Soldering Irons

[GeneralTyphon]

Is 40watts enough to solder lipo battery connectors?

 

[RickRussell_CA]

If you're careful and give all parts plenty of time to heat up, yes.

I use a Weller 80W iron for soldering EC5 bullets.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

If you're careful and give all parts plenty of time to heat up, yes.

I use a Weller 80W iron for soldering EC5 bullets.

perfect thank you.
My old radio shack iron is on it's last leg.

would this be sufficient for EC5 Bullets?

 

[RickRussell_CA]

perfect thank you.
My old radio shack iron is on it's last leg.

View attachment 309079

would this be sufficient for EC5 Bullets?

Yes. My 80W is a little overpowered, honestly.

Back in the day (late 90s) I used a 60W Weller for all my 12 gauge soldering and it worked great. So 70W sounds like it's right on the money.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

Yes. My 80W is a little overpowered, honestly.

Back in the day (late 90s) I used a 60W Weller for all my 12 gauge soldering and it worked great. So 70W sounds like it's right on the money.

Just getting back into the hobby, I'm familiar with Nicad but not with LIPOS, still best to use kester 44 67/37 RA Flux core?

​

 

[Johnny b]

Gf's curling iron could melt solid steel!

 

[Tex Koder]

This is how I like to do it..
Over powered.
Instant heat!

 

[Bustedaw11]

I also use a weller 80w..
That and some good flowing 60/40 solder is what works best for me.

If I'm doing wire to wire I use a mini torch..... thats a habit from being a mechanic, but it works so freaking well!

Edited because I was wrong on tin/lead! 60/40. Alpha metals. Sell it at autoparts stores.

 

[dure16]

still best to use kester 44 67/37 RA Flux core

Kester is high quality stuff. And yes you want a 63/37 mix.

But Kester’s 44 is their highly-activated core line and I don’t think you want that. If I remember right, 282 is the product you want.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

Kester is high quality stuff. And yes you want a 63/37 mix.

But Kester’s 44 is their highly-activated core line and I don’t think you want that. If I remember right, 282 is the product you want.

Couldn't locate the 282 but i did find this rosin core that might work?

 

[dure16]

Couldn't locate the 282 but i did find this rosin core that might work?

View attachment 309145

I’m not familiar with that one.

I personally no longer spend the money on Kester stuff. I buy random no-name 63/37 solder on Amazon and haven’t had any issues.

 

[SrC]

Just getting back into the hobby, I'm familiar with Nicad but not with LIPOS, still best to use kester 44 67/37 RA Flux core?

​

Yeah "Leaded solder" (Rosen Core is the best to use) Whatever you use, Brand is not important.
Common 60/40 Rosen core is just fine for our RC purposes here.
Make sure to "Tin" the the New soldering tip first. Is a procedure for this. It must be a Larger Blunt tip.
And Not a fine pencil tip, when soldering Connector bullets. Just wasting your time and chancing a Cold solder joint. Needs to be a shiny joint if done correctly. A dull looking joint is a Cold joint.
Also best tinning the bullets and the wires first, before soldering them together.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

Thanks for the tips everyone! Pun intended.

Ended up ordering the Weller 70w digital and a few tubes of different solder to try. I will remind myself to relax and have fun. It's just a battery, this time...

 

[SrC]

Well "its just a battery", is a bad approach.
A lipo is the most dangerous thing to work with, when soldering connectors. Be careful. NO room for error. Avoid a dead short absolutley. Never solder connectors with a fully charged lipo. ( most volitile) Soldering can cause high temps to travel down its leads well into the cells. Storage volts or less is safer IMHO.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

Well "its just a battery", is a bad approach.
A lipo is the most dangerous thing to work with, when soldering connectors. Be careful. NO room for error. Avoid a dead short absolutley. Never solder connectors with a fully charged lipo. ( most volitile) Soldering can cause high temps to travel down its leads well into the cells. Storage volts or less is safer IMHO.

Well it is just a battery... so thanks

 

[Bustedaw11]

Well "its just a battery", is a bad approach.
A lipo is the most dangerous thing to work with, when soldering connectors. Be careful. NO room for error. Avoid a dead short absolutley. Never solder connectors with a fully charged lipo. ( most volitile) Soldering can cause high temps to travel down its leads well into the cells. Storage volts or less is safer IMHO.

If soldering on a new connector, I only snip one wire, solder and heat shrink and then do the other.
1 wire at a time prevents a short.

 

[SrC]

I even Tape off the other pole/bullet lead for best insurance against an accidental dead short.

 

[GeneralTyphon]

My initial examination and review of the WLSKD7012A: The wand rattles like there is a nut or screw floating around inside. when plugged into my 'Kill-A-Watt' it only drew 62w on the max setting. The feeder cable is short, stiff and made out of PVC lamp cord so it wants to maintain it's shape and get in the way of your work. Being made of PVC it will also melt fairly easily if it drifts onto the hot iron. Two wire lamp cord also does not allow for grounding of the tip. Grounding is necessary if working on semi-conductors or other sensitive circuits. The base is very light weight, so when you manipulate the wand the stiffness of the cord tends to move the base around significantly. The fit of the wand into the holder is also extremely tight requiring two hands to use. One to hold the base and one to remove the wand from the holder. Bleh For $20 more can upgrade to the Weller W1010 or alternatively the cheaper X-tronic 3020. The cord is longer, silicone, and can buy two for the price of this plastic toy.

I have read the Weller W1010 doesn't have a fuse on the primary winding making it much more likely to catch fire so that's concerning.

Conclusion: The WLSKD7012A is going back and gets a thumbs down without touching lead and the search continues.

 

[Bustedaw11]

I've never understood soldering stations and fancy adjustable watts for the average user. I've got a weller 550? Gun, a 60w and an 80w and a torch. I grab the one I need (almost always the 80) and do the job and move on.
I'm not judging those who have them and enjoy them!
I'm simply saying as much as I solder I've never found the need.

 

[ARA8611V5]

I use a Weller WTCPT station with aTC201T iron. You can buy different temperature tips and also different size/shapes.