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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: David Ruff on March 10, 2018, 11:43:40 AM
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I need your best recommendations on soldering tool. Mostly I am looking to solder the couplers for my pushrod.
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I need your best recommendations on soldering tool. Mostly I am looking to solder the couplers for my pushrod.
"Soldering couplers" for your pushrod? Why? You shouldn't ever use soldered couplers for a pushrod. Soldering only for the washers (and then, backed up with something else, like a groove and a wire wrap).
Pushrods are either one continuous piece of music wire, or graphite w/end fittings attached using J-B Weld. If you absolutely must use a two-piece music wire pushrod, then you could braze it, but that requires a torch and good technique, and you wind up with an unknown state of the temper in the wire.
Brett
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I share Brett's opinion/advices.
Used to say: I am supersticious*, I never solder such places/parts. (To solder some washer, or such pieces into the corner of pushrod ends that isn't vital area.)
*in other words: imagine that the little green gremlin is riding on the pushrod, and beats it with hammer all the time... :)
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Well I am at an impasse. I cannot pull the rod out of the bellcrank at this point. I know others have used the Brodak coupler. I will avoid this method in the future.
I wonder why Brodak uses these couplers?
https://brodak.com/rod-couplers-for-3-32-wire.html
Well, I will just do my best with the soldering.
As I asked earlier, can anybody recommend a good soldering iron? Wattage? Etc.
Thanks.
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Get a "stained glass" soldering iron, big tip and plenty of heat.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-SPG80L-Marksman-Stained-Soldering/dp/B000GR3NMY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1520770719&sr=8-4&keywords=soldering+iron+stained+glass&dpID=318YNG1Y23L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Also be sure to use lead/tin solder, not lead free plumbing stuff. Even better would be stainless steel solder, or Stay-brite.
The split style of joiner works well, since you can see the entire length of the joint.
The solder should all be nice and shiny, with a fillet at each end to show that the solder has wetted out and bonded with the steel rod. Acid style flux will help here.
Pat MacKenzie
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Well I am at an impasse. I cannot pull the rod out of the bellcrank at this point. I know others have used the Brodak coupler. I will avoid this method in the future.
I wonder why Brodak uses these couplers?
https://brodak.com/rod-couplers-for-3-32-wire.html
Because they are trying to solve a different problem than we are.
Well, I will just do my best with the soldering.
As I asked earlier, can anybody recommend a good soldering iron? Wattage? Etc.
Use 60/40 or silver-bearing solder (which is NOT "silver solder" no matter what it says on the Stay-Brite package!! or various marketing materials). Clean and tin everything first - both pushrod ends and the inside of the coupler, and remove all the excess solder. When you get done, you should have a very thin layers of shiny solder on everything, like it was plated with it (no globs). Then, cover everything with acid flux, assemble it, then heat and add solder. When finished heating, remove iron and do not move it for about 2 minutes. Any movement while it is cooling will wreck the joint; if so, heat it up, take it all apart, and try again, including the flux.
Then clean the joint using water and then lacquer thinner to remove all traces of flux. The finished, cooled, joint should be smooth and shiny from end to end, with no black spots, and nice smooth fillets all the way around both ends of the coupler, and in the slot of the coupler.
The Weller iron might work OK but will take a long time to heat everything. I would suggest, alternately, a 150W or larger American Beauty industrial iron (e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Beauty-3138X-175-Soldering-Iron-13-OAL-3-8-Tip-Diameter-175W/332576290843?hash=item4d6f17781b:g:GKoAAOSwHgVanYme ). These have no temperature control, lots of tip mass (storing heat) and enough power. Let it heat for an hour or so before use. There are plenty of new and used examples. These used to be used for industrial hand-soldering, like old radios back in the 30s, where they were put together using point-to-point wiring by huge lines of women. I have seen movies of it, they would install and solder maybe 10 components in 30 seconds, then toss it on a conveyor to the next station.
Brett
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I need your best recommendations on soldering tool. Mostly I am looking to solder the couplers for my pushrod.
The WELLER Solder Station , it is the best tool I have ever used for soldering, and I have over a dozen irons guns etc
Randy
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80 watts if Electric .
Plumbers Soldering Irons were good , before they went to plastic gutters . LL~ The Little 80 W from the Elec Shop does the trick .
Their 60 & 20 W wouldnt .
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The Weller iron might work OK but will take a long time to heat everything. I would suggest, alternately, a 150W or larger American Beauty industrial iron (e.g. https://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Beauty-3138X-175-Soldering-Iron-13-OAL-3-8-Tip-Diameter-175W/332576290843?hash=item4d6f17781b:g:GKoAAOSwHgVanYme ). These have no temperature control, lots of tip mass (storing heat) and enough power. Let it heat for an hour or so before use.
Brett
Seems like any iron would be up to full heat in 10 min ??
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Seems like any iron would be up to full heat in 10 min ??
There's a lot more mass there than you think, and since the temperature is uncontrolled, you want it as hot as possible for this application.
Brett