Weller Portasol

[eschoendorff]

Go buy one of these... once you use one you'll never understand why you used anything else!

Okay, so maybe that was a little over-the-top. But I had a couple cellphone chargers that our bunny, *******, decided to chew on. So tonight my wife wouldn't let me eat dinner until I splices the cords so she could charge her cell phone.

The Portasol lights right up and you can basically solder - NOW! No waiting for electrical elements. Did a nice clean job too. I'm glad I bought one of these... I originally had an upright butane torch that would light. So I took that back to Sears (this is back when I still willingly went to Sears) and they upgraded me to the Portasol (one of the few Sears managers that hasn't been useless - shoulda got his name!). Anyhoo, this thing rocks and the latest Craftsman Club flier makes a decent work surface too!

Almost forgot -- picture of Twnkie (little rascal) and no, I'll not be making any rabbit stew...

 

[MAD]

Go buy one of these... once you use one you'll never understand why you used anything else!

Okay, so maybe that was a little over-the-top. But I had a couple cellphone chargers that our bunny, *******, decided to chew on. So tonight my wife wouldn't let me eat dinner until I splices the cords so she could charge her cell phone.

The Portasol lights right up and you can basically solder - NOW! No waiting for electrical elements. Did a nice clean job too. I'm glad I bought one of these... I originally had an upright butane torch that would light. So I took that back to Sears (this is back when I still willingly went to Sears) and they upgraded me to the Portasol (one of the few Sears managers that hasn't been useless - shoulda got his name!). Anyhoo, this thing rocks and the latest Craftsman Club flier makes a decent work surface too!

Almost forgot -- picture of Twnkie (little rascal) and no, I'll not be making any rabbit stew...

I know the bunny was naughty but you didn't have to clean the tip of that iron on the poor animal's ears.

 

[eschoendorff]

I know the bunny was naughty but you didn't have to clean the tip of that iron on the poor animal's ears.

What do you mean? She is a calico colored bunny, if you are referring to the black marks on her ears. Trust me: she would never let me get close with a soldering iron!

 

[Merkava_4]

I like bunnies and kitty cats.

 

[MAD]

What do you mean? She is a calico colored bunny, if you are referring to the black marks on her ears. Trust me: she would never let me get close with a soldering iron!

Yes I was refering to the black marks on her ears. Sorry if that was a bit twisted. Less off topic than a rabbit stew joke though.

I have one of those butane irons too. They are great when you want lots of heat.

 

[Merkava_4]

Would you guys believe that I can weld 2 inch thick steel plates together at full penetration in the 3G position with E7018 and pass the bend test, but I don't know how to solder?

 

[Jononon]

They're absolutely invaluable when you need to solder with your head under the dash and your feet out of the sunroof (ie. about 1 auto-electrical job in 3)

One with a heat gun attachment is also the best way to shrink vinyl heatshrink.

Would you guys believe that I can weld 2 inch thick steel plates together at full penetration in the 3G position with E7018 and pass the bend test, but I don't know how to solder?

Yes

 

[engnerdan]

Would you guys believe that I can weld 2 inch thick steel plates together at full penetration in the 3G position with E7018 and pass the bend test, but I don't know how to solder?

Damn, I have been soldering since I was 6, which puts me at 20 years of experience. But if it makes you feel any better I am not that good at arc welding but I can mig simply by sound.

And those wellers are great torches, I love the one I have.

-Dan

 

[nissan_crawler]

not much different. If I'm joining two wires end to end, I "fray" them apart, stick the two ends together and give them a light twist so they're locked together. It makes it easier to solder, and makes a rounder joint for heat shrink, etc. Then you (my way at least) just put the soldering iron under the wire, let it heat up, then apply solder from the top. If the solder doesn't melt when it touches the wire, it's not hot enough. If it's dull, you have a cold solder joint.

If I'm adding one wire to another in the middle, I strip the insulation off, wrap the one wire around the other and solder.

*I'm no electrician.

 

[chad s]

Damn, I have been soldering since I was 6, which puts me at 20 years of experience. But if it makes you feel any better I am not that good at arc welding but I can mig simply by sound.

And those wellers are great torches, I love the one I have.

-Dan

Me too! My dad taught me to solder (on circuit boards) when I was 6. I am 24 now. Its amazing how few people solder (or at least solder well) these days.

Merkava, if you are a welder, I think you would pick up soldering within a few minutes.

Soldering since a very young age definately made learning to gas weld sheet metal easier I think.

 

[Merkava_4]

Merkava, if you are a welder, I think you would pick up soldering within a few minutes.

Soldering since a very young age definately made learning to gas weld sheet metal easier I think.

Yeah ... I had to start out gas welding too; it's what I call welding in slow motion, but I was able to learn the basics better that way I think because everything is slowed way down.

 

[chad s]

Yeah ... I had to start out gas welding too; it's what I call welding in slow motion, but I was able to learn the basics better that way I think because everything is slowed way down.

I LOVE gas welding! For sheet metal on old cars (50's and older, when cars were not paper thin), its one of the best methods. It makes a much bigger HAZ than MIG, but the ability to hammer out the shrinking from the weld, and distortion, is a huge plus that MIG doesnt really allow for.

Most people MIG in patch panels, as its the fast and wasy way to do it. Bondo can fix anything! Very few people can successfuly hammer weld with MIG.

GAs welding is much better in the end, unless you have TIG.

 

[Merkava_4]

If I was going to do a lot of gas welding, I'd definitely get one of those compact torch handles; in school, they make you weld with a full size handle and they're kind of hard to maneuver on delicate stuff.