# Weller soldering gun ? .....



## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Will a Weller soldering gun thats 140/100watts be to much for soldering battery connectors and motors? By to much i mean will it damage them in anyway? Plus would that soldering gun be enough to solder battery packs together if i wanted to?

Thanks


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## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

Will it solder battery connectors and motor wires.........yes. Will it be any good for soldering batteries together...........no. Even though it has a high wattage, the tip isn't likely large enough to hold enough heat to do the soldering fast/efficient enough.


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Will the Weller soldering gun thats 140/100watts will be much better for soldering battery connectors and motors than the 40watt weller soldering iron?


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

Rc Driver said:


> Will the Weller soldering gun thats 140/100watts will be much better for soldering battery connectors and motors than the 40watt weller soldering iron?


The 100/140 gun will be *less* better than the 40 watt iron. The iron will work much better than the gun. Now if you had one of the *240/325* Watt guns, then you could solder battery bars, assuming you are a skilled solderer. But if you are just starting, get the iron and a big chisel tip. The small tip that comes with the WLC100 will not do the job.


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## DARKSCOPE001 (Jun 14, 2006)

yes see ta man i was tricked into the same thing your thinking right now. just because the tip gets extremely hot and the gun is rated for a ton of amps does not mean it is good for what you want to do. the problem with the gun is just as ovalman and pa racer have stated. the tip does not have enough mass to heat the surface that you are trying to solder fast enough for the job you are trying to do. with batterys you want to keep the contact with the battery and soldering iron as short as possible. and i big fatty tip on a pencil iron is what you need. the heat just gets sucked out to fast with the gun. so just look around for a 40 or even 80 watt iron and you will be much happier with your purchess. 

HOPE THIS HELPS.
Sean Scott


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

The 40watt weller soldering iron would be better than the gun then?


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## KenBajdek (Oct 7, 2001)

It takes more than watts too solder batery bars. Heating tip size and heat recovery time is what is key. The trigger irons don't work very well for battery bars or 12 gauge wire as well as the pencil iron style. If you are on a budget the Weller 40 or 80 ($20-$30) is an easy choice for battery bars and motor wires etc. The best option would be a Hakko 936 for around $99. Tip life on the Weller is very short. I was changin tips about every 3 or 4 weeks. I left it on while at the track due to the long warm up. The Hakko gets hot in seconds and you can put the temp down to save the tip when you aren't using it. The Hakko recovers very fast with the large tip.


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

DARKSCOPE001 said:


> yes see ta man i was tricked into the same thing your thinking right now. just because the tip gets extremely hot and the gun is rated for a ton of amps does not mean it is good for what you want to do. the problem with the gun is just as ovalman and pa racer have stated. the tip does not have enough mass to heat the surface that you are trying to solder fast enough for the job you are trying to do. with batterys you want to keep the contact with the battery and soldering iron as short as possible. and i big fatty tip on a pencil iron is what you need. the heat just gets sucked out to fast with the gun. so just look around for a 40 or even 80 watt iron and you will be much happier with your purchess.
> 
> HOPE THIS HELPS.
> Sean Scott


Got news for you: It is not a matter of being "tricked" by the ratings. I have easily soldered battery bars with the 240/325 weller gun. I prefer to use my well 4033S iron for that and always use that when I am home, but I don't like having a hot iron in my pit so I take the gun with me when racing and use that on the rare occasion when I need to solder. Someone else borrowed it once for repairing a battery pack and was amazed at how well it worked. But both he and I are experts at this and know to tin both the cell and the bar, *and use flux*, before soldering.

If you haven't tried it (and even if you have and failed) don't say it can't be done. If you were to attempt to heat the battery and bar starting with a cold tip on the gun, I guarantee you will fail. But if you let the iron come up to temperature, and the heat up some more you can flash solder a battery bar if both the bar and the cell have been pretinned.

BTW, it is not rated for "amps" but "watts". That is the power consumed by the works, not delivered to the tip as heat. But enough does get to the tip to do a battery bar.

Regardless, I still recommend an iron for batteries and that is what I use at home.


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

KenBajdek said:


> If you are on a budget the Weller 40 or 80 ($20-$30) is an easy choice for battery bars and motor wires etc.


My question is, is the weller 40watt a pretty good iron, or shouldnt i get it? Will it solder battery connectors and motors without problems?


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## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

Rc Driver said:


> My question is, is the weller 40watt a pretty good iron, or shouldnt i get it? Will it solder battery connectors and motors without problems?


*IF* it has a good tip on it, yes it will work without problems.


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

So i guess i will go with the Weller 40watt iron then.


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## Lazer Guy (Sep 12, 2005)

The Weller 40 is OK but the 80 with the soldering station so you can turn it down when you are not using it is the best, I have them all and the 80 is awesome. I use my HAKKO 936 with the 908 iron and the big and small tips the most but for battery's I like the Weller 80. SOoo The short answer is you need two irons because you have to be able to do small stuff also.


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

Well i decided to get a Weller 80watt soldering iron, i must say that thing is a MONSTER! thanks for all of your input.


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## briano_72 (Jan 21, 2006)

did you go with the iron, or the station ??


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## Rc Driver (Apr 29, 2005)

I got the iron, i should of went with the station though because it gets so hot it melts deans connectors..... Need a way to lower the heat it puts out.


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