NO joy trying to solder a Deans Connector. ?

[SRB Bloke 237]

Whenever I'm stuck you guys always seem to help. Lets hope you can again.

I'm just starting to set up my first brushless & Lipo system.

The ESC wires to the motor and the battery connector need soldering. I decided to solder the deans connector first.

I've watched a load of video's on youtube, it looks simple. Everywhere says tin the battery tabs and wires first then put together. All that happens is, the solder touches the soldering iron then balls up and fall off... If I can get any solder on the battery tab its a ball shape and if you touch it, it falls off.

I got a flat amount of solder on the battery tab once, but again once you touch it the solder falls off. Deans connectors are brand new, solder is lead free brand new. The soldering iron is older and only 18W.

I've cleaned the tip of the soldering iron but with no difference... Can anyone tell me why the solder will not adhere to the deans connector.

[bromvw 744]

My guess is that a 18 W iron is just not man enough for the job . Your not getting enough heat onto the deans terminals . I use a 50W for jobs like this . Just buy a cheap DIY store iron and have another try .

[IBIFTKH 1369]

Are you using any sort of flux? Even cheap flux helps the solder flow and adhere much better.

[bromvw 744]

Are you using any sort of flux? Even cheap flux helps the solder flow and adhere much better.

+1 on that too . Use solder that has the flux down its core . Halfords stuff is what I use .

[TA-Mark 195]

As bromvw says, you're not getting enough heat into the metal to open up the pores so the solder has something to flow into. 40W iron minimum really.

Flux ensures the pores are clean of any oxidants or dirt or grease.

[SteveAdair 2]

I had exactly the same problem the first time I tried to solder these connectors. I did as already suggested here, moved up to a 50W iron and used cored solder with flux in it. Now it works perfectly everytime. You only need the iron on the tabs for a second or two, otherwise you will melt the plastic holding them.

Don't ask how I know that !

Cheers.

[njmlondon 570]

I have recently been rewiring a few of my cars and after many botched attempts decided to ditch Deans and go for Gold Bullet Connectors. Apparently these are at least as good, if not better, than Deans and they are so easy to solder. I now have no fear at all.

It is almost impossible to screw it up if you watch this...

PS I got myself a 40W soldering iron and it works so much better than by old 20ishW.

[94eg! 834]

18watts is not gonna cut it. 40watts at minimum and you may still have a tough time.

[danb1974 93]

I use a 48W soldering station, wide tip, heated at 400 degrees celsius, decent quality flux, lead based solder. Works like a charm.

[JeepnMike 150]

Do you guys prefer the gun style (trigger) soldering iron or the always on "wand" hand-held style irons with a sharp tip? This thread had me wondering how good my soldering iron is considering how challenging soldering is for me (I use Traxxas connectors). It is a 60w iron so I am guessing any struggles I may have is purely based on my skills

[bromvw 744]

personally I prefer sharp tip irons but its all down to what your happy working with and what feels 'right' in your hand .I learned to use these way way back so to me they just feel familiar .For fine work I also feel they are more precise

[SRB Bloke 237]

Thanks everyone,

You all seemed to say the same thing so I've just ordered a new wand style 60W soldering iron. Just need to get some flux. I'll have a look for that stuff with the flux core, sounds really easy.

I'll cheap trying the Deans connectors for now, as I've bought lipos with deans connectors. I can remember re-soldering my Holiday Buggy MSC when I was a kid, it all seemed very simple then....

[bromvw 744]

Thanks everyone,

You all seemed to say the same thing so I've just ordered a new wand style 60W soldering iron. Just need to get some flux. I'll have a look for that stuff with the flux core, sounds really easy.

I'll cheap trying the Deans connectors for now, as I've bought lipos with deans connectors. I can remember re-soldering my Holiday Buggy MSC when I was a kid, it all seemed very simple then....

lot less heat needed to solder a MSC . Case of right tool for the job

[danb1974 93]

Gun style, the one with direct heating, not esd (electrostatic) safe, do not use on modern electronics. Mosfets (both transistors and ic's) are really not happy when facing electrostatic discharge. Also it's a good ideea no to wear synthetic clothing while working on electronics.

