I find that "silver solder" covers MANY alloys, from low-melt to acetylene torch. "Plumbing store" is a partial clue. Air-conditioning tubing is preferably brazed with a bronze-like copper alloy, not any sort of lead/tin or similar. But the brazing filler is not sold at small hardware stores because you can't melt it with a propane flame (the "blowtorch" in the article may still be gasoline). I can go to the professional plumber supply, if they would sell to me. Of course you can tell by the price: a few inches of silver brazing wire costs more than a good dinner.
Side-note: in American we distinguish tin/lead as "solder", copper/silver as "braze", and base metal (iron/steel, nickel) as "welding". European languages often call all these melted-metal processes "welding".
Side-note: in American we distinguish tin/lead as "solder", copper/silver as "braze", and base metal (iron/steel, nickel) as "welding". European languages often call all these melted-metal processes "welding".
I'll give it a try.
I have an old 60 watt with a raw copper rod that could benefit.
I'll silver solder it and let it corrode in the drawer for for some unknown time and report back.
I have an old 60 watt with a raw copper rod that could benefit.
I'll silver solder it and let it corrode in the drawer for for some unknown time and report back.
Solder is joining relatively loosely fitting parts together with a filler material whose melting temperature is lower than the melting temperature of the parts. Brazing is joining tightly fitted parts with a filler material whose melting temperature is lower than the melting temperature of the parts, but close than in soldering.
In welding, both the filler and the parts to be joined are heated and melted to liquid. The parts and the filler flow together.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazing
Stainless steel is one of the worst heat-conducting metal alloys. In addition, many grades are incompatible with solder (no wetability).
The long-lasting tips are made from copper with just an ordinary iron plating for protection
Could be.
IF I remember to (a big problem in itself) I´ll buy some proper diameter copper rod, cut and grind it into proper shape, and carry them to my Zinc plater (who also does other plating) and ask him to make 1 or 2 each zinc or nickel plated.
I know zinc takes solder, nickel too (slightly harder but eventually does) and then use those tips in everyday jobs.
I know iron is king, of course, but it would be interesting to find options.
Meaning options available to me, I know nobody who iron plates.
When I asked, they looked at me like a madman 🙁 , as in: "you KNOW it is the other way, don´t you?" 🙂
IF I remember to (a big problem in itself) I´ll buy some proper diameter copper rod, cut and grind it into proper shape, and carry them to my Zinc plater (who also does other plating) and ask him to make 1 or 2 each zinc or nickel plated.
I know zinc takes solder, nickel too (slightly harder but eventually does) and then use those tips in everyday jobs.
I know iron is king, of course, but it would be interesting to find options.
Meaning options available to me, I know nobody who iron plates.
When I asked, they looked at me like a madman 🙁 , as in: "you KNOW it is the other way, don´t you?" 🙂
I was wondering if the 1967 process isn't just what long life-tips now are. Anyone know?
No, modern long life tips are a solid copper core, covered in a thin iron layer which is plated/galvanized on (no silver anywhere) and ´pretinned at factory to make it easier for you.
Heat loss is small because iron layer is thin , it takes solder well, and it does not dissolve in solder.
Now the smallest nick or crack on iron later, and solder can get in and corrode copper.
You end with a cavity, same mechanism as in teeth, you may have an almost invisible pore and inside a large cavity.
Heat loss is small because iron layer is thin , it takes solder well, and it does not dissolve in solder.
Now the smallest nick or crack on iron later, and solder can get in and corrode copper.
You end with a cavity, same mechanism as in teeth, you may have an almost invisible pore and inside a large cavity.
For many years, all I could afford was a cheapy soldering iron with no temperature control. It took an annoyingly long time to heat back up to operating temperature if you turned it off. And the tips were unplated bare copper when you bought the iron - no iron plating, so they pitted and wore out fairly rapidly.
My fix was to wire a lamp cord switch in series with one of the two mains wires running to the iron, with an ordinary 1N4007 silicon diode inside the switch housing, wired in parallel with the switch contacts.
With the switch closed, the iron would reach normal full temperature.
With the switch open, the diode would block half the incoming AC waveform, so the iron was operating on half-power. It would cool down enough to substantially prolong tip life, but not so much that it took forever to heat back up.
Now I have a Hakko FX-888. Dialing the temperature up or down is absurdly clumsy. It involves many, many button-pushes.
Fortunately this iron lets you program three preset temperatures. I have one preset programmed to 500 F, one to 700 F, the third to 750 F. I switch to the 500 F preset when the iron is going to be idle for a few minutes. Not cold, but sufficiently cooler to prolong tip life a lot, and to avoid build-up of charred, overcooked flux.
The 700 F preset is for general electronic soldering work, the 750 F preset is for soldering to larger metal objects - hefty switch contacts, et cetera, where the iron tends to cool down a little as you solder.
-Gnobuddy
My first couple of irons were like that too. I did have long-life tips for them, though. The irons ended up failing due to burnt-out heaters. In the late 1980s I finally bought my first temperature controlled iron; a Weller TCP.
That's a neat trick ... as long as you remember to toggle the switch.
Does it not have a timer or standby function? My METCAL MX-500 does. It'll turn off after something like 30 minutes without activity. It's a bit annoying at times as soldering SMD parts doesn't always draw enough heat from the iron to trigger its activity timer. Then again, the iron heats up in 15-20 seconds so it's not a big deal to just toggle the power switch.
One could go to the local home improvement warehouse and buy a timer. I'd get one with a 30-minute or 60-minute max.
Tom
A trick I use to protect the iron and the tip, and to improve thermal efficiency (by reducing the radiative losses) is to wrap the whole heating element and most of the tip in a strip of aluminum paper.
When it is tightly wrapped, it prevents oxygen from reaching the internal parts, and improves the condition of the tip as it prevents rosin residues from accumulating on it.
When the paper is freshly wrapped, it is a bit tricky, because it tends to unwind, but after some hours of use, it kind of becomes adherent.
To make it hold when it is fresh, I use a 0.1mm copper wire to keep it in place
When it is tightly wrapped, it prevents oxygen from reaching the internal parts, and improves the condition of the tip as it prevents rosin residues from accumulating on it.
When the paper is freshly wrapped, it is a bit tricky, because it tends to unwind, but after some hours of use, it kind of becomes adherent.
To make it hold when it is fresh, I use a 0.1mm copper wire to keep it in place