Soldering

Secure Site

Shop with

Confidence

Best viewed using:

Internet Explorer

Mozilla Firefox

When you're soldering on a small scale this 12 watt miniature soldering iron is the answer. Lightweight with a very flexible cord this iron is only slightly larger in diameter than an ordinary pencil and not as long. Shown here with a needle tip (sold separately), don't let its size fool you. Made by Antex Corp., this industrial grade iron is used in many manufacturing assembly lines for soldering and rework of tiny electrical components. The design is unique with a replaceable heating element that puts all of heat at the front of the element under the tip for optimal thermal efficiency (45 second heat-up time compared to 2-3 minutes for most irons). This also shortens the distance from your fingers to the tip giving greater control. The slide-on tips are easy to change. Please note: Tips are not included with the iron, and must be ordered separately.

Soldering Iron Stand

This stand features a spring holder that accepts the miniature iron and provides sufficient air-flow to rapidly dissipate heat. Mounted in a non-charring plastic sponge tray with a generous sized sponge with center hole to collect excess solder. It has knockout holes for permanent mounting.

Desc.

Item#

Cart

Price

Stand with sponge

N40T4

$17.15

Replacement Parts:

Desc.

Item#

Cart

Price

Iron heating element

N40E2

$13.45

Replacement sponge

N40S1

$1.70

The bare copper Needle Tip shown above has a true needle point allowing work in the tiniest places. This tip can be resharpened as it wears then retinned for use. The iron clad and nickel plated version is slightly more blunt (due to the plating buildup), but only slightly. The iron clad versions are the premium grade tips providing extra long life. These tips should not be sanded or reshaped to prevent damage to the iron cladding. The nickel plated tips are a less expensive version that offer better corrosion protection and wetting (tinning) than bare copper.

Soldering Tip Tinner/Cleaner

Desc.	Item#	Cart	Price
Tip Cleaner	N4095		$7.95

Plato's LEAD FREE Tip Tinner is a fast, efficient, and safe means of re-tinning tips. This thermally-stable compound is residue free and ESD and environmentally safe. Plato's Tip-Tin provides improved cleaning and re-tinning of highly oxidized soldering iron tips safely and efficiently and is packaged in a handy resealable container.

Desc.

Item#

Cart

Price

Low-temp Silver Solder

N4200

$4.95

We've tested a number of different brands, sizes, and blends of wire solder with the following criteria as guidelines:

A low-temperature solder for minimal thermal shock to our products.
Alloy composition for good flow and bonding to copper, brass, and nickel-silver materials, and gold, silver, or tin plated contacts and solder pads.
Small wire solder diameter.
Self-fluxing for ease of use.
Packaging designed for convenient use and storage (our workbenches are cluttered enough).

Kester's Electronic Silver Solder is our choice. It has a unique blend of 62% tin, 36% lead, and 2% silver alloy with a rosin flux core. The .020" diameter is well-suited for close part spacing and small surface-mounted components. Its very low melting point of 179 -189°C (354 - 372°F) makes it ideal for soldering our LEDs and an excellent choice for other heat-sensitive components like DCC decoders. This solder is packaged in Kester's handy Kwik Draw® dispenser.

Price (and cost) increase effective 10/26/09 - sorry!

Low-temperature Silver-bearing Solder