Jim Barrett wrote: > If you need to solder wire in cold weather, use a propane torch. A torch is > best suited to uninsulated stranded copper wire, as the heat will cause the > insulation on typical "zip cord" extension wire to melt back on either side > of the spice - but it will deliver enough heat to make a perfect solder > joint in just seconds - even if the ambient temps are quite cold. Use rather > heavy gauge rosin-core solder, and set the flame as low as possible. It's > best to do it when the winds are calm.
And another trick is to get one of those old-style really heavy soldering irons. Sometimes these are still available from hardware stores, and usually draw about 250 watts or more in power. These soldering irons have a wide heavy copper tip on them. You can use the propane torch to heat the tip, leaving the heat on long enough to get the entire body of the iron hot, and then use the iron to solder the wire. No flames, and generally won't melt insulation too bad. There are soldering tips for propane torches, though I haven't seen these lately. They are copper tips with holes for the flame a ways back from the tip. Rick Kunath ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- Order your WRTH 2008: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2008 ---[End Commercial]----------------------- ________________________________________ Hard-Core-DX mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
