How to solder correctly (a not so brief lesson) Plus tips and more...

[cbrkhan]

I have had my 12s Y-Hrness melt on me twice .... They were both Pre-Made and visual inspection suggests cold solders ....


I am going to start making them myself. There are threads that lead free silver solder. I know its a little hard to use but reading suggests that its has better connectivity and higher meting point.


Can someone with more soldering knowlege help me with some links to "silver" solder that can be used for RC heli connectors
....


Here is what I found with my initial google search but am not sure if this is the right product for me


http://www.all-spec.com/products/KWL...FYeBfgodGewMvQ


There is also Novak solder but I cant find the specs on it

http://www.amazon.com/Novak-Lead-Fre...sr=1-3-catcorr

[Marine6680]

That solder looks like it should work.

[woodchip25]

thank you that was very helpful !

[Marine6680]

You are welcome.

[cbrkhan]

Another soldering question. Say I am replacing all connectors on my batteries, ESCs, Chargers etc ....

What is better

1.) Cut wire , re-tin and solder new connector

OR

2.) De-solder old connector and re-solder new one (wire was previously tinned at the time of original solder)


If I am concerned about the length of the wire and hence cannot do option1 ...... any downsides of going with option2?

[Marine6680]

Originally Posted by cbrkhan

Another soldering question. Say I am replacing all connectors on my batteries, ESCs, Chargers etc ....

What is better

1.) Cut wire , re-tin and solder new connector

OR

2.) De-solder old connector and re-solder new one (wire was previously tinned at the time of original solder)


If I am concerned about the length of the wire and hence cannot do option1 ...... any downsides of going with option2?

So long as you can remove the connectors without causing to much damage to the wire or insulation, you can remove and replace as much as you want.

The hardest part is not disturbing the wire,and having it spread out and not be a tight twist braid. A little is fine, but if you get large gaps between the wire strands, that can lead to a weaker joint and higher resistance connection.

You also need to be mindful not to melt the insulation.

[crashjack]

I hate to solder and have only done hack-jobs on micros. I'm now going to be soldering EC5 connectors to my ESC and soldering my BEC to my ESC. I've been reading and watching videos but have a question about soldering the BEC to the ESC. My plan was to fray the BEC wires and wrap around the ESC's wires. I guess I need to add rosin and tin the ESC's wires, but what about the BEC's wires? I guess I could add rosin but if I tin, it seems like the frayed wires wouldn't wrap well around the ESC's wires. Thoughts?

[Marine6680]

Fraying the wires actually lowers current handling. Use a connector or butt splice solder joint.

Originally Posted by crashjack

I hate to solder and have only done hack-jobs on micros. I'm now going to be soldering EC5 connectors to my ESC and soldering my BEC to my ESC. I've been reading and watching videos but have a question about soldering the BEC to the ESC. My plan was to fray the BEC wires and wrap around the ESC's wires. I guess I need to add rosin and tin the ESC's wires, but what about the BEC's wires? I guess I could add rosin but if I tin, it seems like the frayed wires wouldn't wrap well around the ESC's wires. Thoughts?

[crashjack]

Let me better explain what I'm trying to do. I'm wanting to strip a small section of the ESC wires between the battery connector and the ESC. I then want to join the smaller BEC wires to the stripped sections of the ESC wires.

I could try to shove both wires in the battery connector (EC5), but I'm afraid they won't fit and/or I won't get a good connection for one or the other. I could also add a connector between the ESC wires and the BEC wires, but I'm still faced with connecting the wires going to the new connector to the exposed ESC wires.

As I understand butt connectors, these are used for connecting two wires, typically the same size, where each wire terminates into the butt connector. This would require three-way connectors and also cutting the ESC wires. I really just want to connect the BEC wires to an exposed section of the ESC wires and then cover the connection with heat shrink.

[Marine6680]

You could try to do this as close to the connector as possible.

You may be able to get the wires to fit in the connector or you may be able to use one piece of heat shrink to cover the whole joint.

[setishock]

Soldering is not a science, it's an art. You learn what works and what doesn't by practicing over and over.

