[Elecraft] Tinning toroids with a solder pot

[Masleid, Michael A.]

>>I've been thinking of buying a solder pot to tin the leads on all the
>>toroids I'll have to make (K2, AATU, SSB, 160m etc etc).

>It would be more economical to buy a cheap iron with a bigger bit,=20
>Edward.  You could use it for tinning the toroids and I am sure it =
would=20
>come in for other jobs in the future that require a larger bit.

I used a hemostat to hold the wire near the toroid, and a vise to hold
the hemostat, and a 100 watt Weller soldering gun to hold the solder
blob.  You just pull the trigger and it gets hotter and hotter.  A
little flux, a sudden wiff of smoke, and it is mostly tinned.

BTW, don't wind the wire too tight on ferrite cores.  You'll scratch off
the insulation, and the cores are slightly conductive.  Mostly it =
doesn't
matter, but a few million ohms here, and a few million ohms there, and
soon you've got leakage.  The iron cores don't conduct.

73, de Michael AB9GV