soldering tips?

[WAM]

My first wiring attempt on my XR10 came out okay, but nothing to be proud of. Just did a chassis update and want to try to clean up the electronics pkg. I've got a lot of excess and redundant wiring that I could eliminate if I could attach say three wires to one solder post. The posts are too close together to pre-twist the wires around the post. When I solder the first wire on, I think it will come loose when I go to solder on a second, etc. I don't know how to make them all behave until the melt solidifies. I need five hands, all steadier than the two I have. I have tried the little jig that has two articulated alligator clips, but it doesn't keep the wires pressed tight against the posts.

Secondly, I'd like to cut out all the excess receiver wire. Do you somehow remove the pins from the body, clip and resolder the pins? Or do you need to start with new pins/connectors from Servo City or such?

[Ty@Tekin]

Soldering multiple wires to one post is mega tricky, I've never been great at it..Any way you can just tap off one wire coming from the post to wherever you need the other two to go?

Shortening the RX wire can be done easily but I would suggest coiling it up around a wrench or screwdriver, looks neat and if you ever need the length back you don't have to solder on new wires.

[Greatscott]

The best advice I can give on soldering is to practice on scrap wire until your get your technique down.

The Helping Hands jigs do work, but like anything, it takes practice to line everything up right. Another jig you might want to try is this one:

http://thejigsup.net/

It is simple and it works.

Pre-twist???
You should tin both sides of the connection, use a solder vacuum to get the excess solder off, put the two sides together, hit it with a little heat and have a good solder joint. You will want to twist the wires before you tin them, it keeps everything nice and neat.

The leads going to the RX.
Until you get good at soldering, I recommend cleaning up your wiring with a couple of zip-ties. You can splice a section of wire out of a servo or ESC lead. Give yourself so slack for routing.

I just leave the wires as they are and tidy up with zip-ties. But, if I were going to shorten those leads here is how I'd go about it:
1- Figure out how long I need the lead, then add some back in for slack. (make should take into account other electronics and hardware that might not be installed when you are measuring)
2- Cut one side about 1-2 inches from the connector, then cut out the mount of lead I don't need
3- tin all of the wires
4- Cut and test fit shrink wrap (make sure the shrink wrap will shrink tight enough for the wire)
5- Put the shrink wrap as far onto the long side of the lead as I can; if you put it on the short side heat from the solder can shrink it.
6- Solder everything up. I'd overlap the wires at the solder joint.
7- Clean up the joints with isoproyl alcohol. The solder joints should be shiny and smooth. If they are dull and/or pitted, it means you have a cold solder joint, which increase resistance and are prone to failure; unsolder and resolder.
8- Move the shrink wrap over the solder joints and hit it with a heat gun. A match or lighter will work for this, but be very careful about not damaging the shrink wrap or the leads insolation.

[WAM]

Originally Posted by Ty@Tekin

Soldering multiple wires to one post is mega tricky, I've never been great at it..Any way you can just tap off one wire coming from the post to wherever you need the other two to go?

Yeah, what I have now is a series of Y's. But that makes for what I termed "redundant" wires, just adding to the clutter. (BTW Ty, yes I'm wiring dual FXR's )

I've thought of three possibilites to manage multiple wire joints.

1. Hold them all in place with some thin copper wire strands stolen from a piece of stranded wire. Basically just loop the strand around the bundle and twist. Solder up the strand with the rest and then cut away anything sticking out.

2. Hold them all in place (pre-tinned) with a piece of heat shrink tubing. Do a remelt and then cut away the heat shrink to inspect the result. Or maybe the same thing with a small cable tie if it doesn't melt in the process and make a mess.

3. Do it in two stages with high and low temp solders. I have a good temp-controlled station, so I should be able set it to where it won't remelt the stage 1 high temp solder. I think 60/40 is 300-some degrees and 40/60 is low 400's. But I'd have to check.

But I don't know if any of these will work and thought I'd check that I'm not reinventing a wheel here. Someone must have mastered this.

Thanks for responding -- both of you. I need to get a hold of a solder sucker, but I'm in a small desert town and we lost our only Radio Shack years ago. Guess I need to order something. Hey, but on the bright side, at least I've got local rocks -- everywhere.

[Ty@Tekin]

I've been frustrated by soldering multiple wires together, it really is a PITA unless you have someone else holding them in place for you. I've launched solder onto my hands and forearms a few times!

[constantmotion]

Best way that I have found to solder 2 wires together is to put some heat shrink around the wire close to the end and solder them together. Now you can pretty much solder then like one wire.

[SMR 510RR]

Soldering one wire to another wire or post is easy...Now soldering multiple wires to one thing gets way more difficult very fast.

I have been using a small vise to hold the esc so its nice and stable. I pre solder the wires together in a slight V formation so the insulation doesnt hit each other,then I can get everything lined up really well. I use my helping hands to hold the wires, the hard part is that you have to have pressure pushing in on the wires so when the solder melts they wont come flying apart, typically I clamp them probably 2" away from the joint so that the insulation on the wires doesnt try to push them apart and try to get them so they are being forced together. Hit the post and wire with the iron until it all melts and flows together and let it cool.

It gets even harder on the second wire, I suggest starting in the middle and working your way toward the outside. Having a nice soldering station really helps so you can crank up the heat and get it done quickly so everything doesnt have as much of a chance to shift on you. As always a quick blast of higher heat will be better for your ESC than long drawn out heat that will work its way down more of the post and can cause ESC issues.