[Milsurplus] Bathtubs, again.

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

It depends a bit upon the size of the can versus the size of the tip.  
Ideally, the tip would cover the entire surface of the side of the can being 
removed.  That's not likely to happen with stock wedge or diamond tips.  So the tip 
should at least be as wide as the can surface being removed.  Early on, I had 
good luck on the roughly 1/2 x 1-1/2 cans in the with a 140 watt Stanly that 
probably dates from the 50's.  It has a 3/4" diameter diamond tip.  Later I 
acquired a 200 watt American Beauty with 1/2" dia chisel tip.  It is faster.  The 
design temperature of most irons seems to be in the 850-1100 degree range.  
Higher wattage does not necessarily mean higher temperature.  It means more 
rapid recovery to the operating temperature when you lay the tip onto a cold 
surface.  And other things being equal, the higher wattage iron (at least from the 
same vendor) will tend to have a larger tip.  I also have a 100 watt American 
Beauty but it only has a 3/8" dia. diamond tip and I wouldn't attempt to use 
it on most typical bathtub or rectangular capacitor cans.  The tip has too 
little contact area.  Generally, the chisel tip is better than the diamond as it 
has the same width over most of the length of the flat.  So the heat will be 
spread over a wider area without moving the iron.  

Anyway, from experience I would classify your 100 watt iron as too small for 
the job.although with a chisel tip you could probably use it - but slowly.

In a message dated 12/21/2008 10:41:46 PM Central Standard Time, 
kargo_cult at msn.com writes: 
> What size solder iron do you need to open 
> the cans?  I have the standard  ~100W  
> American-Beauty type iron.  Tnx - Hue

Robert Downs - Houston
wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
MVPA 9480
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