Soldering Woes
 

Hi,

I've just got myself a new ESC, I'm really struggling to get the 12AWG wires tinned and even the pre-tinned wires are being difficult to solder to the ESC posts. I'm in a mess, so I've borrowed a desolder pump and I'm going to start again. :mad:

I've got a Maplin 50W Solderstation which has until now served me well but I think I might need something with more power. I've tried changing to a wider tip- still struggling.

Has anyone got a cost friendly soldering iron/station they can recommend? Or is it me?

helping hands on ebay are about 4 pound for a cheap and nasty 9one but it does the job and a good soldering iron, 50w should be alright but higher should be a little better say 80w. let it get supper hot befor useing it. also how think is your solder? you do nto want it to be too thick


i can nto comment much as i am still learning but practice makes perfect.

Make sure the tip on the iron is also tinned as this makes a massive difference, maybe use a new one if possible. Good quality solder is also important.
When soldering speedo posts I have found sometimes I need to apply heat to the posts rather than the pads to get the solder flowing.
50w should be good enough although if its fairly old it may be worth investing in a new one as I know mine gets lots more use now with this RC malarkey than it ever did before.
Good luck and may the flow be with you :thumbs up:

thanks for the feedback guys. I do tin my solder tip, I just can't get the solder to flow nicely as I do on thinner wire.

I'm using Draper flux core solder, can you recommend some suitable solder?

the solder that i use is any thin one that looks like it is good.

the cheap stuff fades very quickly and the good stuff has a shiney colour... also when soldering try and keep the solder all as one thing, as mixing WILL give you problems


also a piece of sponge with water on it to clean it after a few min also does the job but then make sure you do nto drown it that it becomes ice cold and then does nto work.

I downgraded to 14awg wires for the same reason, my iron would not even touch 12 gauge wires, the smaller gauge hasn't caused me any problems.

i use fluxite soldering paste on the wire before tinning wire, works very well:woot:

Best solder ive used so far........

http://www.racing-cars.com/pp/Old_Ca...TRe/U3107.html

Im using an Antex 50w soldering iron with adjustable temperature, ive found that 50w on the highest setting was too much so turned it down !!!

i used the core rc iron and shumy solder and its good for 12g wire :)

So schuey solder and Core RC 80W iron should see me sorted? Seen a Draper 100W for similar money to the core RC iron if it's with going for 20W more?

My first job was making Hornby Train Transformers, the main job in this was soldering the tabs and wires together !

I use an 26 year old Weller 100watt iron with a Flat 8mm tip, never let me down and easily solders 12awg to esc posts.

I agree with above buy a good quality solder reel, cheap market stuff is crap and doesn't contain enough flux.

This is my method.
1. allow the iron to get nice and hot.
2. clean the tip and apply fresh solder.
3. heat the esc post and pre-solder.
4. strip 3-4mm of insulation from the wire, place the bare end on the iron tip and add solder to the tip and build up the solder to the whole wire end turning if necessary.
5. re-heat the post, add more solder to the iron tip, then place the wire end on the post and the iron on top of both, add more solder to the wire/tip if required.

Thanks to everyone who replied. :thumbsup:

I am pretty much following the tips sugested so think it's a combination of my soldering iron and solder.

I've ordered myself a Weller 80w iron and Schuey solder. Hopefully I'll get it sorted on the 2nd attempt.

You are not alone! I had a very similar experience recently as my Antex 25w wasn't doing the business on 12 AWG which was winding me up as I've done lots of soldering in the past and pride myself on being pretty good at it!!! I couldn't even get the new wire to tin!

Suspected the iron was under powered so I got a 50w station from Maplin but that was no better so returned it. I think their irons are fine for soldering components but are not man enough for RC needs. My dad has a 20 year old 150w Weller and some proper lead based solder (prob also 20 years old) and that did it in a trice.

I think you'll be fine with the Weller and some decent solder. As others have said, fluxing the wires also helps. You may also need to use more solder than you usually would as the 12 AWG seems to act as a heat sink.

Good luck!

hiya guys,
a quick word on solder told to me by a very experienced electronics wizard , the modern lead free stuff requires a 25% more powerful iron to flow , also, if you can use it safely, always go for leaded solder and as mentioned a little extra flux is always useful , there is no guarentee that the flux core is consistantly run through the solder , its also worth giving the terminals a little clean with very fine emery paper as some companies varnish them to stop them tarnishing while being stored.

It works for me,and iv never soldered before gettin it :thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

Not using flux leads to more soldering problems than anything I've ever seen.

i have a 50 watt station, i have to use the biggest tip and turn it up to max temp too get it to work, bigger tip the better to retain the heat

It's all about the flux, I generally use a gas iron and turn it down when it's hot but without flux you will not make good clean joints, powerflow is a favourite but there are many that work. Flux and tin everything before making a final joint

I totally agree I use genuine Weller solder multicore rosin flux again with the biggest tip possible to retain the heat and solder the joint as fast as possible to prevent heat transfer damage

One of your problems could be lead free solder, which has a higher melting point. It's quite hard to get proper 60/40 leaded solder now but is possible, I think RS sell it. Lead free solder also doesn't seem to flow as good.

With cheap soldering irons the tips can be poor, low thermal mass and start to pit and degrade quickly. But you can always replace the tip for a quality one on a cheap iron.

I use a Maplin 60w soldering iron station and it does nearly all my soldering, more than enough for 12AWG cables and solder posts.