I bought a couple lipos that came with no connectors, so I'll need to solder them on myself. My problem is that I have had near-zero luck soldering larger awg wire - I never seem to be able to get the wire hot enough so that the solder will freely flow. I use a generic 40W soldering iron.

My question is, does my iron have enough "ooph" to solder 12 AWG? I know my skills aren't the best, but it seems that something else is lacking for me to get such poor results with larger wire.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Bob

Maybe your iron is not actually drawing 40 watts. I use a 40W iron with a chisel tip and it works well even on 10ga wire. You need to keep the tip clean and tinned. I feed a little solder right at the point of contact with the wire to help get the heat flowing into the wire. I then feed the solder at the tip of the wire so it can flow into the strands. It doesn't take long after that for the whole end of the wire to be hot enough to melt the solder all the way around. Give it a try.

A 60 watt iron is a bit bigger, carries more heat.
http://www.amazon.com/60-Watts-Solde.../dp/B0006NGZK0
http://www.hobbywarehouse.com/910-90...FQThQgodM3kAuw
http://compare.ebay.com/like/1109800...Types&var=sbar
http://www.ebay.com/itm/60-Watt-Sold...6777%26ps%3D54

Make sure you aren't using lead-free solder.

Where is a good place to buy solder in the US - not the crappy lead free stuff!

Radio Shack silver bearing solder works great. 62/36/2

The key is to use a big tip with some thermal mass. Don't use a conical (pencil) tip. The other tip is to use a little solder on the tip to help transfer the heat when heating a connector.

I agree, 60W or more is better, but 40W can do the job if it has a large enough bit so that it doesn't cool down the minute it touches the large copper wire.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1722684
Get one of these and a chisle tip 40/60 solder and flux from Flea bay worth every penny,in this hobby soldering is a must.HK finally came through lol.

Originally Posted by Ohmic

The key is to use a big tip with some thermal mass. Don't use a conical (pencil) tip. The other tip is to use a little solder on the tip to help transfer the heat when heating a connector.

+1 makes all the difference in the world and keep it clean

For our hobby, just use the Radio Shack 60/40 rosen core lead based solder. We do not need the silver bearing type solder for 99% of our use in RC and it needs more heat than the lead based stuff.
IMO, buy this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2049774
and this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062713
though you can buy shorter lengths than this. Trust me, larger diameter is better as it dispenses more flux per solder joint. More flux = better flow, better solder joint (in our use) and better cleaning.

Rick

I tin first put flux on the unit then solder flows really easy,i use the smaller stiff and agree there's not enough flux,this way it runs like a charm.

Always remember that FLUX is your friend

As others have said a big tip on the iron is key. Flux doesn't hurt either. I'll agree with rick on the 60/40 rosen core solder. The silver bearing is only good if you add your own flux and it's really thin so for large gauge it's not ideal in my opinion.

Best solution though if you ask me, ditch the iron and get some Anderson PowerPoles and a crimper.

What type of flux are you guys using when doing electrical soldering with 60/40 solder from Radio Shack for example?

thanks.

See my link above.
Rosen flux.
Do NOT use no-clean.
Rick