Soldering Guns

[spitfire4v8]

After failing to find a forum specifically for soldering guns (!), I've decided to post here as it's a gadget (isn't it?)

For years I've soldered using a conventional iron, but sometimes if I'm building 2 or 3 car looms I find I'm forever switching the mains on and off as and when I need to use the iron - and they seem to take forever to heat up when you're waiting for them, so ...

I'm figuring a gun style iron with trigger on/off would suit me better.

Only issue is .. what to buy? I don't trust any of the ebay reviews (after having an attempted bribe by an ebay seller to change my negative review of his product to a positive one ..) and I'm not sure about amazon reviews either now.

I've googled already, but whilst there seem to be many soldering gun reviews, none seem to be UK based .. maybe soldering guns aren't popular here?

Does anyone have a good soldering gun that they'd happily recommend?

cheers.

[Mr Pointy]

You'll rarely go wrong with a Weller:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weller-8100UD-T0050107299...

Not he cheapest but a reliable brand.

[cobra kid]

Mr Pointy said:

You'll rarely go wrong with a Weller:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Weller-8100UD-T0050107299...

Not he cheapest but a reliable brand.

I shall heartily second this....

[spitfire4v8]

Many thanks .. I'd seen weller mentioned during my google travels, good to see two people instantly recommend it.
Thanks for the link, 6 second heat up time sounds great!

In the absence of anyone posting anything to the contrary i think it's a go-er.

cheers

[Penelope Stopit]

I regret being the bearer of bad news but......There is no way you will achieve good soldered joints with a Weller heat gun due to the fact that they aren't big enough and don't get hot enough for soldering car loom cables, they may cope with the thinner cables used in a car loom, the problem is that the lengths of cable used to build the loom do quickly conduct the heat away through their length and this is why bigger soldering irons are needed to get the good solder flow

I use a medium sized electric soldering iron and solder several joints before it starts cooling down. If I'm having to at intervals solder one joint at a time I use a gas blow torch to quickly heat-up an old electric soldering iron

The best way is to use a copper soldering iron and a gas stove to heat it quickly but insurance companies may not cover this method

[GnuBee]

Any reason you're not crimping rather than soldering? Properly crimped connections + adhesive lined heat-shrink is a pretty much ideal combination for the sort of environment(s) the loom has to operate in

[poppopbangbang]

What solder joints are you making? If these are to amphenol style solder buckets could you not move to AS connectors instead, alternatively if there are wire to wire joints then a crimp connection is generally stronger and more reliable than a solder joint. If it's DB9s and similar then you're pretty stuck unfortunately.

We use Weller solder stations (mostly the 70W digital ones) but I don't think they've even been turned on this year and we've done a good 12,000 wire terminations/transitions so far this year as the looms on some of our F1s were lifed out on time.

[anonymous-user]

Just leave the iron on, don't switch it off when not needed, assuming you are soldering at least once an hour. Lets face it, they use hardly any power. My biggest iron is 80w and I only really need that for big jobs where there is loads of heat soak away, and even then , you have to be careful not to melt insulation back etc.

My main iron (I fab auto electrical kit) is 40w and goes on when I enter the workshop, and off when I leave. Just keep it tinned and it'll be fine.

Soldering stations are superb if you must power off frequently for whatever reason. My soldering station is up to temp in around 20-30 seconds. Way way faster than 240v irons. (station is 240v powered but the actual iron is 12v)

[spitfire4v8]

I use crimps where I need to join several wires together, eg on the injector 12v feeds I run 2 main wires into the engine bay, and crimp 4 spurs off each (v8 engines) or for heavier duty wires like the main relay feeds fed from the existing car loom .. makes for a good reliable (In my experience) joint.

I solder individual thinner wires where required for instance where I'm joining into the car wiring which is already there (interfacing with the main car loom if you like)

I've just always done it this way as I find some small crimp joiners don't always fasten securely .. so I solder those joints instead on the basis that a good soldered joint is preferable to a poor crimped one! Once encased in heat shrink there's limited movement of the loom so little chance of fractures which I think is the main reason people say don't solder joints ? ..

The wiring isn't thick - typical auto wiring .. rarely any reason to use heavier than 17awg except for the main power feeds which are crimped anyway. It's just my trusty old iron just seems a bit industrial left on all the time, and takes an age to warm up if cold .. (it might not be as good as it used to be anyway .. had it years!)

So on the basis that there will still be wires that need to be joined, and I think in some cases that means soldered, I was going to treat myself to a quick warm-up gun.

[anonymous-user]

I just found soldering guns to be too clumsy. Especially if you are working on small wires. Of course that was just my experience.

btw - gas soldering irons heat up almost instantly.....

[spitfire4v8]

RogerDodger said:

Just leave the iron on, don't switch it off when not needed, assuming you are soldering at least once an hour. Lets face it, they use hardly any power. My biggest iron is 80w and I only really need that for big jobs where there is loads of heat soak away, and even then , you have to be careful not to melt insulation back etc.

