What Soldering Iron do you use and what Solder?

[TheShreddinHand]

Ok guys, so it's been a while since I replaced pickups. And in my last Ibanez guitar I remember the solder (already in guitar) being extremely hard to get hot enough to remove the wiring. Is the soldering iron I have not powerful enough? What are you using? Here is what I have:

Weller SP23L Marksman Lighted Soldering Iron - Amazon.com

The removable tips on this one just never seemed to get as hot as the base.

And what type of solder are you using? I have some Oatey 60/40 (60 - tin, 40 - lead). It worked 'okay' the last time, but I just wondered if what I have is too wide (see attached photo).

 

[Vostre Roy]

Here's my brand new analog soldering station, a Weller WES51. I've been using a RadioShack 10$ soldering iron for the past two years (including my amp build) so this was an honest investment to make for me lol. Can't recall wich solder I use, I'll check tonigh

 

[Benjamin Millar]

25 watts is a bit on the low side. You will probably go into trouble soldering to the back of pots, as they act as a heatsink. 40 watts minimum should be better suited for guitar work.
I have a digital soldering station (don't remember what brand at the moment). It's 48 watts and I set it to 360 Celsius. Works like a charm.
I use 60/40 solder, 0.8 diameter. You can also work with 1 and 1.2 diameter comfortably.

 

[darren]

I use an older Hakko 936, which is discontinued now, but their FX888 is also a very good iron. I use .020" lead-free solder, which is nice and controllable.

Digikey

 

[Konfyouzd]

I have a generic 25w iron I got from Amazon. I use the super thin solder as it seems to melt the easiest. My friend uses some solder that's so thin it almost looks like silver twine.

 

[Andrew91]

Here's my brand new analog soldering station, a Weller WES51.

I'd highly recommend this. I haven't used one for guitars, but that thing could handle basically anything.
Plus it looks fancy. That's always a plus.

 

[TheShreddinHand]

25 watts is a bit on the low side. You will probably go into trouble soldering to the back of pots, as they act as a heatsink. 40 watts minimum should be better suited for guitar work.
I have a digital soldering station (don't remember what brand at the moment). It's 48 watts and I set it to 360 Celsius. Works like a charm.
I use 60/40 solder, 0.8 diameter. You can also work with 1 and 1.2 diameter comfortably.

Yeah, that's what I thought. And for some reason the solder I have doesn't say the diameter on the package, just the 60/40 split and the net wt. But I'm sure my problem was compounded by the wire being bigger in diameter than it needed to be.

Thanks for the input so far guys, killer info as always!

 

[Mr Wright]

I use a hakko FX888. I love it. The damn thing is even still on my coffee table from it's most recent use.

 

[Yo_Wattup]

I had a 25W iron and it was woefully underpowered for everything guitar related. Got a 65W one and I'm a happy chappy now.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I just use a generic 40 watt Radio Shack iron and some 80/20 solder. Works fine for the small stuff I do, but I'd like to get a better iron if I do more work on friend's guitars etc.

 

[Daf57]

This is the one I use at home and at work. Excellent iron.
Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station - Amazon.com

 

[MikeyLawless]

Hakko fx888. Love it. 60/40 rosin core i believe as well.

 

[TheShreddinHand]

This is the one I use at home and at work. Excellent iron.
Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station - Amazon.com

Price ain't too shabby!

 

[Krigsmjod]

I use an ultra-budget NexxTech variable 5-60 W unit, usually dialed to about 40 W. Using high heat quickly does potentially less damage to internal dielectrics than low heat applied for a long time.
As for solder, 99.3% Sn / 0.7% Cu thin stuff... 0.03" diameter. Using the giant spools of solder just seems to make a messy pool any time I try to make surgically clean joints.

 

[yellowv]

I use one of these. Portasol soldering pen. Runs on Butane. Heats up in about 30 seconds up to 60 watts. Fits in your pocket.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

^duuuude

 

[Nikea Tiber]

Get a hakko. Any good thin 60/40 rosin core solder is good; the lead free stuff is a bit harder to work with as it has a higher melting point so you have to heat a part a bit excessively if you aren't using a 60+ watt iron.

 

[TheShreddinHand]

Here's my brand new analog soldering station, a Weller WES51. I've been using a RadioShack 10$ soldering iron for the past two years (including my amp build) so this was an honest investment to make for me lol. Can't recall wich solder I use, I'll check tonigh

Just wanted to update this thread and let you guys know that I picked up this baby above as an xmas present and holy crap what a difference a quality soldering iron makes. It was insanely easy to change the pickups in my Ibby with this thing. Quality soldering station here!

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I've got a generic iron with a bright pink handle. I did buy a little station to go with to avoid setting the house on fire which is nice. It works for everything i have needed it to so far, but not always really well. I need to upgrade at some point.

this might be the one

 

[Prophetable]

I originally had a Weller like in OP but it was really hard to use as it didn't heat evenly and the tip snapped when I tried to replace it.

I replaced it with this slightly better Weller and I like it a lot.