I was soldering some wires together tonight, and it took for frickin ever with my weller 100 watt gun. I ordered a weller 300 watt gun, hopefully this one will heat up faster. I didn't want to go with a butane gun, because I don't like the flame coming out the side, especially when using shrinkwrap. Also I generally use silver bearing solder, it seems to work ok.

At work we use Sn63/Pb37 tin/lead solder and Sn96.5/Ag3.5 tin/silver solder.
What diameter solder are you using? I find .031 is the best diameter to use for wire up to 8 AWG.
The Weller WES51 is a good high-end consumer soldering station that sells for about $120.00

I am using .015 thick, but it's too thin. I end up doubling it up and twisting the 2 pieces together.

I've had great luck with NAPA brand soldering irons and solder. Weller's aren't bad, and maybe I've just never had a high-end one. So far the NAPA Balkamp iron my dad and I use is holding up great!

300 watts is huge. What size wire you soldering? A 30 watt iron will do almost any wire soldering. I have been using Madell irons recently and have been happy with them.

I have a small radio shack soldering iron for fine stuff and a bigger weller thats a 130/200 something w gun or something like that for heavier stuff. I get impatcient soldering bigger stuff together. I also use 2 thicnesses of solder. I always use rosin core stuff becasue thats what my bud told me to use on electronics. Duno if its right or wrong but I find a big one and a little iron works well. And you can get a small wattage iron for cheap.

Here are a couple of .pdf's on soldering that have some usefull info for those that need it.

http://www.apogeekits.com/ApogeeKits_Free_Guide_to_Electronics_Soldering.pdf
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~harris/docs/WellerSoldering.pdf

I use a snap-on butane soldering iron for my in car automotive use. I use wellers on the bench.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=68225&group_ID=12178&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

300 watts is huge. What size wire you soldering? A 30 watt iron will do almost any wire soldering. I have been using Madell irons recently and have been happy with them.

Nothing large, I just want to solder wires together in seconds.

Well I tried out my new solder gun and I learned one important thing. The tip must be tinned. My old 100 watt gun seemed to work like sh!t, but it was because the tip was so corroded and crappy. I probabaly didn't need a 300 watt gun, just a new tip. Although bigger is better.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness when it comes to soldering.

I'm with Johhny, a 30w iron will do a heck of a lot of work.

Here (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/poe512000/wesusebusoir.html) is the one I have works real good.

I can solder everything from very small gauge wires to very large gauge with my 300 watt gun. With a 30 watt gun, you are only limited to small work. Just like a duramax, you don't need 600 rwhp to go get grocerys, but it there just incase you run across some ferds on the way.):h

I bought one of those "cold solder" tools at Radio Shack to do my LUX install. Worked perfectly.

BTW, has anyone else wondered why there's an "L" in solder, when people pronounce it "soder"....or is this just another one of those things?

Well I tried out my new solder gun and I learned one important thing. The tip must be tinned. My old 100 watt gun seemed to work like sh!t, but it was because the tip was so corroded and crappy. I probabaly didn't need a 300 watt gun, just a new tip. Although bigger is better.

Thats what I found out...If I take a fine file and clean the crap off the tip then re tin. It work so much better.....

Bac those cold solder things really work, huh???? Do you have to have special solder. I have been tempted to get one

I several people that use one of those cold soldering guns and like them.

Bac those cold solder things really work, huh???? Do you have to have special solder. I have been tempted to get one

Yes, it actually worked as advertised. Basically it is just a little arc welder. You can touch the tip a couple seconds after use, and the parts stay cool. I used standard, garden variety rosen core solder. For the fine wiring work I decided to use the really thin stuff. I think it'll still work fine with the thicker solder too.

I read the patent on those. They still work with heat; what you have are two graphite electrodes (gapped slightly apart) and the aim is to pass the current through the materials being soldered to create resistive heat.

The heat-up is very localized and rapid, and thus the fast cool. There is no "magic" as the infomercials purport. The solder melting point is the same whether you use this thing or any oxyacetylene torch.

Yeah Mat, its a different type of heat.

is that like in AZ its a "dry" heat LOL? its still effing hot ):h

As long as I'm in an open area, I use a micro torch (my friends call it a crack pipe lighter). A couple of seconds with that and the solder melts completely through the wire. It is next to impossible to pull the wires apart. I've use it for years without problems, I even showed some friends that love there solder guns, and they all convert to the micro torch..

The only thing I don't like about using a flame type gun is, I always seem to shrink the damn shrink tubing in the wrong spot.

It takes practice...