As for the post above, if you're going to solder 2 lines together here's a trick I use. Strip the insulation back 1/4". Twist the wire and then lightly tin it. Do the same for the other wire. Prior to the next step slip on a length of heat shrink tubing on one of the wires.
Now twist the bare wire together. Heat with a solder tip to make the solder flow. Add just a small amount more and you're done with that.
Slide the heat shrink over the connection and heat just the tubing to shrink it down.

[Scott07]

I've soldered basic PCB stuff before (a long time ago) and didn't remember it being very difficult, so when I bought a couple of new lipos I thought I could handle soldering the deans connectors myself. I needed to make a total of 4 connections; the esc getting a new male plug, and my one older lipo getting a new female plug. that's it. I bought a soldering iron, as I hadn't had one for a while, a couple of accessories, and some 60/40 solder. I read up on technique, I watched videos, I made sure to think the whole process through before starting.... and yet, I still feel defeated by it. It took me about 4 hours to get connections that I THINK will hold up. I have no idea how it took me that long, but it beat me, that was not easy. I've got two somewhat burned thumbs, 1 slightly melted deans plug, and 4 nasty looking connections that I'm not very proud of. I used a ton of heat shrink, as it kept shrinking on me when it would slide too close to the connector while I was working. most of the solder I used ended up in beads on the table. I ended up worrying about the first two connections I did, so cut off the heat shrink and started them over.

I don't know what the problem was, if it was the 25 watt iron I bought not getting hot enough, or having a poor tip, if it was my lack of using rosin, if it was my underestimation of the need for these "helping hand" things people use.... idk. By the end I did feel like I was getting better at it, but I don't remember it being so challenging! I don't think there's any point to me writing this other than to vent to folks who I know understand. I got bested today.... by two deans plugs loll. I hang my head in shame haha

[Marine6680]

It happens... Practice makes perfect as they say.


Flux is a huge help in good soldering. If solder is refusing to flow well, flux will help.

[bigrig2k]

I just purchased a Yihua 936 soldering station. I am so far unable to find out of is ceramic cored or not. New to attempting to soldering and this thread has been informative. Still have not tried soldering yet.

Thanks

[foxsavage]

Thank you for this, it has been so helpful for me and it will save me countless headaches and lost money from poor soldering. I've been soldering for a long time and I could usually get connectors and splices to work but I would have constant problems when I soldered wires directly to esc's or flight controllers. They would often work but just not correctly. I was using the same tiny pencil tip for everything and just turning up the heat when it didn't melt fast enough, and no flux. I just finished soldering up a quadcopter after reading this and go figure, everything worked perfectly the first time. The joints look so good and it was a so satisfying I had to sign up just to thank you. If your ever in my neck of the woods I would be glad to buy you a steak and a beer

[Marine6680]

Awesome!

Glad it worked out well for you. Enjoy your new Quad.

Originally Posted by foxsavage

Thank you for this, it has been so helpful for me and it will save me countless headaches and lost money from poor soldering. I've been soldering for a long time and I could usually get connectors and splices to work but I would have constant problems when I soldered wires directly to esc's or flight controllers. They would often work but just not correctly. I was using the same tiny pencil tip for everything and just turning up the heat when it didn't melt fast enough, and no flux. I just finished soldering up a quadcopter after reading this and go figure, everything worked perfectly the first time. The joints look so good and it was a so satisfying I had to sign up just to thank you. If your ever in my neck of the woods I would be glad to buy you a steak and a beer

[msp1957]

Excellent review. Thanks👍

[Almondsaz]

What a great sticky. For a new hobbiest to soldering this is invaluable. Thank you!

[flyingaoc]

This an awesome write up!!! Thank you for taking the time to do it!

[superfreak]

I needed to replace the connector on my 6S 5000mah battery. I cut the wire leads to remove the previous solder connection.

First step was to tin the battery leads with my Kester 63/37 rosin core solder, after applying liquid flux to the end - but the wire would not take the solder.

I have tinned many wires successfully and this problem only happens occasionally, but what is the cause and how do I fix? More flux?