Noobie Needs Help with Soldering.

[RobertsUp]

Hi. I studied UTube videos for hours today. I learned some things. I need to avoid silver solder for one thing. I'm trying to create the battery connectors to my F450 Distribution Board. The 12 gauge battery wire stripped ends are too large to fit into my XT60 female connectors.

I tried out my soldering station yesterday. It works fine. I have the helping hands and more but my soldering efforts failed.

I last soldered anything fifty years ago when I was a teen.

Once I've applied and burned flux to the XT60 connectors they don't seem to accept any tinning. I think my problem is with my solderiing techniques and tip size.

Good thing I ordered lots of XT60 connectors to learn on. I've already ruined and thrown out two pair. My first attempt yesterday was an utter failure. Melted part of the plastic and the solder never bonded to the connecter. After cooling the wire pulled right out. Even twlsting with fingers the 12 gauge wire is hard to insert into the XT60 connector female. I need the XT90 connectors, I think.

I have XT90 connectors on order from a HS in Spain. Nobody else out of China has 'em.

I thought I had my wire connected solid into the positive side of the XT60 but as soon as it cooled down the wire wasn't connected at all. 12 and 10 gauge wires don't seem to be able to fit into the XT60 connectors.

I think I just need more learning about soldering. Dunno.

 

[Bison52]

What kind of iron are you using? When I started, I used a smaller iron the local electronics store recommended. I figured "what the heck, maybe it'll just take me a little longer to solder some things". Wrong. I burned up plugs, wires and had cold solders all over the place trying to get enough heat. Then I bought an old Weller WCPT analog station at a garage sale. Got a variety of 700 and 800 degree tips. Wow, what a difference. I think its only 60 watts but thats twice what my original was and what a difference. Touch the tip to a pole on a plug and it heats up instantly along with the wire and makes a great connection without any damage to the plug. In soldering, power is your friend.

I made my first wire harness for a new hexa the other day using 10 and 14 gauge wire. This would have been impossible with my old iron. With the 800 tip, it soldered up so easy, it was unreal.

Mike

 

[Bison52]

A couple of other things. 12 gauge should fit in a WT60 if the solder isn't applied too heavily when you tin the wire. I like the flick technique to remove excess solder from tinned wires. Heavier wires just need to be trimmed to fit. Use the 14 or 12 slot on a pair of strippers to trim the 10 down to size.

Second, maybe I had a cheap one but my "third hand" was a POS. I trashed it in short order and bought a bunch of forceps, mostly the curved ones. I covered the ends with shrink tubing and they work great to hold things for soldering.

 

[tstrike]

Another thing to do is have both connectors mated so you don't deform the plastic and don't unplug until the soldered pieces are completely cooled.

 

[RobertsUp]

Thanks.

My soldering station is good. A Weller digital station. It works well. Yesterday I couldn't get the solder to bind to the inside of the XT60 connectors. The wire just pulled right out after cooling. I applied different kinds of flux on two different tries. Maybe not enough heat is being applied fast enough. Maybe I need a larger soldering tip. Dunno. Maybe I just need to learn more and practice more. I'll study the online tutorials more tomorrow. Maybe my 60 year old hands are too ham handed.

Don't want to pinch the water hose. The first batteries I got are too big for the 450 and they have 10 gauge leads. With EC5 banana females.
I'm saving those for a future bigger copter. Now I have better batteries for the 450 with 12 gauge leads and they came with Deans connectors. I want to replace the Deans with XT90's. And therefore no squeezepoint in the flow of electricity.

But my ignorance of soldering has stopped my build.

:upset:

 

[ChrisViperM]

Another thing to do is have both connectors mated so you don't deform the plastic and don't unplug until the soldered pieces are completely cooled.

This tip is golden....saves you from the frustation of deformed plug housings

Check the following vid about soldering XT60 :

Fixing the solder iron and just manipulating the wire and the plug by hand (like in the vid) makes it a lot more easier...

Don't use flux...it's already in almost every solder material....although a lot of people are using it, it is not necessary, highly corrosive and can make things worse. It's much better to put very little solder to the tip before heating the wire or the plug. This will transfer the heat much quicker to the plug/wire.
If the wire is too thick, just strip it down to the desired thickness (it will still hold up) ...second way is to tin the wire and grind it smaller with a dremel tool

PS: Obviously for heavier wire you need a bigger soldering iron...if you wanna be an expert, get a soldering station (80 Watts) with heat regulation. If the plugs/wires are absorbing more heat than the iron can produce, you got a problem. A strong soldering station will keep the heat flow steady.


Also check this serie about soldering....not new, but the best educational videos you can find about soldering background:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926EC0F1F93C1837

 

[RobertsUp]

Thank you, Chris. That video and your advice is truly golden. I had seen a dozen videos but not that one.

I need to get more appropriate solder. And I still think the XT60's are a little small for 12 gauge wire.

The idea of fixing the soldering iron in place and manipulating the parts around the tip is new to me. I can do it.

Rob

 

[ChrisViperM]

Just don't give up....I have thrown away the value of a small car in connectors until I "got it".....just need to get once the "ahhha-effect" and you are golden....



Chris

 

[Molar]

Thanks for posting this.... I also have been struggling with soldering this weekend.

 

[Chalagi]

That has got to be the best soldering video that I have ever seen on the internet. But right now I"m using the Anderson Power Poles for my connectors. And they are super easy to make-up, connect and disconnect. Much faster than soldering things together especially when you are in the field and not around any electric outlet.

 

[Electro 2]

Huzza, huzza, yet another Anderson Power Pole fan! Simply the best connector technology for a low voltage, high current environment. Used them for decades in other low votage systems and now, in multis. Simple hand fabrication (crimp technology), cheap, and radically superior electrical characteristics. And, for what it's worth, I know how to solder, was once certified to 6 different MIL hand soldering specs. I'd a lot rather crimp 3 Andersons, than solder one XT60.