Bob,
Good feedback. In retrospect, I probably should have gone with either a 100
or 150-watt iron with the high mass shaft ahead of the tip. The perceived
size of these irons can be deceiving. I was very surprised by the weight
and size of the 200-watt Hexacon iron. It's really too large and heavy to
manipulate into small areas, especially where a lot of circuit wiring comes
in proximity to the chassis can tabs.
Paul, W9AC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Spooner" <rl...@psu.edu>
To: "'Richard Knoppow'" <1oldle...@ix.netcom.com>; "'Paul Christensen'"
<w...@arrl.net>; <Drakelist@zerobeat.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 3:47 PM
Subject: RE: [Drakelist] T4XB Question
The requirement for removing filter cap cans is to move a lot of heat
energy
into the solder joint in a short period of time, so that the joint
temperature get's high enough fast enough to not heat up everything else
around it as well. (Think PL-259 braid soldering.) This can be done one of
two ways, either with a high mass low-wattage soldering iron (low rate of
energy input, high heat capacity) or with a high-wattage soldering gun
(low
heat capacity, high rate of energy input.) The heat transfer is driven by
the temperature difference. If too small an iron is used, the tip
temperature will decrease too rapidly to do the job.
73,
Bob AD3K
-----Original Message-----
From: drakelist-boun...@zerobeat.net
[mailto:drakelist-boun...@zerobeat.net]
On Behalf Of Richard Knoppow
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 3:10 PM
To: Paul Christensen; Drakelist@zerobeat.net
Subject: Re: [Drakelist] T4XB Question
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Christensen" <w...@arrl.net>
To: <Drakelist@zerobeat.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 11:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Drakelist] T4XB Question
I replaced the three-section electrolytic in my R-4 with
no major
problems (that Drake chassis is a huge heat sink - make
sure you're
using a big iron/gun).
After trying to tackle the filter cap removal from my
Drake 1A, I began looking for 200-watt soldering irons. I
was (and still am) in shock over the price of new,
high-wattage irons. I finally found a used, 40+ year old
200-watt Hexacon iron, and it was still nearly $100. Best
as I can figure, the price of new Hexacon and American
Beauty irons is held up by demand from commercial sheet
metal workers.
Paul, W9AC
You might try local swap meets or junk shops. I've
bought several large old soldering irons at such places for
a few dollars. You may have to replace the tips but usually
you can just file them down a little and re-tin them. I have
not looked on ebay for them but its another possibility. Two
of my large irons are American Beauty brand and I think the
other is Esico both once top brands. The mass of the tip may
be more important than the wattage. Modern irons have very
little mass so are cooled quickly, for working on old
equipment one needs a high mass iron.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickb...@ix.netcom.com
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