Hi Mark,
       Your problem is most likely the iron is not properly prepared.  Clean
your iron tip down to metal.Use file or sand paper. Only use flux core
solder. Plug the iron in and as it is heating up tin the tip with solder.
You must have a thin coating of solder on the tip to get heat to transfer to
the connection you are soldering.  I prefer a hotter / bigger iron so I can
do the job quickly, to a smaller  one that takes a long time to get the
joint hot enough. Any time your tip does not have a good tin coating repeat
the above process.
    Soldering is easy with a properly prepared iron and nearly impossible
with one that has a bad tip or one that is not set up properly. Good luck
with your quest.
Darrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Ingalls" <ingalls_mark@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2000 8:27 PM
Subject: Digitool building and group entertainment.

> It is windy, cold, and dark in the mid-west right now as I am drafting up
> what, why, and where for my digijet digitool circuits.
>
> This group the last few hours has provided much needed entertainment
during
> the breaks.
>
> I tried soldering some ribbon cable onto a junk circuit board I had laying
> around. I was using a 30 watt Radio Shack soldering iron, but it appears
to
> be to hot and is melting some of the printed circuit part of the circuit
> board.
>
> I'm going to get a 15 watt one tomorrow, and see if that one will get the
> pin connection hot enough to melt the solder but not the printed part on
the
> board.
>
> I am using regular rosin core solder and dipping the wire in flux first.
It
> is going fairly well.
>
> Thanks Volks,
> Mark Ingalls
>
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