What wattage soldering iron for PL-259 connectors?

[majoco]

The PL259's we buy here are coarse threaded at the cable entry ferrule - two different sizes, one for RG58 and another for RG8. No inspection holes and you only solder the inner.

 

[ems55]

I concur with prcguy. I'm fortunate to have all this stuff at work, including the Times Microwave LMR cable termination kit. The prep tools make it really easy (almost child proof as indicated) to do a good termination. If you were careful, you can probably do just as good with a good sharp razor blade and a way to chamfer the end of the center conductor to properly slide into the captured center pin. I've done a ton of them and never had a failure, but all my usage is 800MHz and below.

As for 'child', I'm in my 50's and still haven't decided what I want to do when I grow up.

Hey, don't want to be a pain BUT , you had talked about crimp tools for coax connections. There must be 100 or more in a quick search.....
Anyone you would recommend / buy ?? For 9913 and Lmr400.
Appreciate it, sir !!!!

 

[mmckenna]

Hey, don't want to be a pain BUT , you had talked about crimp tools for coax connections. There must be 100 or more in a quick search.....
Anyone you would recommend / buy ?? For 9913 and Lmr400.
Appreciate it, sir !!!!

Well, I have the 'official' Times Microwave kit that will do LMR-400, LMR-600 and comes with the strippers, chamfering tool, and crimpers. Not cheap, but I wasn't paying the bill.

For home use, I have a set very similar to this. It's worked just fine for RG-58, but never tried it with LMR-400. The strippers are pretty much useless, the crimpers do just fine. There are other similar sets out there. I suspect they are all made by the same overseas company.

 

[prcguy]

I have crimp tools from Paladin, Amphenol, Ideal and others and they are all about the same. You can shop Amazon or Ebay for the cheapest of these brands and be just fine.

 

[ems55]

Well, I have the 'official' Times Microwave kit that will do LMR-400, LMR-600 and comes with the strippers, chamfering tool, and crimpers. Not cheap, but I wasn't paying the bill.

For home use, I have a set very similar to this. It's worked just fine for RG-58, but never tried it with LMR-400. The strippers are pretty much useless, the crimpers do just fine. There are other similar sets out there. I suspect they are all made by the same overseas company.

Yeah, saw the Times kit. No not cheap....
Not really looking for "cheap" just don't want to throw money away !!! Connectors also

 

[ems55]

I have crimp tools from Paladin, Amphenol, Ideal and others and they are all about the same. You can shop Amazon or Ebay for the cheapest of these brands and be just fine.

Good idea ! Thank you
I had a Paladin ratchet with a bunch of dies but somehow it grew legs and walked off!!!! But that was a while ago.....
Every use Wirefy tools ???

 

[bharvey2]

Got to agree with PRCGuy on the soldering guns/irons. The hotter and higher powered, the better. The extra time it takes a to get a fitting up to soldering temperature with a low wattage iron will create problems with dielectric melting. While I'd probably take a beating from some of the folks on here for saying this but I often use a torch to heat fittings. It goes much faster than an iron and does take practice but once mastered, it works pretty well and my success rate is as good as it is with an iron.

All that being said, the compression fittings are the way to go. They're easier, more reliable and produce a more consistent result. Over the years I've used both the higher end tools and the cheaper Amazon ones. Unless you're doing a lot of volume, the Amazon ones will most likely be fine.