Re: Scooter Soldering Kit Battery - Page 7

 



The confusion is entirely understandable as many pencil blowtorches come
with a soldering attachment and some butane soldering irons come with a
blowtorch fitting.

The soldering iron kits usually cost more than pencil blowtorches so I'd
hope they work better than the soldering attachment that came with the
pencil blowtorch I have.

 

wrote:

I can only offer one data point. I bought an Archer branded butane
soldering iron 20 years ago from Radio Shack. It still works fine, yes
you pay attention to where the exhaust is pointed...but like soldering
it is just a matter of paying attention to what is going on. <shrug> I
dunno, people have told me they don't work well but I just keep using
it and turning out decent work for what I do.

I am certain there are better ones available now.
--
keith

 

S'mee wrote:
...

Maybe they're trying to solder with a butane torch that has no tip, as somebody
here suggested.  Often amazes me how two people can have such divergent
interpretations of simple instructions, let alone news group posts!  No doubt
some of my friends are less than competent in general, but a couple of them have
expressed disgust after trying to solder with both irons and torches - my theory
is it's because the tips are filthy, they put too much solder on,  too much or
not enough flux, don't find a rest for their iron hand, don't secure or clean
the joint beforehand, screwball application of heat, etc.  Head and hand
position is really important for me because of crappy eyesight - good welders
know to always find a steady rest for their torch arm.  I'm no expert, just
solder occasionally, but even I know this stuff.  The other thing I know is that
when I make an obviously bad joint, I should do it again.  Also, the name-brand
butane torches such as Weller seem to have enough hea
t even for a #8 stranded wire.  I guess the extremely portable butane torches
have other uses besides soldering, say at the least starting a fire to keep you
warm when you're stranded, maybe more mechanical uses too, not sure if I'd want
to ignite some fuel to set a bead at the side of the road though.


For some strange reason, this all makes me wonder whether anybody still does
brazing on motorcycle body parts.  Like on some bicycle frames, if there is a
good tight fit, it seems you can make a joint that will handle much more than
its own weight, although I certainly wouldn't try to fix a broken side-stand
without welding.  I've done a little brazing with welders' tanks, but I see
there are some small home brazing kits that come with some new-fangled gas whose
name I forget, good for about twenty minutes, about a buck per minute in gas
cost, comes in a yellow tank.  Has anybody here used these for any motorcycle
repair?

 

He and Krusty are well suited as a team, then.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F SH50
If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Workshop manual?
Buy one instead of asking where the free PDFs are
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

 
wrote:

Only on cold days...cold being UNDER 35F. Well that's my definition,
what would I know I've installed AC compressor units when it was 25F.
Getting the torch lit was the hardest part as the winds were a good
bit over 25mph that day. 8^(

Electric soldering irons shouldn't be bothered on windy days unless
it's damn cold.
--
Temperature controlled soldering irons should cope unless its *BLOODY* cold,
the cheaper ones with no thermostat are regulated (of sorts) by a positive
temperature coefficient in the resistance wire the element is wound with. As
the element heats up it's resistance increases so the current draw levels
off, conversely if its cooled the resistance reduces increasing the current
draw.