CP Scarborough Harbor Branch Line - HO Scale

[tetters]

I need to convert an old DC engine over to DCC, but the whole soldering thing has me scared as all get out... basically put, my soldering skills are the pits (and I would imagine after a few Appleton and Cokes it would be much worse! ). Other than the afformentioned rum and coke, do you have any wisdom you can impart of soldering in small spaces without making a mess?

--Rob.

Hi Rob,

I use a 20/40 watt soldering iron with a pencil tip. For decoder installations and the like I use the low heat 20w setting. A small amount of flux on the connections helps the solder wick into the bits to form a strong connection. Pre-tinning your wires before connecting them is a good idea too. This way when you solder them either to a LED, resistor, decoder or each other all it takes is a second or two to melt the solder for your connection. This keeps the heating of small bits to a minimum. I also use mini clips as heat sinks. I've actually fried a couple of LEDs when making control boards because I neglected to do this.


Good luck and take your time. If you are having trouble just come on back here and you'll get lots of help.