RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

TRX-1-3 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 2:54 am 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.

Frankentruck wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 3:49 pm Are you using something to hold the connector? Some type of clamp or clip? That will really reduce the frustration.

juicedcoupe wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 4:38 pm 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 wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 5:03 pm 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 wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 7:08 pm I have watched countless videos. I just suck at it.

Halgar wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 9:31 pm 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.

GoMachV wrote: ↑Thu May 16, 2024 3:29 am Commercials that wake up my Alexa and get her talking nonsense.