11LikesSuck at soldering
03-24-2017 | 03:44 AM
#16
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From: Hong Kong
+2 on the 63-37 solder and liquid flux, went from slow heating, over heated stiff wire, cold grey blobs to instant flow and shine, only took me 20 years to finally understand and master good soldering, if i had youtube back in the day... it would of taken an hour!
another plus is you dont have to crank the iron to max, and overheat all your components...once that flux sizzles your good to tin
cheap 60w irons work great right out the package, but no matter how well you clean and tin the iron, the cheap tips erode fast and near impossible to find replacements, which is usually the number 1 reason for bad heat transfer .... bought a hakko a few years ago and im still using the chisel tip it came with, good practice with any iron is to feed it fresh solder, clean it off (i like the brass scrubber mesh thing vs wet sponge) than re-feed it, and store the iron with a blob on it, just clean and tin before you turn it off, you kinda get into this ocd habit of wiping and tinning the iron
search for videos on how to solder circuit boards, they really give good advice vs the r/c specific stuff
another plus is you dont have to crank the iron to max, and overheat all your components...once that flux sizzles your good to tin
cheap 60w irons work great right out the package, but no matter how well you clean and tin the iron, the cheap tips erode fast and near impossible to find replacements, which is usually the number 1 reason for bad heat transfer .... bought a hakko a few years ago and im still using the chisel tip it came with, good practice with any iron is to feed it fresh solder, clean it off (i like the brass scrubber mesh thing vs wet sponge) than re-feed it, and store the iron with a blob on it, just clean and tin before you turn it off, you kinda get into this ocd habit of wiping and tinning the iron
search for videos on how to solder circuit boards, they really give good advice vs the r/c specific stuff
http://www.eptac.com/ask/wet-sponge-...onge-cleaning/
03-24-2017 | 01:06 PM
#17
There is a technique called wire whipping. Look up whipping knot on Wikipedia. I whip the ends of the wire with 26 gauge bare copper wire (various places to get that) then squeeze the whipped end in a vise until it will fit in the slot; IMPORTANT: Then I put flux on the whipped, flattened end and tin it so solder flows into the wire and around the copper wire used for the whipping knot. Put a little flux in the slot of the ESC post, slide the flattened, tinned end into the slot, more flux on that, put a little solder on the iron tip, touch it to the tinned flattened wire until the solder flows into the solder post slot. Then it looks like this:
Something worth mentioning is that I first started soldering about 50 years ago (building slot car chassis from brass strips and piano wire). You don't learn to do this well by doing 5 solder joints.
Also important: I use only 63:37 Eutectic solder.
03-24-2017 | 01:55 PM
#18
Lots of other replies before I saw this but I'll offer an answer anyway.
There is a technique called wire whipping. Look up whipping knot on Wikipedia. I whip the ends of the wire with 26 gauge bare copper wire (various places to get that) then squeeze the whipped end in a vise until it will fit in the slot; IMPORTANT: Then I put flux on the whipped, flattened end and tin it so solder flows into the wire and around the copper wire used for the whipping knot. Put a little flux in the slot of the ESC post, slide the flattened, tinned end into the slot, more flux on that, put a little solder on the iron tip, touch it to the tinned flattened wire until the solder flows into the solder post slot. Then it looks like this:
Something worth mentioning is that I first started soldering about 50 years ago (building slot car chassis from brass strips and piano wire). You don't learn to do this well by doing 5 solder joints.
Also important: I use only 63:37 Eutectic solder.
There is a technique called wire whipping. Look up whipping knot on Wikipedia. I whip the ends of the wire with 26 gauge bare copper wire (various places to get that) then squeeze the whipped end in a vise until it will fit in the slot; IMPORTANT: Then I put flux on the whipped, flattened end and tin it so solder flows into the wire and around the copper wire used for the whipping knot. Put a little flux in the slot of the ESC post, slide the flattened, tinned end into the slot, more flux on that, put a little solder on the iron tip, touch it to the tinned flattened wire until the solder flows into the solder post slot. Then it looks like this:
Something worth mentioning is that I first started soldering about 50 years ago (building slot car chassis from brass strips and piano wire). You don't learn to do this well by doing 5 solder joints.
Also important: I use only 63:37 Eutectic solder.
03-24-2017 | 05:18 PM
#19
Hey Wrench - have you tried using brass wool as a tip cleaner instead of water? I have recently and although it takes some time getting used to, I find it's way easier on the tips (because you're not suddenly cooling the tip) and you lose less heat in your tip when trying to do a large soldering job. It makes soldering with lead-free solder a lot easier too!
http://www.eptac.com/ask/wet-sponge-...onge-cleaning/
http://www.eptac.com/ask/wet-sponge-...onge-cleaning/
the biggest secret i learned is ample use of liquid rosin flux, lots of it, i make a near mess with it, even with tinned parts and wires, i squirt it on anything im soldering or tinning... it really makes for super fast heat transfer, solder melts fast, doesnt cook the parts or wire... but it cleans up nice, residue free with some rubbing alcohol, makes for super nice joints... currently away from my toys, ill post some photos of my "work" in a few
like i said, watching how to solder videos for circuit boards is what helped me the most, they give you solder type, heat ranges, the types of flux.. what a good vs bad joint looks like..
Last edited by the wrench; 03-24-2017 at 05:36 PM.
03-25-2017 | 06:33 AM
#21
hope these examples help, i struggled for a really long time, way before lipo/brushless, trying to solder nicads together...nightmare for the clueless, my packs would end up wrapped in a roll of electrical tape... so much for weight saving
the junk would end up working fine, just real ugly, covered in shrink tubing and tape to mask the shame, which made it more obvious
after all these years of playing r/c, i finally feel confident in my work, and i never have to worry about wires breaking off, shorting, or my cars simply looking like doodoo...
id really like to see the OP's progress, post a follow up after you get the hang of it!
the junk would end up working fine, just real ugly, covered in shrink tubing and tape to mask the shame, which made it more obvious
after all these years of playing r/c, i finally feel confident in my work, and i never have to worry about wires breaking off, shorting, or my cars simply looking like doodoo...
id really like to see the OP's progress, post a follow up after you get the hang of it!
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