Is this the right soldering iron to use in this hobby?

[Deceased]

Hello everyone I just seen a thread where they suggest 63/37 type of soldering iron. I have this Kester one but have no idea how to read their label. Can someone tell me if this is good or should I switch? TIA

 

[RC Steve]

The right answer is, whatever you get along with. Thinner solder is easier to work with than thicker and lead solder flows better than lead free.

 

[Greengaunja]

The 63/37 is the solder itself, not the iron. As noted above, lead flows better while lead free is a bit harder to work with, as it requires more heat. But lead free also endures heat far better than leaded, which minimizes the chance of connections "un-soldering" themselves. What you have is lead free, but being 1mm, shouldn't be too bad. The 63/37 may be easier to learn with though as that one is leaded.


Here's an explanation of the label.

Sn-tin 96.5% Ag-silver 3% Cu-copper .5%

Sn-tin 63% Pb-lead 37%

 

[lee82gx]

Silver solder is less harmful and less hazardous. In personal use I prefer leaded as they have lower melting temperatures and are easier to solder. Both are ok for RC provided your iron is hot enough.

 

[Greengaunja]

Silver solder is less harmful and less hazardous. In personal use I prefer leaded as they have lower melting temperatures and are easier to solder. Both are ok for RC provided your iron is hot enough.

When my lhs soldered up my XLX2 speed runner, their tech guy told told me I may want to consider a guy he knew who does high heat applications using a torch and silver bars. I figured I'd be ok with just unleaded as I haven't heard of any of the other speed runners going pure silver or needing to. This route is supposed to be very expensive and apparently not alot of people can do it good enough. The blended silver, I was told, "dumbs it down a few notches" where an iron is sufficient to use.
I'm glad I choose not to use lead though. A buddy did and his Infraction speeder 1716 1650kv paired with MMX2 got hot enough to completely melt off 3 solder connections, a section of wire insulation, and other solder connections showed signs the started to melt.

 

[lee82gx]

When my lhs soldered up my XLX2 speed runner, their tech guy told told me I may want to consider a guy he knew who does high heat applications using a torch and silver bars. I figured I'd be ok with just unleaded as I haven't heard of any of the other speed runners going pure silver or needing to. This route is supposed to be very expensive and apparently not alot of people can do it good enough. The blended silver, I was told, "dumbs it down a few notches" where an iron is sufficient to use.
I'm glad I choose not to use lead though. A buddy did and his Infraction speeder 1716 1650kv paired with MMX2 got hot enough to completely melt off 3 solder connections, a section of wire insulation, and other solder connections showed signs the started to melt.View attachment 374093View attachment 374094

Without access to further root causing it’s a little premature to entirely blame the solder’s lower melting point as cause of failure, it is likely just a victim in this case.
Tin lead only melts at 180C compared to tin silver of 220C and frankly if you somehow reach those junction temps on a fat connector you screwed up. There is likely a poor connection, cold joint that had high resistance somewhere and even 220c will not save your friend in this case…I’m afraid. In fact if you can’t solder well with 180C you are even less likely to solder well with a higher temperature solder. Brazing on the other is another matter and that is another whole new game that I have no experience.

 

[Greengaunja]

Without access to further root causing it’s a little premature to entirely blame the solder’s lower melting point as cause of failure, it is likely just a victim in this case.
Tin lead only melts at 180C compared to tin silver of 220C and frankly if you somehow reach those junction temps on a fat connector you screwed up. There is likely a poor connection, cold joint that had high resistance somewhere and even 220c will not save your friend in this case…I’m afraid. In fact if you can’t solder well with 180C you are even less likely to solder well with a higher temperature solder. Brazing on the other is another matter and that is another whole new game that I have no experience.

Not my car or my soldering. I'm the first to admit my soldering game is amateurish at best and downright sketchy at worst. That's why I pay my lhs to do mine. I agree, the issue isn't the solder per se. In his case, I suspect it's gearing, resistence(way too many connections), and a need to impress by jamming throttle back(I talked him into trying PP yet my own run wasn't much a sell lol).

 

[392Challenger]

I work on radios and RC too, and the soldering I've seen on stuff is amazingly bad sometimes. Using a soldering gun on PC boards or motor leads is asking for trouble. A lot of the time, they are using too small an iron, literally. I have a couple of little ones, 25 or 30 watt that are fine for small diameter wires and PC boards, but I have a big old Weller that has mass to keep a larger connection, and/or the wind outside, from sucking the heat out of the joint before it gets good flow. That Weller is the one I use for motor connections and coax cable connectors. It heats up the joint area quickly, and makes a good joint simple. A decent big iron will not be cheap, but once you get it, it should last decades. I think mine is pushing 3 years old.

Leaded solder for me, always, just make sure you wash your hands after messing with it in COOL water, not hot. Hot opens your pores and allows lead to be absorbed. If you watch Youtube videos, you will see some very strange, and bad soldering techniques. I've seen some bad motor/ESC lead soldering that amazed me when it didn't fail right away. When I see someone dabbing solder from the tip of the iron onto the joint, I still laugh after all these years. It's not that hard. Watch some videos, get some old wire, and practice a little. Keep a clean tip, and all the stuff to be soldered needs to be clean. The iron goes on the joint, and the solder will suck into it when you do it right most of the time.

I'm an old geezer and it's hard for me to believe I've been soldering for almost 60 years! Yikes.

 

[KratonBuilder]

I prefer rosin core for soldering large connectors and 12awg+ situations like 6+mm bullets. It wicks WAY more readily and cleans the surface of whatever I'm working on.

For anything small like ec3/deans connectors, 3.5mm bullets or fan connections I'm using actual rosin paste with non-rosin solder as it's more precise and I can use the paste to "tell" the solder where to go.