Soldering motor advice?
 

I've tried to solder the 3 wires to the motor with no luck what so ever!! It just doesn't seem to want to take to it at all. Any help and advice would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks Liam

Hi,
Not sure if this will be any help at all but a couple of points to watch out for.
Have you tinned the tip of your soldering iron (covered it in solder) and is it clean.
You also need to tin the ends of the wires and the contact points on the motor. This should help to get everything flowing.
Is your soldering iron a high enough wattage?
You need to heating either the wire or the contact point and adding the solder onto these rather than directly onto the iron.
Also leaded solder is best although I just use the cheap stuff sold in most hardware shops.
Sorry if this is all old news to you I'm by no means the best solderer so hopefully some others can give you some more advice!
Thanks
Ben

Make sure you're using leaded solder for a start. Make sure that you tin the wires before soldering them to the motor.

Are you using an iron with a large tip and good wattage (40W+)? Make sure it's clean then tin the tip before you try and solder the wire to the motor.

Echo the above...try a little flux paste aswell. It may help

Deffo on the flux paste, I use fluxite soldering paste and 60/40 solder and a portasol technic gas powered soldering iron and I tin the wires and the motor tabs with the paste and solder, then put a bit more flux on both and solder together, it takes in seconds and creates an excellent strong finish,


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FRYS-FLUXI...2#ht_500wt_969



.
i've had one of these 50g tins for 20 years and i still have enough for a few years yet, and i solder a lot and use it every time, great investment

Well thanks for all the help and advice guy, the only thing I haven't tried is the flux so I'll give that a bash and fingers crossed!!

Get some old school leaded solder. New lead free solder is horrible to use, and requires a super hot iron, or give up. It's a pig to work with with my 480degC solder station, but leaded solder is perfect at 300degC.
Search ebay for "lead solder -free" and you'll find lots. 60/40 tin/lead flux core solder.

Flux paste is also a must for cleanign your iron tip and helping to tin the wires and contacts. remove residue with motor spray afterwards.
you can get good flux paste (LA-CO) from a plumbers merchants.

Solder, whether lead-free or otherwise is flux cored as you have stated so why use flux paste?

Lead free solder is not horrible to use and makes perfect joints with an iron tip temperature below 380 deg C - Leaded solder is horrible to use with toxic fumes and lead covered hands just by touching it.

I was sceptical at first, but after trying a few types at work, we have found a perfect lead-free solder that I use on all my RC cars and have had no joint failures.

Flux paste to clean the iron tip. A damp sponge doesn't cut it, and leave impurities and residue, which blacken the tip. Dip the iron tip in the flux before you are about to make a joint gives you a perfectly clean tip ready to tin and use straight away.
Flux paste to clean and draw solder into the wire. Often the flux in the solder core isn't enough. Again it depends on the thickness of the solder, and cleanliness of the items being soldered. Sometimes its not needed, sometimes it helps.

The OP was asking for advice on why he was having problems soldering. Using flux can help, as will quality high temperature controlled irons with large tips, and decent solder. Using too low a power iron, with a small tip and lead free solder is a recipe for bad solder joints and problems making them. Others posted above me had offered constructive advice to the OP, most of which said use flux and leaded solder...

In my experience lead free solder is awful to use. It's melting point is higher, and flow rate is slower, and requires a much longer period of heat contact to make the joint. It sets very fast, sometimes too fast to get a tidy joint, where you end up with part of it molten, and part set. My temperature controlled solder station goes upto 480 deg C, and its just awful to use with lead free solder at all temps I've tried. Sure it may be fine for small electronic joints, but large 10awg or 12awg wire contacts, or making up nicad/nimh packs for example with a large tip its just horrible to use, when good old leaded solder allow for perfect joints where the solder flows and allows perfect joints to be made. I've tried lead free with the six soldering irons I have, both electric and gas, of various powers, sizes and tip types.

Lead free solder is typically suited to flow or wave soldering process for circuit board manufacture, and they all use flux, either screened or sprayed on in these processes. more modern methods (reflow soldering) user a flux and solder paste, but that's getting off topic.
Lead free was introduced as part of the RoHS directive, where hazardous substances were removed from workplace and manufacturing process, and rightly so for the sake of those people exposed to it every day. Using a bit of leaded solder on the occasion when needed for your hobby certainly won't kill you, providing you use it in a ventilated place, and don't breath the fumes, or give it to children to eat, etc. It's certainly easier to use leaded than get burned fingers trying to get lead free solder to flow to make the joint.

I won't get into an argument about who's the better solderer, but I learned to solder at 7 years old, and 30 years later consider myself experienced. Hey, I even won a prize for my soldering in my first year of my electronic engineering degree at university ;-) I'll happily put up examples of my work for inspection.

If you've found a good lead free solder, please detail the stuff, and i'll go out and buy some to try, or accept a sample in the post if you like? I'd happily try some and change to it if it works. The several different rolls I've bought and used were utter rubbish.

:thumbsup:

Ooooo! :p

I use the Hudy Special Solder - excellent stuff

Very highly recommended

In addition, i tried the lead free stuff, just couldn't make good solder joints with it.

:p it was late, or early, and you get fed up of the same old comments when key words are mentioned.

I hope the OP manages to get his motor soldered. If he is still having trouble and can make it to cullingworth on Friday, I'll gladly solder it for him, with leaded or lead free solder, whichever he prefers. :thumbsup:

I take it hudy's special ingredient is lead? :)

While we are on the subject can you guys reccomend a good soldering iron (with and ebay lonk if possible) as i bought a new one to replace the one ive had for 20+ years and the new one is crap its meant to be 40W but it does not seem to like soldering even with proper Lead / Tin solder.

Cheers

Rich

Lol, yes.

That aside, it's quality solder :)

+1

@Rudolf - come on mate, time to man up! :p
Whats the lead free solder you use?
Ive tried a few lead free types and all were pants it seems; so Id be very keen on finding some that actually worked.

@HyperLiam - sounds alot like temperature. Same thing happened to me and it was down to an old 40W iron not holding enough temp for the larger wires. Heat jsut dissappated too quickly to make good joins.

Get down to B&Q, buy their 40W Stanley iron (think its like £18 or something) and, if it is temperature, you should be sorted.

HTH.

personally I tend to heat up the motor terminals and pop some solder on them. then tin the ends of the motor wires. then heat the 2 together. After it's changed colour to a matt finish I give it a few seconds and give a little pull. if it looks like a good joint and doesn't break that'll do for me :)

Firstly make sure your work area is free from rubbish.

Then give it to someone else to do, maybe watch them to pick up tips. If I am seen at Southport with a soldering iron people get panicky.

Seriously if your having problems maybe get someone else to do it for you this time. I am sure if you get early enough to your local track you will get plenty of help.

I use Multicore 99C Alloy Type 5C Crystal 502 Solder