Things that irritate you

[R6cowboy]

People deliberately trying to rip-off other unknowingly people. Trying to sell $10 wheels for $70 by labeling them as something special and vintage, when they're still offered from Traxxas at $10 to this day. The deceitfullness is painfully obvious by how the pictures were taken. Scumbags.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235538864681?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=PCtnGU0ERfG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=IA058T2mQ1q&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Lowgear]

Random PM's from a "no poster" that assume you're swimming in parts bins like Scrooge MacDuck as you gaze upon library quality shelves upon shelves of new builds and NIB stacks of a particular model of car..

Dude, I got one, ONE of those.

And it took me years to pull it off.

And then when you send them an honest yet cordial no BS reply with your best advice (aside from, here you go!) as to how to go about it (which involves wait until you find something on eBay and pounce, or, do it the hard way and start bone collecting..), nothing...reply still in my outbox.

Have a nice day.

What you experienced just irritated me as it's a negative one that was easily preventable.

I've never taken into consideration people creating accounts for the sole purpose of PM'ing someone to hassle them. I mean I've read people mention it happened to them here and there but never gave it a second thought... until now.

New members cannot access the B/S/T section until they have 30 posts for a very good reason. It weeds out scammers, and those who only signed up to sell stuff. They shouldn't have the ability to PM or email other members either because it causes situations like you and others have had. Well that ends today. From now on, newly registered members with under 30 posts, cannot PM or email other users.

[klavy69]

Without the time to go back and read through what I've missed recently I hope its not already covered but damn, Can't make everyone happy! Damned if AE does and Damned if they don't. Its not just AE also but people beg for years for repops and then when they do repop something it brings out all the whineasses. I got a scratch on my chassis plate, I'm missing a screw, I can't use these parts on my old one, would've been nice if they did this instead of that all while flagrantly hammering warranty issues. Maybe its just the whole social media giving all the people that think they have to bitch about something a platform to do it on. Whatever happened to the hands on idea of making stuff work? I guess traxxas had it right with all the rtr basher stuff...people too stupid to put something together and make things work just need to buy it already together. Now I like vintage traxxas but Man, I hate the new stuff and as far as the repops, fix what you can, call up and get the real issues taken care of like they have in the past and JUST BE FRICKEN HAPPY THEY REPOPPED THE DAMN THING TO BEGIN WITH! I would've lost the bet they wouldn't do it again but yeah, eventually there won't be any at all with all the moronic banter from the people that shouldn't have been given the opportunity. There is not one FB positive post that you can get through without someone bitching about something else on it.

Rant done...

Off to deal with life...

Todd

[Brendan2904]

Soldering! I hate soldering! I have tried irons, guns, butane, electric, irons with stations, lead core, non lead core and flux in all different combinations! Different type of tips, different types of lighting, and soldering stand with grabbers and a magnifying glass! All I want to do is put a freaking Deans connector on an esc!

[Frankentruck]

Are you using something to hold the connector? Some type of clamp or clip? That will really reduce the frustration.

[Brendan2904]

Are you using something to hold the connector? Some type of clamp or clip? That will really reduce the frustration.

Yes.

[juicedcoupe]

Are you tinning the wire and terminal before soldering them together?

The final connection should be simple, assuming that both pieces were properly prepared. You don't want to be steadily putting heat into the terminal, as it will melt and distort.

With Dean's style connectors, I usually add the opposite side connector on. It distributes the heat a little more and gives you a larger piece to work with.

If it makes a difference, I use tinning flux paste, Kester solder, and a chisel tip.

[morrisey0]

I know this sounds a bit stupid, but look up some soldering basics vids on youtube. A lot of tips and tricks can be picked up from just watching a few short videos.

[Brendan2904]

Are you tinning the wire and terminal before soldering them together?

The final connection should be simple, assuming that both pieces were properly prepared. You don't want to be steadily putting heat into the terminal, as it will melt and distort.

With Dean's style connectors, I usually add the opposite side connector on. It distributes the heat a little more and gives you a larger piece to work with.

If it makes a difference, I use tinning flux paste, Kester solder, and a chisel tip.

Tinning and fluxed with an old female deans plug. Yup. I just suck at it.

I know this sounds a bit stupid, but look up some soldering basics vids on youtube. A lot of tips and tricks can be picked up from just watching a few short videos.

I have watched countless videos. I just suck at it.

I other words, if someone put a gun to my head and told me to solder something or that's the end I wouldn't be here tomorrow

[morrisey0]

I have watched countless videos. I just suck at it.

I hear ya! There are some things that just never click with me either; just life I guess!

