34 replies to this topic

[Live Steam Mad]

Hence it is better to hold the connector by the opposite side not the nylon part.
That might not make sense but I'll do a vid in the next few days to explain.

Yeah I didn't understand that part. Maybe I have got the wrong idea of what you mean.

ARG

[Live Steam Mad]

Thats what I thought about doing (only trouble is I thought about after I melted the others). I bought 5 new female conectors to replace the ones I melted and to give me spares incase I mess up again. But from now I'll be soldering them when joined to their oposite numbers. I'll wait until I get my helping hands and new soldering Iron next week though.

I liked the look of the gas iron. Being made by weller which is a good name in soldering irons, added to the fact it is fully adjustable and comes with extras like a hot knife and hot air blower, helped me decide to get one to replace my old five pound cheapie.

Best thing I would suggest is probably to practice soldering / tinning 14 AWG Silicone cables (not PVC covered cables, Silicone can stand any amount of soldering iron heat) to small (say 1/2 inch x 1/4 inch) offcuts of brass / copper shim stock / sheet or something first before attempting to do Deans plugs?

Did you buy the high temperature type Deans style connectors or the standard ones for your new ones? Did you get the gold plated / yellow coated ones or the silver coloured ones (hard Nickel plated I think) ?

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[lentner3]

Sorry about my spelling I was using my Iphone!
You are right about needing to be quicker but whichever way you choose to do it speed helps so as stated before get some practice. It really does get easier when you have got it right a few times.
Theres more than 1 way to skin a cat but if you can manage to heat the metal to in turn eat the solder the joint will be stronger.
I use a iroda 70 gas iron which is awesome, have a look on ebay, I did have trouble when i was using a cheap one. Also a vice and/or a handy helper is a must.
If your struggling definitely use the better plugs and silicone wire, 12 or 14 gauge is best, after all the whole idea is to reduce the resistance and if you can't get your connections soldered well then it defeats the point.
I don't have a you tube account can I send a vid to someone that doesn't mind posting up for me. I'll try and do a video tomorrow as I think my explanation is a bit poor and hopefully it will be helpful to someone anyway.
I need to do a few bit's anyway.

[tonysmini]

It took me a few goes to perfect my plug.soldering, I plug the opposite plug (a high heat one, I have two of each I use as masters) onto the one I am soldering then hold the pins with a 'helping hand', that way it doesn't heat sink the pins I am trying to solder, and the pins don't deform if I slightly over do it with the iron.

I found that the tiniest spot of melting solder on the tip of the iron transfers the heat really fast and I can tin my plugs in about a second using a 40w iron.

From there, it's just practice, don't worry if you mess a few up, everyone does from time to time, especially forgetting the heat shrink.

Tony

[Live Steam Mad]

Got some of the HobbyKing very nice looking Deans XT style i.e. ribbed (for grip) high temperature Nylon Gold plated T-Connectors, I was hoping that they would be the same quality as a batch I got a while back in an earlier post from elsewhere which were excellent, and Yep, just tried these HK ones and they are great, accepting solder easily without a hint of melting, and a firm connection when you plug them in. Rather pleased with them ;-

http://www.hobbyking...idProduct=11961

These days I use the same Antex TCS 50W iron but with the 3mm oval single faced bit instead of the 6.3mm bit as it's sometimes tricky to get the large bit onto the wire without touching other things. As there is less heat conduction (due to smaller surface area) with the smaller bit, I preheat the end of the 14 AWG wire for 20 seconds, then immediately solder it onto the Deans connector's flat metal prong.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Otis311]

I have some empirical evidence on why I prefer Deans. You can see in the following pictures how the actual conductive contact area differs between the two styles. Although the tabs on the Traxxas connector are physically bigger only a small portion actually passes current.



Just something I've been meaning to share.

I should also note that I have noticed a green corrosion form on the Traxxas.

[atf300]

so there's no clean consensus on which connector . im looking for advice for which to get , as all my stuff is still tamiya i need about 15 pairs at least. has to be available in europe, so tower hobbies is out .

any one have any thought on XT60 ?

[Live Steam Mad]

so there's no clean consensus on which connector . im looking for advice for which to get , as all my stuff is still tamiya i need about 15 pairs at least. has to be available in europe, so tower hobbies is out .

any one have any thought on XT60 ?

XT60 "reviewed" here ;-

http://www.helifreak...ad.php?t=187701

...However I prefer the ones that I know that I can solder LOL. The HobbyKing "Deans" XT's (i.e. "T connectors") are very affordable.

HobbyKing have very affordable XT60's in Nylon as well (high temperature for easier soldering, the gold plating helps the soldering also) ;-

http://www.hobbyking...?idProduct=9572

I don't like that the XT60's look clunkier and not as small and neat as a ribbed T connector. The ribbed part (for grip when trying to pull them apart) doesn't seem as pronounced on the XT60's as on Deans XT. BTW I believe Deans don't do the XT Nylon ribbed ones, only 3rd parties do them. A genuine Deans is smooth (useless to me as I can't get the !"£$%'s apart).

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[atf300]

XT60 "reviewed" here ;-

http://www.helifreak...ad.php?t=187701

...However I prefer the ones that I know that I can solder LOL. The HobbyKing "Deans" XT's (i.e. "T connectors") are very affordable.

HobbyKing have very affordable XT60's in Nylon as well (high temperature for easier soldering, the gold plating helps the soldering also) ;-

http://www.hobbyking...?idProduct=9572

I don't like that the XT60's look clunkier and not as small and neat as a ribbed T connector. The ribbed part (for grip when trying to pull them apart) doesn't seem as pronounced on the XT60's as on Deans XT. BTW I believe Deans don't do the XT Nylon ribbed ones, only 3rd parties do them. A genuine Deans is smooth (useless to me as I can't get the !"£$%'s apart).

Cheers,

Alistair G.

Well I haven't been soldering for a decade so I have no problem in learning how to solder a new connector

[Jools]

Metalmickey0's tip is the ++
Always have a pair plugged together when you solder wires onto them. Stops the internals getting misaligned when the plastic gets hot, and works as a heat sink too.
Love the cheap ones, never had probs with them, and its nice to buy 10 at a time instead of taking out a mortgage for one set of genuine ones!
-Jools