A red letter day. I mowed the lawns – or at least most of them. Lesley lifted the mower out of the shed for me and I wheeled it around to our small front lawn which was easy as the grass was already short. The back lawn was a little trickier and much larger. I mowed about two-thirds of the lawn before giving up on a large patch where the grass was longer and rougher. Still, I did it and can finish off the other part in a few days.
I have received the point control equipment for my model railway and decided to use spade connectors to make replacement easier, when necessary. But with my new found soldering skills I decide to solder each wire to the connector for added robustness and reliability. Disaster! For some reason the soldering iron tip looks black and covered in something. When I try to tin it the solder is repell3ed from the iron. There is nothing I can do. So instead of creating four connectors I end up making just one with a great deal of effort.
I ponder what has happened to my soldering iron and suddenly remember that I caught one of the plastic sleepers. If so it is incredible the effect on tiny bit of plastic has had. I order a tip cleaner, some spare tips and fresh solder from the supplier. Hopefully that will be it and a new iron will not be needed.
Forget the Rules 