For power connector soldering use a wide tip, the sharp one may cool too fast when in contact with connector pins

[kaiser 8]

in this hobby quality tools are a must. i spent years soldering with the 40-50watt pen's. when i got into electric 1/8 scale they couldn't do the job at all.

i now use a hakko fx888 station (70watt adjustable heat range), now i don't know how i lived without it. i can solder 10gauge wire in seconds @ 850f.

one tip for soldering deans, plug the male into the female. that will prevent tab/pin shift under heat.

[94eg! 834]

Do you guys prefer the gun style (trigger) soldering iron or the always on "wand" hand-held style irons with a sharp tip? This thread had me wondering how good my soldering iron is considering how challenging soldering is for me (I use Traxxas connectors). It is a 60w iron so I am guessing any struggles I may have is purely based on my skills

If you read deep into the instructions, you will find soldering guns are only meant to be in use for an extremely limited time. Something like 1 minute on, 5 minutes off. This fact really reduces their usefulness. Once I figured that out, I never wasted time on guns again. Plus their tip doesn't contain enough mass for heavy duty soldering we do.

[ddaenen1 278]

In all honesty, soldering is a skill. Indeed you need the right equipment but also the right approach.

I use a Bosch gas-soldering iron with exchangeable tips - has the advantage of heating up extremely fast and ofcourse, no cables in the way while you are manouvering with the iron. Furthermore you need decent soldering tin, not the cheap DIY store ****, and last but not least the right sequence which simply is heating up the surface while adding tin and ensure the tin melts on the surface. Do that with both items you want to join and then heat up the biggest surface of the 2 again and once the tin you added before starts metling again, join the other surface.

This way, you can't go wrong. Do not need to tell that your equipment needs to be maintained, so get rid of traces of tin after using it so you get the optmail heatflow from the iron to the surface.

[igbandy 34]

I use a Weller 40 watt iron with a flat chisel/screwdriver tip for soldering deans. And a flux cored solder. I have no problems with this set up. But I have been using soldering irons for over 30 years.

[SRB Bloke 237]

Sounds like I might still struggle once the new gear arrives... I'm on a very tight budget, but what solder with flux core would be a good buy.

If I get really stuck I'll be asking if any of you experts live in ESSEX :)

[DCLXVI 3]

A good quality soldering station is very nice to have but skill is also important, I had to take a five day course when starting my new job to be allowed to solder by myself, there's a ~400 page book we use to reference how the result sould be for different cables, connectors and other connections...<br /><br />A >40W iron and ~350-380 deg C with a tip suited for the task is the way to go (small tip for small connectors, large tip for large connectors).<br /><br />Always heat the material that shall be soldered, never the solder itself (it sould melt against the connector)

[Gruntfuggly 562]

You could also consider switching to power poles instead - crimping is a lot quicker and easier!

[skip665 169]

This....

You could also consider switching to power poles instead - crimping is a lot quicker and easier!

I switched to Power Poles about 5 years ago and have never looked back - no more messing about with soldering irons! (well, except on motors....)

http://www.componentshop.co.uk/leads-and-connectors/connectors/powerpole-connectors.html

[MadInventor 3884]

I've had trouble with trying to solder thick wire and battery connectors / battery cell tags, etc together. My solution was to use a mini blow torch to heat the soldering iron tip to 'very hot', then no problems with soldering anything. I also prefer to use the spade style iron tips over the pointy ones when trying to solder bits that have good heat dissipation.

[backtomyroots 432]

I've only started to solder my own things within the last year and am steadily improving with the more practice I get.

I purchased the TrakPower soldering station at a very reasonable price:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXATBK&P=ML

I also have switched to Traxxas high current connectors and they are not too difficult to solder together and work great:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSDB9&P=ML

[wheelyking4x4x4 3]

I use 60/40 tin/lead solder and an old scope soldering iron, hot in seconds and doesn't stay hot. I have solder with and with out the flux and I find no difference at all, just that the flux stuff is thicker. Definitely look into a new Iron and then its just practice. Make sure the wire is tinned all the way through and put a small blob on the tab. You will know its hot enough when you put the solder to the tab and it flows on like butter and covers the whole tab.