biggest improvement to my soldering wasn't so much the solder i was using or even the iron it was the size of the tip..... :blush:

A very high temp iron is great but if the tip is small and is unable to maintain that high temp as soon as you touch it to a wire then its a bit pointless.

I use a 50w iron from Maplins and have replaced the tip for a larger one. Its perfect, fast to heat up and most importantly the larger tip maintains its heat so you can solder wires fast without heating up the component too much.

Link to Iron

Link to Tip

Cheers Rudolf - went to order some, but its pricey! £24 is the cheapest I can find. :thumbdown:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multicore-...item19cada60ce

It's a bit cheaper :thumbsup:

this is a great soldering iron,

ive had one for over 20 years and its still going strong and gets hot enough for any job:

http://uk.farnell.com/portasol/porta...-gas/dp/148636

heres the same one on ebay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portasol-P...item3f1ade02c4

OMG thats cheap, i'd buy another for £10 if i didnt already have a spare,

this is the flux to get:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3209538996...9#ht_500wt_969

and this is the solder:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100g-reel-...item20c584d7fa

try some Schumacher solder find it Reilly easy to work with, the best solder that i have found and i must of bought 50+ deferent brands of solder here is a link below

LINK

Sorry, I'm with Neal on this one, I have been soldering for almost 30 years, not just RC hobby stuff I also used to do electrical repairs too. I have tried several lead free solders and found each one to be hard to work with, producing inferior results to standard leaded types.

As for a recommendation for a good soldering iron, I have had my 25w Antex for over 25 years (Ok Trigger, it did have a replacement element about 10 years ago), I have various tips for this but for RC usually use a 2.5mm tip. This is fine for anything upto motor wire type size, so most RC jobs are no issue. I think its only jobs like cell building where I have to break out a bigger iron. A good quality iron and they are not too expensive to buy, plus AFAIK they are still a British firm :)

Even with a 40w iron, and a good one at that, i was still having issues, I bought an 80watt from Amazon and no issues now.

I do agree with the flux and solder points though, leaded solder and a good quality flux are essential to making good joints. I found 60:40 leaded solder made by Draper in Halfords for a tenner. Great stuff.

Just for giggles I used my dads big 200w Weller iron, ended up wrecking a motor... It seems bigger isnt always better though lads...

i find its solder i have one of them cheapo £7 soldering irons but i use decent solder and my soldering is fine never killed a motor or speedo
i do also have a 80w one from maplins its perfect its just the heads are expensive where as my cheap one i just get a flat head screwdiver and cut the head of it then grind the driver into a spike or whatever i think of at the time (two tools for the price of one)

(i use schumacher solder)

Any chance you can show us a pic of the iron your using?

You want a medium/large sized tip as the bigger the tip the better it will transfer the heat to the wire (more surface contact)

Leaded solder is easier to use but if you your using a decent iron (Antex are really good though you pay for the quality) high wattage 60W then lead free is fine as well but harder to work with (Electronics solder not leadfree plumbers solder :rolleyes: it will have a good percentage of silver/tin content)

Like everyone says tin the iron as it heats up (this bits important) then tin the motor tabs and wire, a small amount of flux will help as it cleans the surface for you (again electronic flux not plumbers flux as it can corrode electronics, so I'm told)

then put heat to the tab and wire together add solder to it, should run smoothly on then remove iron, this should leave a nice shiny joint. wipe the flux residue off afterwards and wipe it off your iron as well using a damp cloth.

Like someone said most solder comes pre-flux (not all) but a little extra can help. but like anything practice makes perfect.

Anyway hope that helps and best of luck and if you get stuck ask someone at the local track but check theres first :thumbsup:

Soldering Iron
 

I use a Weller 75W Iron with a 8mm round tip, made for doing lead window work but is superb for our hobby cost around £30 at local Machine mart. Holds lots of heat and use it for just about everything apart from soldering wires to servo's, break out the 45W weller TCP for that.
As for the debate on Leaded or Lead free solder, I use both. Leaded for home use and Lead free for work. Took time getting used to using Lead free after 30 years of using leaded but will stick my neck out and say that Lead free solder for our application is crap.
It produces overly 'hard' joints which can be fragile and to top it all off there is a lot of very corrosive flux in it to make it flow better, more so than tin / lead solder to the point where at work I am replacing soldering iron tips because they have eroded through ! You also have to use higher temperatures to make it 'melt' so this transfers through to your ESC, Motor etc.

Best solder to buy if you can still get some is 60/40 Ersin Multicore, avoid anything with 'green' on the label ! ! Not cheap but the best !

@iMull - that aint the same stuff mate - thats leaded solder.
We are looking for RudolfXC's lead free solder as he says its very good.

Maplins sell lead free solder.