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I just bought a weller sp23l pencil style soldering iron to replace my old soldering gun it doesnt have a temperature control...anyways I went to go start on my final project for my semiconductor devices class and the solder just simply wont flow...I have had it plugged in for atleast an hour now and still the solder wont flow. What is wrong here? Too hot? Not hot enough?

FYI I am using lead free tin solder with a 0.031" diameter rosin core[/list]

Did you touch it to see if it's even hot? lol

oh yeah its definitely hot...i guess i kind of worded my issue wrong. it melts the solder but the solder just "balls up" and doesnt stick or wont break free from the solder coil.

even used some flux...still didnt help

Hmm, usually when I have that problem, the temp is too far in either direction.

Are you using proper technique and heating the components lead from one side and allowing it to melt the solder held on the other side?

doing it the "correct" way yields no results...only way i can get the solder to melt is by touching the solder on the tip of the iron. yeah i know thats the wrong way but either way its just not working right

EDIT: i tried soldering 5 minutes after i plugged it in just to make sure it was up to temp and it wouldnt melt...waited a little longer, still wouldnt melt...then eventually it would melt if i touched the solder to the iron. its been almost 2 hours now and it wont even stick to iron tip let a lone the foil contact on the circuit board

It simply isn't getting hot enough. I have found over the years that the cheaper models aren't worth spending your money on.

Weller SP23L 25 Watt Soldering Iron

if it is only 25 watts, you aren't going to do much with it.

Our Price:
$12.97

um, yeah.....

shoot...i just wasted my money then :/ dont think i can take it back with the condition of the package as it wasnt the easiest to open up

I was assuming it was one of their better models...shoulda looked it up.

I use this one LINK It pretty much kicks ass for its price.

Damn, nice find.

The "commercial" soldering stations are $200 plus. I have Radio Shack one, it isn't the best, but it works. IIRC, it was around $30ish.

You did tin the tip first, yes?

chad- wow that station is sick. im going to give sears a call (where i bought mine) and see if i can take it back. might get that one you have or something similar

John- yeah i did...i think it just isnt getting hot enough to do what i need it to do. bad thing is they had one that got hotter than this one for the same price. not sure why i didnt get it lol

Good deal then. Just making sure you knew about that step

hopefully the new one i get actually works lol

i think the soldering needle is just "too new"!
you need to hold it into the solder until it stops making balls and starts melting around the needle.
you need to do that with the most new needles the first time.

i use this, very cheap 12V soldering needle, like 15$ here. But you need a power supply. the smalles neede you can find here:

^^ hm good idea but I don't want to be wasting all this solder, but I will try it. Also funny you mention I will need a power supply, that's actually what i am building for my class lol

hehe - solder is cheap, don't cry for 2 or 3 inches...

And why not, most women cry about that...

Try getting some flux, and dipping it in there while it is hot, then try tinning the tip.

And I mean plumbing flux, with an acid base. Just clean it off well before soldering electrical components.

well i got it to work!

took it back and bought a temperature adjustable one from radioshack and it works like a charm lol

Lol, that's one way to do it. It's prolly the same one I have.

I bought a weller 40 watt off ebay for like $16 bucks. Works great for me.