heavy gauge wire

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BShady

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hey

i was tinning/soldering 10awg wire and i saw it was very difficult to solder. the solder wasn't flowing so good throughout the wire.
i am using a Weller 8200 soldering gun! 140/100 Watts!! that is plenty of power.

does anybody have any good tips of how to do it?

check out this video: http://youtu.be/7t9nT3Hn9b0
 
a soldering gun is NOT the correct tool to use. these are made for home electrics. but not for soldering thick stranded wire. heat transfer is very high, and you need some thermal mass to deal with it.
so use a 80w soldering iron with a WIDE TIP. the bigger the tip the better. if you can't or don't want to invest in a soldering station buy a regular 80w iron just for those thick wires.

this tip is fine:

View attachment 1
this one is NOT:

bad.JPG
 
izeman said:
a soldering gun is NOT the correct tool to use. these are made for home electrics. but not for soldering thick stranded wire. heat transfer is very high, and you need some thermal mass to deal with it.
so use a 80w soldering iron with a WIDE TIP. the bigger the tip the better. if you can't or don't want to invest in a soldering station buy a regular 80w iron just for those thick wires.
Click to expand...


so your saying that the gun is too much power?
 
My bad :(

I'll try it and let you know.

Btw regarding soldering 2 wires to gather is meshing them together a good way?
 
yes, you can stick the strands into each other end to end and then solder it and put heat shrink around it.

i wrap a piece of thin copper wire around the assembled end pieces to pull the strands that stick out back into the strands. then cut off the twisted knot when it is soldered.

do you really need 10AWG? does it have to be stranded?
 
Are you using rosin core solder or applying rosin to the joint beforehand?

Solder requires a clean surface before it will want to flow. If the surface is clean, it will happen much faster, be much cleaner, and won't require as much potentially component damaging heat.
 
best way to do it is as shown in the video. if you mesh them together ends tend to bend outside making the connection thicker than necessary. wrapping single strand wire around the connection puts some pressure on it and the two wires don't slip apart.
but don't expect to solder this with your soldering gun! ;)
 
resin is just the agent to suspend the CaCl that does the work, you can use plumbers flux too but they use beeswax.

but if the wire has a crust of oxide on it then clean it with a wire brush or sandpapaer before trying to solder it.
 
Plumbers flux is acid-based and shouldn't be used on electrics as it will cause corrosion unless you can clean off all the residue. That's hard with wire as it wicks up into the insulation.

I'll use it as a last resort on thick, corroded old wire, but it's a bodge :)
 
ok i know that i need a high thermal mass iron tip which means a big tip. (or high thermal mass iron (JBU soldering iron) which i dont have)

i have three ideas. im not sure if they will work so let me know your thoughts:

1: use the side of the soldering gun tip like this: https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Phot...ABXPq0qDXsBXvlcvKjMsHmoQhrkTH3ivx3AC8g58eJASg

2: get a Weller 80w pencil iron with 3/8inch tip. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=25118626

3: get this soldering station- http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=19240
with this tip- http://hakkousa.com/detail.asp?PID=4827&Page=1 this tip i think is a smaller than the weller tip

the 3rd option would be best as i want to buy that station anyway.

as for solder, im using a Kester 62/36/02 rosin flux solder. good quailty solder.

when i used my gun the regular way it did pretty much melt the solder and soak it in but not all the way. but what is weird is that in some places the wire was hot enough to melt the solder but the solder wouldn't stick to it as if the wire was corroded, but thing is that it was freshly striped wire? i know that even when its freshly striped you still might need extra flux but this happens a lot to me and i barely see other people using flux that often.?
 
Hammerhead tip. I use only 60W iron on cell tabs and 10 ga wire.
 
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10803__hammer_head_soldering_tip.html

6mm shaft IIRC?

I can't find it right now but I've seen an RC forum post of a guy who shoved a copper nut on a chisel tip to make his own hammer head tip.

The "key" here is mass not wattage.

I use ECG-060 60 watt iron which can be found under $20.
 
Ykick said:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__10803__hammer_head_soldering_tip.html

6mm shaft IIRC?

I can't find it right now but I've seen an RC forum post of a guy who shoved a copper nut on a chisel tip to make his own hammer head tip.

The "key" here is mass not wattage.

I use ECG-060 60 watt iron which can be found under $20.
Click to expand...
Make a Hammer Head Solder Iron Tip
http://www.rcepi.com/soldar_tip.htm
Another:
Weller80watt-3-8ths-inch-bolt-tip.pngFinally: cheap hammerhead solder tip by avdflyerWeller40-1-4th-inch-hammer-tips.png
 
Your soldering iron should work you just need the right flux. Search kingbo bga flux, that is the best stuff you can get and you get a small tub of it for about $20-30usd. Also use unleaded solder, it is much stronger then leaded solder. But a large tipped high watt soldering iron is going to make the job alot easier. If you want to buy a good solder station for under $200 you can get a hakko fx-951 or fx-888, they are pretty much the most popular station for RC battery soldering stuff. I have an fx-951 and love it.
 
A big tip works well. Not that much watts can still work with a big enough tip all heated up. Mine is an iron intended for stained glass soldering.
 
silviasol said:
Your soldering iron should work you just need the right flux. Search kingbo bga flux, that is the best stuff you can get and you get a small tub of it for about $20-30usd. Also use unleaded solder, it is much stronger then leaded solder. .
Click to expand...

Isn't lead free solder harder to solder bec of its high melting point?

I'll take a look into that flux. Thanks
 
It does have a higher melting point. It may have strength/hardness advantages but is also more prone to cracking. It's not currently permitted for use in aircraft.
 
an electric stove element can be used for big mass jobs (just watch your insulation) and SWMBO. 8) Have used it when didn't have my big iron in an emergency...
 
Why not make a hammerhead tip for your Iron- it's easy and much cheaper than a new Iron. Look here


The newer lead free solder was said to be harder to solder because the soldering irons people had when it came out where designed for the lower temperature lead solder. If you have a newish Iron it would have been designed for the newer type solder. The change was back around 2005/2006 in the EU to get rid of hazrous lead.
As an aside I still use lead solder, and sometimes silver solder (even higher melting point)- only repairs using the newer stuff because that's what would have originally been used.


A bit more technical:
Please don't argue about temperatures- you'll find different figures in different places and it depends on the actual mix of metals so this is an indicative guide only.
Lead tin- 183 - 190 C
Lead free 5 to 20 °C higher depending on the mix
Silver solder 200-225 C but depending on the mix could be up to 300C.
 
Gregb said:
an electric stove element can be used for big mass jobs (just watch your insulation) and SWMBO. 8) Have used it when didn't have my big iron in an emergency...
Click to expand...


What's that?
 
On this subject and needing to build a longer battery to motor power cable I have a TradeFlame 30w/60w soldering iron which I got before my interest in e-bikes. Would this be good enough for doing basic soldering work on a e-bike such as a longer power cable?

Thanks
Andrew
 
Aushiker said:
On this subject and needing to build a longer battery to motor power cable I have a TradeFlame 30w/60w soldering iron which I got before my interest in e-bikes. Would this be good enough for doing basic soldering work on a e-bike such as a longer power cable?

Thanks
Andrew
Click to expand...
I doubt anyone is so into soldering irons that they'll know by make. You'll have to try it, maybe using one or more of the techniques here.

Why not buy a metre or two of whatever gauge wire off ebay and try before you need to do it in anger? You'll see if the Iron can do the job, get practice at heavier soldering, and a chance to try things out without 'need the bike now' panic.
 
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