What type of solder to use?

[Marcusmmc]

I am not new to flight simulation at all. However, I am new to the idea of piecing together magnificent creations that many of you have put many hours towards. I hope to someday be able to dedicate myself to having merely half of what I've seen here. I read a post from a member here about taking an old controller and disassembling it and reconfiguring the buttons or switches to do what you want. I have come across a controller that I would like to do that with. I also have a broken throttle quadrant that I know can be fixed. Since I haven't ever soldered before, I'm looking for recommendations on the type of solder to purchase. With the research I've been doing, I've been reading that a rosin core wire would be best for my application. What size? What's too big? I know for sure that my throttle has a wire that has been disconnected and a good soldering should fix it. For reconfiguring my old controller for buttons and switches, I assume I'll be doing something similar (disconnecting wires and replacing them where needed) so I can place my buttons how I imagine. Thanks for the help!

[tiburon]

Just get the normal 40/60 flux (rosin) cored, about 0,7 - 0,8mm (sorry, don't know how the translation of this to imperial)

[tiburon]

And remember, cleanliness is everything in soldering : always keep your tip clean.

[Marcusmmc]

Thank you for the recommendation and tip. I've been reading and researching and I think I'm ready for my first attempt.

[tiburon]

Good luck !

[Harry Spillett]

If you are given the choice avoid lead free solder. I tend to find it does not flow as well. For the work you are talking about you want to be able to work quickly but efficiently with a nice hot iron and not have to spend too long prodding it about. This is when you start to cook your buttons or your wire.

Good luck,

H

[Marcusmmc]

Well, I'm not sure what happened but my repair didn't work. The solder job appears to be solid but I'm not getting a response. Likely, the potentiometer I'm using was defective before my repair but unfortunately I can't confirm that. I appreciate the advice.

[tiburon]

First thing is to confirm the potmeter is working. That should be easy enough with a multimeter.