Soldering help

[webquest]

Hi there,

I'm just getting started on a new plane and I have to repair a lead wire that broke (as a result of a crash I'd rather not think about :eek:). I'm not that great at soldering, but I found a tutorial that seems to cover soldering basics (How to Solder (http://www.howtolibrary.com/how-to-solder)). Is there anything else I should know? I wasn't sure if the solder choice (60/40) was appropriate for a battery wire.

Thank you!

[Kernwrech]

That (60/40) should be fine as long as it is shielded from moisture (by a heat shrink or spray varnish).

[webquest]

Thank you!

[Gary Warner]

For the true unexperianced, this video is better than nothing. Still...

I don't care for two things he said. First, his use of an unregulated iron has the tip too hot. See how the solder 'spits and spatters' when he tins the tip? This iron is too hot. All that puff of smoke is the rosin going bye-bye. Rosin will 'melt' when at the correct temperature, not escape in a huge puff of smoke. You need some rosin in a liquid state because its main function is to reduce the surface tension of the melted solder, much like detergent reduces the surface tension of water. He needs to be using a lower wattage iron or a temperature regulated iron. The excessive heat is why he has to continually tin the tip and the tip will deteriorate quickly - again, the flux is burning off too fast.

Secondly, he says 'never' touch the tip with solder except for tinning. That's poor advice. Adding some solder at the junction of the soldering iron's tip and the work will add fresh flux to the work and will quickly fill the space around the tip and work, allowing for much faster heat transfer to the work as the surface area between the tip and the work is increased. Large contact area, faster heat flow, the sooner the soldering is done without collateral damage (ruined parts, melted wire covering, overheated batteries, etc.).

One thing he didn't mention is that in many applications, it's desirable to tin the leads of the work before making the connections and soldering. This is not always the case, but it has advantages of reducing finger dirt/oil contact with bare copper, reducing the corrosion on the wire. It also allows the final work to be soldered quicker with faster heat transfer as the tin will melt on the tinned wire and allow for more surface area of the work to come in contact with the iron's tip.

Good luck with your soldering!

[webquest]

Thanks, Gary!

[Rodney]

Your comments are very appropriate and correct Gary. While not mentioned I also believe that most bad solder jobs are caused by to small an iron, especially on connectors such as the Dean's Ultra as the operator has to keep the heat applied for far to long a time to get a good joint. You can do a small job with a big iron (if you are very careful) but you can not do a good job with to small an iron on most connectors.

[village_idiot]

I have no problems with Deans connectors and the small solder pencil on my Xytronics solder station. Do the things that Gary suggests and you can handle much larger connectors than you might think. The drop of solder on the end of a small tip really does help to make it work like a larger tip.

[Kernwrech]

Temperature controlled soldering station is the way to go. I buyed one couple of years ago when my old'n'faithfull soldering iron puffed out its working smokes, and I'm not looking back. :D

[davekra]

Every time I suggest this it gets poo-pooed, so one more time and I'll never mention it again.
The expensive temp controlled stations are great. I've had one till I had to replace the iron and the cost was outrageous.

What I do now is use a 25 or 30 watt pencil iron with a pointed tip. To that I add a simple light dimmer so I can control the heat with great precision. With this I can solder most everything right down to the ‘sand grain’ small smt components. For larger deans connectors I have a 50 watt iron with a dimmer. The larger iron gives enough heat reservoir to do larger connections in seconds. Tinning the tip and getting the heat right so it doesn’t burn the flux is still most important.

After 10 years I finally burnt out my 25watt iron. Found a new one for 4 bucks and I’m back in business.


good luck,
davidk

[village_idiot]

Interesting idea with the dimmer.

[Gary Warner]

Every time I suggest this it gets poo-pooed, so one more time and I'll never mention it again. davidk

I won't poo-poo this idea. Soldering is like painting and art. We all can be told to paint a picture of an apple. How each of us gets to the final product will be different. So long as the apple pictures look good, who cares how it got that way. Now a bad painting of an apple... that's what we are trying to avoid here.

I like the idea.

[Scott9146]

I use this one, and it works great, replacement tips are cheap. Maybe a little bit pricey for some, but if you do alot of soldering, its one of the least expensive stations.

http://www.newark.com/jsp/level5/module.jsp?moduleId=en_US/32970.xml

[Mark Harris]

Adding to what Gary said about a drop of solder on the end of the tip, it also allows quicker heat transfer as a liquid gives better heat transfer. There is more of it touching the solder than just the flat of the tip. If your having a bit of trouble getting something to heat up.. put a little solder on the tip of your iron (even the smallest drop can help!).

You can also find some great tutorials here: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=SMD-HowTo-1 these are SMD though.