RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not how big it is...

What size wire are you guys wiring your rigs with? Just curious, as I'm redoing my trucks.

12 gauge

12-gauge on anything using 6-cells or above. 16-gauge on 4-cell cars.

12ga

What size soldering iron are you all using? I find myself in need of replacing mine.

I'm using a $7 Weller iron. Works fine on the little stuff, but I think I need more juice for the big stuff too. Doug has a Hakko 936 so I'm looking to pick one of those up somewhere. Monkey see monkey do...

I prefer the gun-style iron as they're not expensive and easier to pack (than a whole station) in my toolbox. This one is a dual temp; I think mine was about $24 for a single temp:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062752&cp=&sr=1&origkw=solder+gun&kw=solder+gun&parentPage=search
These are a must-have too (but you probably already know that):
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104639&cp=&pg=4&searchSort=TRUE&sr=1&retainProdsInSession=1&y=8&origkw=soldering&s=D-StorePrice-RSK&kw=soldering&x=12&parentPage=search

civilguy wrote:These are a must-have too (but you probably already know that):
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104639&cp=&pg=4&searchSort=TRUE&sr=1&retainProdsInSession=1&y=8&origkw=soldering&s=D-StorePrice-RSK&kw=soldering&x=12&parentPage=search

That would come in handy for the Deans connectors, not so sure it'd be too helpful with the motors though.

My 25 watt weller does ok on fresh solder joints but doesn't like breaking old joints too well. I had to snip off the majority of the wire and solder before the iron would take care of the rest.

Hakko makes some nice irons...

I love my 936 Hakko, and will have it for a VERY long time. With a few different sized tips, I can handle ANY soldering job I need, from car stereo installs to battery pack assembly to putting new internal wire leads on servos and speedos. Adjustable temp and a really nice setup. Once you use a good soldering iron station, everything else is flea market junk in comparison.

Eau Rouge wrote:Once you use a good soldering iron station, everything else is flea market junk in comparison.

You're definitely preaching to the choir about good quality tools and having the right tool for the job. I'll stick with a budget iron for now because I don't use one more than maybe 4 or 5 times a year. For that small amount of use the cheapies are adequate. Rest assured, if my needs increase I'll be stepping up to a much better piece of equipment.

I use this iron for batteries and occasionally motors.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPR36&P=M
Replacement tips are here http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPR38&P=7
It is cheap, heats up relatively quickly, and once up to temp is very quick to melt even the biggest goober of solder on motor terminals.
For smaller wire and general use I have a similarly priced 40 watt iron from radio shack.

I have 6 or 7 irons, best is the adcola's i have 12v and 230v both temp stable at 450c