Hey guys,

Hi! Thanks for looking at this question thread! Wow, I know this is going to sound really silly....but.... I decided to take the Deans 2-pin connector off of my 3S pack...... I had done a really poor job of soldering it before and wanted to make it a little cleaner this time and also to make sure it had enough heat shrink around it's connections to insure good strength between the connections so it would never come apart during flight. However, when I started to solder it back together I remembered why I had done such a poor job before..... WOW!

After three hours of trying to solder the leads on my Hyperion 3S pack back onto the Deans 2-pin connector pins, I gave up. It just isn't working, and I know it sounds elemantary, but I just can't seem to get the pins to stay together long enough to get a good piece of solder to drip onto the wire at the right place. Plus, whenever a drop does go where it's supposed to, it never sticks! I had a bunch of times where the wire and pin got a drop of solder in just the right place that should've held any wire and metal together, and it would always just fall apart after holding the pieces together during cooling. Oh well, looks like I'm going to have to cut the factory installed Deans connector off of my brushless speed controller and install gold bullet connectors on the batt, speed controller, and charger leads...... A lot of work too, but much easier than dealing with these deans connectors......

I think the main problem is that the leads on my Hyperion 3S pack are really thick so once they are in a good position to be soldered, they pretty much cover up the deans pin.

Do you guys have any thoughts as to how to put a Deans 2 pin connector onto a lipo pack easily? Is there some tiny crimping device available that will hold deans pins and batt leads together long enough for them to be soldered easily? Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it!

-Matt

you don't drip molten solder onto the work,here's how to do it-first of all slide your heat shrink up the pack wires,then expose about 3/16 of the wire,this needs to be tinned so heat up the bare ends with your iron and slowly introduce your solder,you don't need much,the solder will wick into the strands,leave to cool.next you need to tin the connector,using the iron heat the connector for about 2 seconds,keeping the iron in place apply some solder,it will quickly take on the connector,remove the iron.now bring the wire to the connector,apply heat from the iron and the solder on the tinned wire and tinned connector should flow together,do not move them during this phase or you'll get what is called a 'dry' joint,once you're done slide the heatshrink over the connector and shrink it,the heatshrink is not there to improve the strength of the joint but merely to prevent the positive and negative from shorting out.to do this job easily make sure your iron is around 25 watts and use cored solder,good luck.

Melt solder onto the wire and the pins. Hold the two together and apply the soldering iron to either and be amazed at the wonderful and clean solder joint you just done.

I am sure there is a Finless video on how to do this properly, have a look in the sticky at the top of mini helis.

Shannon.

A couple of additional things to remember is that the tip of your iron needs to be cleanand retinned. You need to have a damp sponge handy and inbetween each step - tinning the wire, tinning the connector - you need to clean and retin iron. If your iron tip is dirty, your iron will not work properly.

I always brush on a little flux as well. I find that it helps my solder flow better and faster.

I use a "helping hands" like this http://www.maplin.co.uk/images/full/4017i1.jpg to hold the two components together after I've tinned them both. That way you don't burn your fingers, and they won't form a cold joint due to movement.

Just be careful to grip the plastic body of the Deans so that the clip doesn't short the two contacts while you're soldering battery leads

Being frugile, I used a small block of wook and two closepins. Works like a charm till I got tired of separating them (arthritis in hands) so I went to crimp and/or solder sermos. Works great also and easy on fingers.

Lyle

Forget it.

First question to ask, are these the Deans Ultra's or the Micro connectors? The soldering gun pictured is far more than is needed and much more awkward to use. As Big S suggested, there is a video in the mini heli forum by Finless that shows how to solder to a Deans Ultra connector. As it doesn't sound like to know how to solder properly I'd suggest some practice before attempting to solder up the battery pack. For now it might be more expedient to get someone else who does solder, to do the job for you. A fellow modeler or perhaps someone in the LHS.

Oh yes, there was also another video on soldering Dean's Ultra connectors. If you do a search, you might turn it up or someone else might have the link to post.

A soldering station will help or ask a solder expert to help or U can learn by practicing on two pieces of thick copper wire, by tinning each piece and then solder them together ,just don't give up, U'll have to do it again

Finless probably has some good videos. But its a shame you have to login just to see them.

Here's how I do it:

1) cut heat shrink and slide pieces over wire leads.
2) tape back 1 lead onto pack body to avoid inadvertent short.
3) clamp deans connector in small (4" jaws) table vise so pins are facing horizontally.
4) apply flux to both connector terminal and exposed lead.
5) use iron to flow solder into exposed lead and onto connector terminal
6) use needle nose pliers to flatten pre-tinned end of battery lead (makes it easier to solder and apply shrink tubing later).
7) hold flattened and tinned lead on connector terminal and apply soldering iron tip until solder flows.
8) once cool, slide shrink tubing over exposed lead and shrink with heat gun
9) rotate connector in the vice as necessary and repeat procedure for the other lead.

Hope that helps,

Doubletap

Some great explanations here. A picture is worth a thousand words and a video is even better...

See the sticky at the top of this forum re: how to build a battery pack and go to post no. 10. There is a great video basically showing what has been described above. This is how I finally learned how to solder deans plugs and before I just as frustrated as you are.

I also use a wood clothes pin to hold the wire when I'm doing the step of attaching the tinned wire to the plug. The wire can get hot and hard to hold.

Another trick is to plug in a male plug to the female you are soldering, it keeps the tabs aligned if the plastic gets too hot and deformed.

Dh

Watch this. It's easier than you think.

http://www.ezonemag.com/~awilletts/deansultra.mpg

Good luck.

Originally Posted by av8torjim

Watch this. It's easier than you think.

http://www.ezonemag.com/~awilletts/deansultra.mpg

Good luck.

That's a really cool video, thanks for pointing that out! I'm good with soldering, but that's going to help a LOT of people I know!