Soldering to Chassis

[Zsuttle]

Does anyone have any advice on how to remove soldered leads directly to the chassis? The solder barely melts and I can't seem to remove it. I've also tried sanding the joint to expose unoxidized solder with no prevail. I had cranked my iron up to 800F and still no luck either

Also, any advice what to use to solder back to chassis as well?

[WISCOJIM]

Using flux helps greatly. You need a large mass of heat to solder to a chassis, a small tipped 800 degree iron will have all the heat sucked out of it before it'll melt solder on a big chassis. There's nothing like a good old-fashioned American Beauty for chassis soldering. They can easily be found on ebay or at ham radio swap meets.



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[bgadow]

I second that, brute force wins. I have one that looks like the picture (different brand) plus a modern Weller that's a monster. Once used the latter to solder a hole in the radiator tank of an old Chevy and it was still perfect after nearly 20 years. In the dark the tip glows red. Don't do as my Dad did and touch it to see if it's hot enough

[Electronic M]

Third that.

You need at least a 75W Iron to solder a chassis ground properly like the original work. I've got an older weller (must have been made in the last 30 years since it's orange), and a couple of 150W antique irons that eat chassis ground work for breakfast...They even make new grounds like it is nothing.

Something like a 45W or under iron is close to or below the thermal power rating of the chassis heatsink (and a chassis can be used as a heatsink).

[Tim Tress]

I use a Weller D-550, the big gun, for soldering to a chassis or replacing a twist-tab electrolytic capacitor. There's also a very big iron on hand, like the one pictured, if that isn't enough.