Originally Posted by
Imbuter2000
Look at this new drawing: img707.imageshack.us/img707/5607/screenshotfg.jpg
Can we say that, once we obtained a successfully result like that on the left, adding solder to reach the result on the right adds mechanical resistence without decreasing electric resistence?
The question is: is Sn63Pb37 + RMA flux the best for gold and silver plated parts too?
By the way, I notice that some RC wires appears externally grey instead of reddish like copper. Why? what material are they done of?
No, that would not actually add any benefit. While, if the solder is flowing well, it would not be very bad, it is not better. So, if you get a little too much solder on the connection, there is no need to overly worry, it just is not needed. The standards for soldering have been developed for as long as soldering electronics has existed. It has been poked, prodded, and even x-rayed, to figure out the best combination of strength, resistance and reliability. The standards I was taught to use are for aviation and spaceflight, they are the toughest and strictest standards around, and the most reliable. While such strict standards are not needed in RC, striving to reach them is never a bad thing. So long as your connections are smooth you will be fine. The techniques I provided will help even novice solderers make reliable connections, even if they are not perfect.
No, lead solder is not ideal for gold or silver plated parts, but silver solder also has tin in it, and that is not good for plated parts as well. True gold/silver safe solders are not readily available and are harder to use and need higher heat. But like I said, plated parts are usually not designed for soldering. The parts that are plated are the parts designed for physical contact connections, like CPU sockets and PC board connections or High end audio/visual plugs. Deans plugs are not gold plated, or they are not listed as such. I will check up on that and the traxxas connectors. If they are, I would suspect that they are not plated at the solder area.
The thin plating on the connectors would not really cause much problems though. It takes a 5% concentration of gold in the solder to negatively impact the connection to any real degree. There is not all that much gold in the plating.
Some wire is coated in tin or other metal for corrosion resistance. Some is even silver coated, but that type is costly, and needs special solder or crimp type connections. Since the special solders are hard to get and use, and crimp type connectors are rare in RC the use of the silver coated wire is not needed or its benefits are negated by the use of improper solders and connectors.