I normally work with the iron set to 100 degrees higher than the melting point of the solder. I might increase this if I am working with a large piece of metal (but this wouldn’t apply to electrical work) or decrease it if I am working with, say, delicate white metal pieces (since 100 + 70, the melting point of LMP solder, is above the melting point of white metal - not a problem with large pieces of W/M though).
I, too, have a full range of tips, but I only change them in relation to the size of the work, not for electrical/non-electrical, but all of them were initially tinned with a very high melting point silver-based solder which doesn’t melt at the temperatures the bit is normally set to. I am also religious about wiping the bit every time it goes to or from the stand, so it is always clean, and I use Power-flow flux.
The iron is the expensive Antex one with the digital read-out. I thought that I was quite good at soldering before I bought it but, in practice, it has been a revelation, making soldering tasks practical that would have been frustratingly difficult previously.
David Woodcock
