Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

[goontron]

I've recently purchased a RadioShack 60 watt soldering iron (cheap junk, blah blah, im a studint and cant afford a hakko or clone, ok) and it has a dull orange glow of the barrel, however the tip never glows. My thoughts are along the lines of "metal has a very dull cherry glow at 975°f and the tip isn't glowing even though the iron is rated for 980°f, so it's OK"
that's where I need a sanity check.

Is it normal?

[goontron]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

It's only pulling 470mA...

[eccerr0r]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

I have a Craftsman 45W from the 70s and it glows a dull orange as well (have to be fairly dark to see it). Either way, yes I've destroyed PCBs with this iron.

470mA sounds about right, no?

[eccerr0r]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

BTW... watts does not mean temperature, else the 1800W stove heating elements will be hot enough to melt steel pots. Then again it may, I've never tried it... all I do is boil water.

[stj]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

lol they will melt pots if they are empty - i destroyed an old-skool kettle once like that!

[eccerr0r]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

Hmm... then I'll need to see if I can set up a stove top refractory to recycle aluminum...
Somehow I don't really see this happening.

[kaboom]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

that's where I need a sanity check.

Is it normal?

If there's just a setscrew and poor tolerances between the tip & heater, the barrel gets much hotter than the tip in the short term. In the long run, of course, the tip eventually reaches the same temp as the heater, but with the poor thermal interface, tip temp drops like a rock when you try heating connections.

These extreme temperature excursions also rip pads/traces from PCBs if you attempt to use such irons on such.

They run heater watts high to attempt to "make up" for the lousy thermal interface. It also ends up oxidizing the tip away if left on for more than 20-30 minutes. If, by "accident," you manage to actually solder something on a PCB, the joints are nasty- from copper oxide and cooked flux from the extreme temps.

You'd be better off with those inexpensive wellers, with screw-in tips. They can be found at most(?) home cheapos, and are a better iron by far. I've out-soldered 45 and 60W cheapies with the common 23/25W "Weller Marksman."

Cheap "setscrew" irons have made many beginners swear off soldering, especially when "my first kit" doesn't work afterwards.

Steve Lav would say: "If you buy a tool, buy the best. It'll be with you for life, always ready when you need it."

[stj]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

unless it's thin sheet you will need more energy than the cooker puts out.

[kaboom]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

Hmm... then I'll need to see if I can set up a stove top refractory to recycle aluminum...
Somehow I don't really see this happening.

You need temperature and BTUs to do anything serious, hence the comment of the elements melting down without a pot.

And electric resistive heat is the absolute worst cost/BTU ratio of anything; gasoline, fuel oil, propane, or natural gas being far more sensible.

Slightly OT- those silly "electric only" cars, whose only source of energy is a battery bank charged by your POCO, effectively cost 7-8 dollars-per-gallon-equivalent. This asssumes the charger, batt bank, and vehicle "power"train are 100% efficient from input watts to wheel motion.

There's no free lunch.

[stj]

Re: Soldering iron glowing, need sanity check.

yes there is - street lamps can output over 60A if you tap the input to the fuse!