Kelly-Anne Kidston
Know the ins-and-outs of the material you’re working with 🙌 It’s important when applying solder, that the melting point of the solder is lower than the metal you are working with 👍 You could ruin your work if you applied solder to an item that was melting quickly. Pewter melts at 500°F, while easy silver solder won’t melt above 1145°F. This means that even though the solder would flow, it wouldn’t work well enough to join two pieces.
There are five basic areas that make up the soldering process: solder, flux (an oxygen-reducing compound that coats and protects the piece during the soldering process to help prevent oxidation), heat (jewelleryry-making or hand torch), fit (the edges being joined should fit tightly) and cleanliness (make sure your hands, metals and tools are clean of dirt and oils, as pieces won’t join together if any component is dirty). Soldering will flow smoothly if all five of the areas are in good condition. It is when we begin to “fudge,” or get sloppy, that things go wrong. Understanding why things happen will help us to solve the problem quickly. The pros have to sometimes go back to the basics.
Model-railroad-hobbyist.com It also states that good solder is essential. Use only Leaded solder. Non-leaded solder, however, will melt at lower temperatures. However, most non-leaded solder will melt at higher temperatures and take longer to melt than leaded. Heat is the same as temperature. Your DCC boards are capable of enduring temperatures up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit for three to five seconds. You could end up with board damage if you exceed that limit. Let me also address the leaded versus non-leaded debate. NASA carried out a research on this subject some time ago. It’s finding that the non leaded solders had a tendency to “grow” tiny, microscopic hands called Tin whiskers. The whiskers were causing all manner of problems for the Space Shuttle’s switches. NASA is now discontinuing use non leaded solders. If NASA doesn’t use non-leaded solder then I’m will doing it as long as possible. (Last updated 31 days back by Elijah Biggs, Caracas Venezuela).
As conditions can vary greatly, it’s difficult to know the exact size burner needed for any given job. Outside or indoors with gusting wind. A 1.25″ burner is sufficient for small boilers, while a 2.5 inch burner works well for larger boilers. For large boilers with a diameter of more than 5″ and a height of 10″, a 2nd 2.5-inch burner can be used. It is best to stay away from Oxy Actylene unless you have the necessary skills. Even then, only a white flame can be used to keep parent metals safe. The heat source used to heat brass fittings can cause them to melt quickly. Oxy acetylene has a high heat concentration. A larger flame of propane will give a greater heat spread. LanI had Lim brought this up to our attention, which we truly appreciate.
