Readly RF Feb 20
Retro Ford magazine Jam-packed with the best well-known show, street and track cars, in-depth technical features and product testing, company profiles and amazing show reports that really capture the atmosphere, as well as focusing on owners’ club meets and much, much more. If you like your old skool Fords then this is the publication for you! Order today: www.retrofordmagazine.co.uk
Retro Ford magazine Jam-packed with the best well-known show, street and track cars, in-depth technical features and product testing, company profiles and amazing show reports that really capture the atmosphere, as well as focusing on owners’ club meets and much, much more. If you like your old skool Fords then this is the publication for you! Order
today: www.retrofordmagazine.co.uk
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
l MAINS-POWERED SOLDERING IRONS
l MAINS-POWERED SOLDERING IRONS
MAINTAINING YOUR OLD FORD
ROTHENBERGER 40-WATT 230-VOLT SOLDERING IRON
PART NUMBER: 40326 PRICE: £8.99 SCREWFIX WWW.SCREWFIX.COM 03330 112 112
The cheapest soldering iron on test and if all
you need is a no-frills means of soldering wires
and connections, then this is a good starting
point. This one is supplied with a 70mm-long,
3mm-diameter tip, so universal replacements
are readily available from lots of stockists.
There’s a basic metal stand to secure the end
of the soldering iron and prevent it burning
work surfaces when hot. The power cable is
1.2 metres long, so an extension lead may be
necessary, but what can you expect for £8.99?
And the instructions even advise to tin the tip
when using the soldering iron for the first time.
There’s no means of knowing whether the
soldering iron is switched on when it’s plugged
into the mains electricity, and it took a little
over one-and-a-quarter minutes for it to get hot
enough to melt the solder, which is less than half
the time of some of the products we’ve tested.
The pointed tip that’s supplied is easy to use
when soldering two wires together, and there’s
sufficient heat to be able to melt existing solder
and manipulate it.
As an introduction to soldering, this nononsense
soldering iron is the cheapest on test
and seems to be perfectly capable of tackling the
jobs we’ve completed.
LASER 240-VOLT 25-WATT SOLDERING IRON
PART NUMBER: 5639 PRICE: £12.74-£16.37 LASER TOOLS WWW.LASERTOOLS.CO.UK
A basic, no-frills mains-powered soldering iron
at a cheap price (shop around for deals) that looks
almost identical to the Rothenberger soldering
iron from Screwfix. It’s supplied with a simple
metal stand to prevent burning work surfaces and
a 4mm-diameter tip, which can be removed by
undoing a crosshead screw. This is a universal size
tip, so spares are easy to source from a number of
suppliers and stockists. It’s ideal for joining wires
together and made short work of soldering our test
connection. The power cable is only 1.2 metres
long, so an extension lead may be required.
There’s nothing to indicate when the soldering
iron is switched on and the heat build-up is very
steady. It took roughly three minutes for it to warm
up sufficiently to be able to melt our solder. So for a
quick soldering job, it may take longer to warm up
the soldering iron than the time taken to finish the
job. For time-consuming jobs, this soldering iron is
reliable, keeps hot enough to melt fresh solder and
melt and reshape existing solder.
See our behind the scenes footage on Instagram: @retrofordmagazine
091
Change language