soldering iron ?

[Newc]

That 15w statement's gotta be a typo, because I have no trouble soldering to pots with it.

[Grandturk]

Brand new pots or existing globs of solder on old pots?

[Newc]

Both

[Grandturk]

Cool. Surprising from a battery powered unit. Is it regualr batteries or rechargable?

[Cygnus X1]

I'd love to have a good battery powered iron for amp building.

I use the RS 20/40 station with a very heavy duty stainless steel pot scrubber stuffed into the coil to keep the tip clean and cool.

I keep it at 40 watts for tube amp work.
(I work fast).

20W tends to overheat parts due to the time the tip has to stay on the components in order to get good solder flow.
I would have to put an alligator clip on everything, each time to act as a heat sink.

[Newc]

Cool. Surprising from a battery powered unit. Is it regualr batteries or rechargable?

Regular. Haven't nailed down a life-span, but I had to replace the batteries after completely rewiring 4 guitars in one sitting (replaced pots, switches, and rewired about 8-10 pickups total, all with 4 conductors).

[rstites]

I keep it at 40 watts for tube amp work.
(I work fast).

20W tends to overheat parts due to the time the tip has to stay on the components in order to get good solder flow.
I would have to put an alligator clip on everything, each time to act as a heat sink.

Agreed. 40 W is the minimum I'd want to use. 60 W is better IMO. I use a Weller solder station with variable levels and leave it set at around 60 W for most work: pedals, amps, guitar electronics. They have nice, easily replaceable tips too. Be careful of the RS ones. They're cheap, but they're also disposible because there are no readily available replacement tips for them. (Plus, the stock tips are too bulky for circuit boards and tight guitar cavities.)

Btw, I bought my last one through Amazon for a very reasonable price.

[Cygnus X1]

Agreed. 40 W is the minimum I'd want to use. 60 W is better IMO. I use a Weller solder station with variable levels and leave it set at around 60 W for most work: pedals, amps, guitar electronics. They have nice, easily replaceable tips too. Be careful of the RS ones. They're cheap, but they're also disposible because there are no readily available replacement tips for them. (Plus, the stock tips are too bulky for circuit boards and tight guitar cavities.)

Btw, I bought my last one through Amazon for a very reasonable price.

Good point...on the points (the tips).
It's actually as inexpensive to buy another iron as a set of tips.
That's what I did, and connected the new one to the soldering station.
The tips have held up great since I put that stainless potscrubber in.
Just stuff it in the bottom of the coil and ball up a little wad of 60/40 solder inside that to keep it tinned.

[straycat]

I have the RS 20-40 and its a great iron No problem getting tips for it.If they don't have any tips on the rack just have them order some just to have a few spares
I hit the small RS's in smaller towns and buy all the chisel tip ones they have on hand.
I have a drawer full of them.

[Cygnus X1]

Good tip straycat.

(Someone please shoot me...)

[warlok]

To the OP - the reason the one I have is a PITA is that the heat (exhaust) comes out a hole about 3/4" back from the tip. It's a short tip and the heat could easily burn paint IMO.

[DHardmanJr]

+1 on the RS 20 40

[Nazgul]

it was great EXCEPT for the tremolo claw ground and soldering the backs of the pots.

I have the same problem with my 35W iron. What seems to work, is to "roughen up" the surface with some sand paper. Then solder sticks to the pots no problem. Yes, on brand new, never-soldered-to pots.

[fordsho90]

To the OP - the reason the one I have is a PITA is that the heat (exhaust) comes out a hole about 3/4" back from the tip. It's a short tip and the heat could easily burn paint IMO.

Thanks for the info warlok

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Hey Jazz was that a butane or a battery operated iron?

Butane

To the OP - the reason the one I have is a PITA is that the heat (exhaust) comes out a hole about 3/4" back from the tip. It's a short tip and the heat could easily burn paint IMO.

Yeah, that too. Melting insulation or whatever is within an inch of the exhaust wasn't too cool, I'd rather deal with a cord.

I have the same problem with my 35W iron. What seems to work, is to "roughen up" the surface with some sand paper. Then solder sticks to the pots no problem. Yes, on brand new, never-soldered-to pots.

Yeah, that is a problem and a solution but it's not what I'm talking about.

For larger joints this thing couldn't generate enough heat to get the solder to flow without holding it on there until it was cooking hot all over.

It would be OK for small terminals and things like that, connecting wires to terminals on the pots and such, just like a 15-watt iron is good for small stuff.