indeed. I yet need to get quality solder, rosin flux paste and bag of deans connectors as well.

[mikea96]

I recently picked up this Hakko iron.

[terry.sc]

As we are on recommendations, while I have an Atten soldering station for most work, I'm now finding I'm only using it if what I'm working on is right next to it on the workbench.

I used to have a gas soldering iron for at the track where there is no power, okay when new but never kept its heat and especially on windy days it was a pain to use. Never powerful enough to do motor wires and too big for small plugs.
I have replaced it with a TS100 battery powered iron from miniware. Runs on a 3 to 6 cell lipo pack. Run it on 6 cell and it will heat up in seconds and can solder motor and battery wires easily, I have made up leads so i can daisy chain three 2 cell lipo packs together to get 22v. For home use I added a 24v laptop power supply.
To fit it into my hauler when I go to the track the iron, a couple of different tips and the battery cable all fit into a bag the size of a battery pack.

A review of it can be found here, and loads of video reviews on youtube.
https://www.rchelicopterfun.com/ts100-soldering-iron.html
Available from Amazon, Ebay, and all over Aliexpress.

[Coelacanth]

Coelacanth, thanks again for the recommendation. Just ordered the same unit, but in orange instead of the blue. Hope it works as well for me as it has for you. I've had this Weller 40 watt iron for years, but it just doesn't cut it. Takes forever to heat up.

Our old Wellers were practically the same unit. Yours was 40W, mine was 35W. So, did you have a chance to try out your new one? What were your impressions?

[R6cowboy]

Coelacanth, thanks again for the recommendation. Just ordered the same unit, but in orange instead of the blue. Hope it works as well for me as it has for you. I've had this Weller 40 watt iron for years, but it just doesn't cut it. Takes forever to heat up.

Our old Wellers were practically the same unit. Yours was 40W, mine was 35W. So, did you have a chance to try out your new one? What were your impressions?

Not yet, been very busy with work lately.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I have this one arriving this week. Hopefully it's decent. I've never had a good one so my nipples are wearing thru my t-shirts on a daily basis.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RVMZNYR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_BQleGbASTHNQD

Finally used this tonight. I was very happy with it. Made me wish I had more to solder than one stock motor...

[R6cowboy]

If someone would share a link or whatnot of good solder and/or flux they typically use, that would be grandtastic. I've been so busy with work I missed three motor auctions that I was pretty excited about (which two of them went for cheap). It pains me to even ask for something like this, makes me look like a lazy schmuck. When I start searching for solder/flux my dubious, indecisive ass ends up researching every solder known to man for far too long. Anyhow, its much appreciated.

[juicedcoupe]

Kester 44, leaded. Pick your diameter. I'm still using up my stash of old Radio Shack leaded solder.

Personally, I haven't noticed much difference in flux. I'm sure someone can tell you better.

When tining tips or larger wires, I prefer a true tinning flux.

[matt1ptkn]

When I start searching for [anything] my dubious, indecisive ass ends up researching every[thing] known to man for far too long.

Then I end up more confused than when I started. But, I typically use this solder: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/welding-and-soldering-tools/soldering-accessories/24637. As for flux, this stuff is pretty awesome: https://www.grainger.com/product/49JR40?ef_id=Cj0KCQiAj9iBBhCJARIsAE9qRtBLeIQ3ylQ4cJqVIvG40RdKcP4EKzPOR3O8xx-IY-068D2DqtNKtzoaAmTfEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!281698276035!!!g!470113353533!&gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:4P7A1P:20501231&gclid=Cj0KCQiAj9iBBhCJARIsAE9qRtBLeIQ3ylQ4cJqVIvG40RdKcP4EKzPOR3O8xx-IY-068D2DqtNKtzoaAmTfEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds.

[Coelacanth]

I use 63/37 solder, but the stuff you get included with the solder station is probably not too good.

[R6cowboy]

Yeah the solder that came with the station was tossed in the trash, can only assume its the cheapest junk solder there is. Currently I have a 1 lb spool of Kester 44 rosin core 63/37, 0.031" dia. solder and Kester 186 flux pen on the shopping list. But 0.031" (1/32") diameter solder seems really small. Is that size what folks use for r/c stuff? Or is 0.062" diameter better suited?

[Coelacanth]

I don't know the exact diameter of my solder, but it's about 1mm thick. Probably at least 2 - 3 times as thick as the crap that came with the station.

[R6cowboy]

Gotcha. The crap that came with the station said .8mm thick on the spool, which is equal to the .031" (or 1/32") stuff I had on my shopping list. I'm guessing you likely have .062" solder (1/16" thick). Switched my shopping list to the .062" thick business.

Just realized I still have some cheapo brand lead-free silver .062" thick solder in my electrical toolbox. Don't know if solder diminishes over time, but that stuff is the better part of a couple decades old or older. Think it's time it be replaced with the Kester 44 stuff. And here I thought the only solder I had was the stuff used for plumbing business.

[Coelacanth]

Gotcha. The crap that came with the station said .8mm thick on the spool, which is equal to the .031" (or 1/32") stuff I had on my shopping list. I'm guessing you likely have .062" solder (1/16" thick). Switched my shopping list to the .062" thick business.

I can confirm this evening with a caliper. I bought several rolls of this solder at an electronics store almost 2 decades ago when I lived in Montreal and was really into computer case modding. A few examples...wow, the years have really flown by! I think that first case was a Windows 98 box, the micro-tower below was Win XP.