My main iron (I fab auto electrical kit) is 40w and goes on when I enter the workshop, and off when I leave. Just keep it tinned and it'll be fine.

Soldering stations are superb if you must power off frequently for whatever reason. My soldering station is up to temp in around 20-30 seconds. Way way faster than 240v irons.

I'd love to have a dedicated bench all set up with a soldering station, but the reality is I make my looms on a big board resting on two stools in any clear space I can make for a day to make the looms up .. also because of the makeshift workzone there's real chance of me catching the always-on soldering iron and dragging it across anything and everything in the area, hence the reason I turn my iron off when not actually using it... especially true when I'm working inside the footwell of a car .. I never leave the iron turned on in that situation, only on when I'm actually using it. I must lose hours a year waiting for it to heat up!

[Penelope Stopit]

This one will solder around corners

[anonymous-user]

Metcal soldering irons are very good, plenty of heat, heat up quickly but eye-wateringly expensive.

Personally I would be crimping everything, look at any modern car loom and I don't think you will see a solder joint anywhere, a proper crimp is like cold welding.

[Graunching_dave]

Penelope Stopit said:

I regret being the bearer of bad news but......There is no way you will achieve good soldered joints with a Weller heat gun due to the fact that they aren't big enough and don't get hot enough for soldering car loom cables, they may cope with the thinner cables used in a car loom, the problem is that the lengths of cable used to build the loom do quickly conduct the heat away through their length and this is why bigger soldering irons are needed to get the good solder flow

I use a medium sized electric soldering iron and solder several joints before it starts cooling down. If I'm having to at intervals solder one joint at a time I use a gas blow torch to quickly heat-up an old electric soldering iron

The best way is to use a copper soldering iron and a gas stove to heat it quickly but insurance companies may not cover this method

Total ste.

I’ve used the Weller gun type soldering iron for many years and can confirm that it will solder looms very well. I now use a gas powered portable iron as it’s easier to move from job to job. It might struggle on cable thick enough for starter motors/ battery terminals but general loom work will be more than covered by a Weller.

Soldering is as much about the skill of the operator as well as the quality of the solder used as it is about the iron.

[Troubleatmill]

Solder station?


I always found them much better than the iron.

[Turn7]

RogerDodger said:

I just found soldering guns to be too clumsy. Especially if you are working on small wires. Of course that was just my experience.

btw - gas soldering irons heat up almost instantly.....

Yep, Im a big fan of the gas irons, even the tiny tipped pen size versions work well in my experience.

[Penelope Stopit]

Graunching_dave said:

Penelope Stopit said:

I regret being the bearer of bad news but......There is no way you will achieve good soldered joints with a Weller heat gun due to the fact that they aren't big enough and don't get hot enough for soldering car loom cables, they may cope with the thinner cables used in a car loom, the problem is that the lengths of cable used to build the loom do quickly conduct the heat away through their length and this is why bigger soldering irons are needed to get the good solder flow

I use a medium sized electric soldering iron and solder several joints before it starts cooling down. If I'm having to at intervals solder one joint at a time I use a gas blow torch to quickly heat-up an old electric soldering iron

The best way is to use a copper soldering iron and a gas stove to heat it quickly but insurance companies may not cover this method

Total ste.

I’ve used the Weller gun type soldering iron for many years and can confirm that it will solder looms very well. I now use a gas powered portable iron as it’s easier to move from job to job. It might struggle on cable thick enough for starter motors/ battery terminals but general loom work will be more than covered by a Weller.

Soldering is as much about the skill of the operator as well as the quality of the solder used as it is about the iron.

Your post shows your complete ignorance of the subject and I can only assume you're having a bad day or are on something

One doesn't solder looms, one solders conductors

You won't find any skilled people soldering the conductors of car cables with a heat gun

Edited out classing this poster as a complete and utter tt

Edited by Penelope Stopit on Tuesday 5th February 20:29

[Who me ?]

Add to last post ,that the Instant heat WELLER solder guns can have leakage problems from induction. OK ,if only soldering terminals on a wiring loom. BUT if fitting electronic componants to the loom, BEWARE. In that case ,I'd only use a soldering station.

[eliot]

Just threw one of those weller heat guns in the bin last week. My dad bought it over 20 years ago when they first came out. They do warm up quickly and do the job for basic weldering(!) of wires, but as a former electronics engineer I wouldn’t touch it and hence when i threw it straight in the bin when i inherited it.

Again as a former component level repair engineer i would turn on my soldering station on in the morning and it would stay on all day.

[spitfire4v8]

Many thanks for all the replies.
Ok so maybe time to re-align my way of thinking and move towards a solder station.

This topic does raise an interesting question of why soldering joints is frowned uopn by so many people. Looms i made 20 years ago are still going strong and i used all solder and no crimps in those days so they were obviously fit for purpose.

Genuine question .. is soldering genuinely acceptable .. we arent building the space shuttle here its a car loom ..