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hakko breakage?

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Mallanaga

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can you break a soldering iron? i've been doing some dabbling with my new iron, and at first it seemed really hot... now, not so much. well, it's still frickin' hot, but it's not melting solder like i want it to.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT18mxfGRjo"]YouTube - How to solder Deans Ultra[/ame]

check out how fast he solders those deans... it took me almost a half hour to get one plug done!! mind you... i have the finesse of a donkey when it comes to soldering, but i had to hold the iron on a plug so long for one of them, that it melted right out of red plastic casing!! obviously, it's getting hot, but it's not melting the solder right.

once the solder melts, i can keep it pliable, for the most part, but it's tricky. is this just me, or did my hakko breako?


oh... and is that the way you're supposed to solder? i thought you were supposed to heat up the element you were trying to tin, and put the solder on the piece... i think i explained that right. the way i was doing it is not efficient anyway...
 
Make sure you have it turned up all the way. If you do, then turn it off and let it cool and remove the tip to see if you somehow broke the ceramic heating element.

It takes less than a second to solder a deans connecter with the Hakko.
 
look at this guy even!!

[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=xZU9rtACdZY&mode=related&search="]YouTube - How to solder a Deans Connector[/ame]

it is turned up all the way. it's brand new, how the hell could i have broken something already... bah.
 
Is the red light blinking before you start soldering?
 
absolutely. i checked the internals... as far as i can tell everything is honky dory.

can you really scoop solder up like that that? i have the hakko set to max. should i turn it down a bit? maybe that's why i'm melting stuff i'm not supposed to be.

i'm way too new at this. i got some nice looking deans eventually, but it took me forever!! tinning the wires is what got me the most. the wire just about refused to take the solder unless i melted the solder and then forced it in, basically. the way i've heard people talk, you can just heat the wire up and it'll take the solder like a champ.

i think the real problem is just my newbness. i'll check back if i figure it out =P
 
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I always have mine set to the max setting.

To tin wires, I wipe the iron tip on the wet sponge then tin it with solder. I then place the wire I want to tin in a clamp then put the tinned flat of the iron under the wire end. I then put the solder on the wire and it just draws in like nobody's business.

Always wipe the iron tip on the wet sponge before you use it every time.
 
Your connections need to be 'physically' clean, as well as 'chemically' clean. If not, the solder won't be attracted to them.
Go to any hardware supply and get a small tin of flux. It's a plumbing item, but excellent for wires also. Dip your tip in it, and tin it with solder. Do the same for both the wire and the deans. The solder will flow very nicely when everything is clean and fluxed.
 
I use deans ultra solder and I always scuff and clean the deans connector or battery with DA afterwards.

I do not use any other flux product other than the deans solder and I have rock solid joints every time using my Hakko.
 
Making sure both the wire and the plug are properly tinned is the biggest issue. Let the heat and the weight of the iron do the work.

The vids are right on as far as the time it takes. If you touch solder to the iron it should melt right a way. You may also want to be sure your using the proper solder. A fine gauge 60/40 with rosin core will be fine
 
i bought some 4% silver solder from radio shack...

i almost bought the 60/40, but i remembered that the deans solder had silver in it. maybe that's my main problem.
 
I only use Deans solder and have never seen the need to try anything else.
 

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