[Halgar]

vids can certainly be helpful, but they often gloss over important info for the uninitiated that to a pro is old hat and doesn't bother mentioning. I often refer to the peanut butter sandwich analogy, which is basically you teaching someone to make a PBJ sandwich who has never made a sammich or even knows what PB is. You're likely a pro at making one, so you don't tell the person every minute detail, you just assume they've got a basic understanding of sammich making, the materials involved, and the utensils required, when if fact (for the sake of the analogy) they've never made anything like it before.

As with most things, soldering takes practice. Different styles of joints require different techniques to accomplish.

A few basics that are very importan:

1 - Clean - Everything needs to be clean. Any terminal that you can wire brush, scuff with sand paper, etc., to remove oxidation, needs this step. Wires need to be freshly cut and stripped or already be tinned, if you've got oxidation in the wire you need to either cut the wire back to clean wire or replace it.
2 - Flux - I don't know if there is one kind/type that is better than another, I've always used generic plumber's flux (it's what I've got on hand), the kind for soldering copper pipe and never had any issues with my RC related projects. Use it liberally, then clean up any excess after the solder joint is made. Flux both cleans and etches the surfaces so that they more readily accept solder.
3 - Heat management - Different materials require different levels of heat to make solder flow onto their surface. The typical RC grade wire doesn't require all that much heat to make a solder flow, but heavier pieces of wire or the spade terminals of a Deans connector require quite a bit of heat. Some materials heat well, such as copper, others not so much, especially if they're designed to dissipate heat.
4 - Tinning - This falls quickly on the heels of heat management, and is the primary reason for doing it. Light materials = low heat, easy to flow solder. Heavy materials = more heat to flow solder. This is why you tin things first, with this done, then all you're doing is applying enough heat to get the solder from both surfaces to flow together.
5 - Practice - If you know you've got issues with soldering, practice your technique on scraps before you commit to your project. As I said, different materials and joint types require different techniques to achieve them.
6 - You've never got enough hands, fingers, or toes to hold things properly, so setting up a holding fixture for the pieces is very handy. Generally, a small vice, vice grips, or alligator clamps will suffice, but there will be times when you have to get creative with your holding prowess to make it work.

[Brendan2904]

vids can certainly be helpful, but they often gloss over important info for the uninitiated that to a pro is old hat and doesn't bother mentioning. I often refer to the peanut butter sandwich analogy, which is basically you teaching someone to make a PBJ sandwich who has never made a sammich or even knows what PB is. You're likely a pro at making one, so you don't tell the person every minute detail, you just assume they've got a basic understanding of sammich making, the materials involved, and the utensils required, when if fact (for the sake of the analogy) they've never made anything like it before.

As with most things, soldering takes practice. Different styles of joints require different techniques to accomplish.

A few basics that are very importan:

1 - Clean - Everything needs to be clean. Any terminal that you can wire brush, scuff with sand paper, etc., to remove oxidation, needs this step. Wires need to be freshly cut and stripped or already be tinned, if you've got oxidation in the wire you need to either cut the wire back to clean wire or replace it.
2 - Flux - I don't know if there is one kind/type that is better than another, I've always used generic plumber's flux (it's what I've got on hand), the kind for soldering copper pipe and never had any issues with my RC related projects. Use it liberally, then clean up any excess after the solder joint is made. Flux both cleans and etches the surfaces so that they more readily accept solder.
3 - Heat management - Different materials require different levels of heat to make solder flow onto their surface. The typical RC grade wire doesn't require all that much heat to make a solder flow, but heavier pieces of wire or the spade terminals of a Deans connector require quite a bit of heat. Some materials heat well, such as copper, others not so much, especially if they're designed to dissipate heat.
4 - Tinning - This falls quickly on the heels of heat management, and is the primary reason for doing it. Light materials = low heat, easy to flow solder. Heavy materials = more heat to flow solder. This is why you tin things first, with this done, then all you're doing is applying enough heat to get the solder from both surfaces to flow together.
5 - Practice - If you know you've got issues with soldering, practice your technique on scraps before you commit to your project. As I said, different materials and joint types require different techniques to achieve them.
6 - You've never got enough hands, fingers, or toes to hold things properly, so setting up a holding fixture for the pieces is very handy. Generally, a small vice, vice grips, or alligator clamps will suffice, but there will be times when you have to get creative with your holding prowess to make it work.

I have tried everything you have suggested. I just can't get it right.

[mikea96]

I use to hate soldering as well until I bought a good iron. My Hakko goes up to 900 degrees and does a quick clean job.

[GoMachV]

Commercials that wake up my Alexa and get her talking nonsense.

[1911Colt]

Commercials that wake up my Alexa and get her talking nonsense.

Honestly, I expected that, by now, every commercial would have a character named Alexa. One character says "What are you going to do today ALEXA?". The other replies quickly "Buy {product} from Amazon!"