# soldering iron not getting hot enough.



## FooTemps

Help!

 I desoldered some drivers earlier and that went without a hitch, but now I'm trying to solder the new cable I made and my iron won't even get hot enough for me to tin it!

 25watt pencil btw


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## Televator

perhaps some dirty talk will do the trick 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 what type of solder do you use? (no-lead?) Have you been able to solder with it before? If so, what was different?... I don't know whether my limited knowledge will suffice, but in general I'd say that providing more info might yield more help


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## threepointone

I think 25w might not be enough for cabling (i admit i don't do much cabling so i'll let someone else confirm that). Try getting some extra flux on the soldering pencil first (by feeding solder to the tip) and try again; if it still doesn't work you might need another iron for cabling.

 btw, is this a 25w radioshack iron? the plating/iron/whatever on mine got so oxidized/messed/up/whatever that it became more or less useless (even for simple thru-hole soldering stuff) after a couple of uses.


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## FooTemps

well I changed sockets and then I just waited a little longer than usual to clean and tin the tip again. This time it worked, now on to recabling!


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## holland

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Televator* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_perhaps some dirty talk will do the trick 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	


_

 

I find heavy petting works better, but as long as it's DIY, it's all good.

 Let the iron sit and get back to it in 30 minutes, especially if Rat Shack. It might be time for a new iron.

 Edit: posts crossed in ether. I see you waited and it worked.


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## Zorander

How old/used is your tip? I found filing and retinning used tips to bring them back to new-like performance. Perhaps yours is due for one such treatment.


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## derevaun

Gettin' hot is great and all, but let's talk commitment. A standard "heated nail" pencil iron needs a new tip regularly--to buy one is to commit to replacing the tip fairly often.


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## Joshatdot

I've only used my Rat Shack 15 watt with a Copper Mesh to clean it, and I add a tad bit of solder to it before I start to really solder stuff...works great.

 But I been wanting a new Iron lately, and I think I'll go for a 20watt or 25watt Hakko Dash if I get another Pencil, or just get a Hakko 936-12 Station.


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## bhjazz

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *FooTemps* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_well I changed sockets and then I just waited a little longer than usual to clean and tin the tip again. This time it worked, now on to recabling!_

 

The tinning is probably what did it. I usually check the temp of my iron with solder first, that way if it's hot enough, it gets a free dose of solder/flux to get things working.


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## FooTemps

well the iron wasn't getting hot enough to even tin if you read my first post. Also, it's a new tip, but it doesn't matter anymore since I finished my recable job


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## bhjazz

Heat transfers far faster with a tinned tip. I usd to crank up my station (iron) to do simple jobs, now I know the tip was just drying out. 

 So, The tinning is priobably what did it!

 Hey Foo, when we have another Seattle Head Fi meet you should come on down. I never noticed that you were so close!


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## Joshatdot

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *bhjazz* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Heat transfers far faster with a tinned tip. I usd to crank up my station (iron) to do simple jobs, now I know the tip was just drying out. 

 So, The tinning is priobably what did it!

*Hey Foo, when we have another Seattle Head Fi meet you should come on down. I never noticed that you were so close!*_

 

Yeah! I am down for a Mini Head-fi Meet in Seattle!


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## bhjazz

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Joshatdot* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Yeah! I am down for a Mini Head-fi Meet in Seattle!_

 

Me too! Our last one was pretty cool. I was pretty jazzed that everybody actually showed up and had a great time. 

 I'm kind of waiting to finish my CK2III before I start pinging Socrates, but maybe now might be a good time to start...If all else fails, we can schedule one for December 1 and all wear campy Santa hats over our 'phones...

 Edit: Done. Thread started. Let's see what we can get going.


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