Soldering two wires to a deans

[losikid]

I've ruined about 4 female deans trying to get two wires soldered to each tab. So far I've tried soldering a wire to each side, solder both of them to the same side, solder them together then soldering it to one side. But everytime i get it to hot and the tab melts into the plastic housing, i've put a male dean in into each one while trying to solder them but the female tab still melts into housing. I can solder one wire to a deans with no problems and no melting the case but i just can't get enough heat to solder two wires to it and make a strong bond with out melting it. I've got them soldered together but it don't take much force to rip it off the deans so does anyone have any tips on how to get two wires soldered to a deans without melting the deans. Also if anyone is wondering i'm using a weller 40 watt solder iron

[EeePee]

Make sure you have the two plugs connected, that way if it wants to melt, it's still held in place where it should be.

And you get a little heatsink action.

[treday619]

Originally Posted by losikid

I've ruined about 4 female deans trying to get two wires soldered to each tab. So far I've tried soldering a wire to each side, solder both of them to the same side, solder them together then soldering it to one side. But everytime i get it to hot and the tab melts into the plastic housing, i've put a male dean in into each one while trying to solder them but the female tab still melts into housing. I can solder one wire to a deans with no problems and no melting the case but i just can't get enough heat to solder two wires to it and make a strong bond with out melting it. I've got them soldered together but it don't take much force to rip it off the deans so does anyone have any tips on how to get two wires soldered to a deans without melting the deans. Also if anyone is wondering i'm using a weller 40 watt solder iron

Make sure to tin the wires. Also putting a little solder on the dean. Then it is just a matter of bonding the 2 together.

Here is a link I watched just to make sure I did it right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZU9rtACdZY

[silentcircus]

Simple fix for you: Solder the two wires to a SINGLE wire a couple of inches long. It won't matter much if you overheat it a little bit, just cover it in shrink tubing, then solder the free end of the single wire to the Dean's plug.

[rmdesignworks]

strip the wires and twist them together then tin them then solder to the tabs

use a metal aligator clip (or third hand) to hold the deans while you solder it will sink some of the heat out too.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by EeePee

Make sure you have the two plugs connected, that way if it wants to melt, it's still held in place where it should be.

And you get a little heatsink action.

Yep thats what i always do but the bar was melting inward into the plastic housing its self

Originally Posted by treday619

Make sure to tin the wires. Also putting a little solder on the dean. Then it is just a matter of bonding the 2 together.

Here is a link I watched just to make sure I did it right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZU9rtACdZY

Yep thats how i solder them

Originally Posted by silentcircus

Simple fix for you: Solder the two wires to a SINGLE wire a couple of inches long. It won't matter much if you overheat it a little bit, just cover it in shrink tubing, then solder the free end of the single wire to the Dean's plug.

I might have to try that except i kinda want the shortest amount of length as possibly

Originally Posted by rmdesignworks

strip the wires and twist them together then tin them then solder to the tabs

use a metal aligator clip (or third hand) to hold the deans while you solder it will sink some of the heat out too.

Yea i've tried soldering to together and twisting them together then tinning and that part worked fine but once i tried to solder it to the tinned deans i either got a bad, weak joint or ended up getting the tab to hot and it melted into the plastic housing.


Its just the female connector i'm having a problem with, i can solder to a male but the females melt into the housing

[brokeitagain]

how big of iron are you using, i have a 450 watt soldering gun that i can solder deans with out any trouble, if your iron is too small it will not heat the metal fast enought and cause the plastic to melt

[AlmstEvil665]

Is your soldering iron good and clean and are you tinning the tip of your soldering iron? Also when you store your iron do you tin the tip before you put it away? It sounds like you are getting a weak connection due to dirty solder connections. If the tinned wire has black junk in it and the tip of your iron is the same way and won't hold the solder then you and losing a lot of heat transfer. It should take literally 2 seconds to join the wire to the connector. Any longer than that remove the iron let everything cool and try again.

[AlmstEvil665]

Originally Posted by brokeitagain

how big of iron are you using, i have a 450 watt soldering gun that i can solder deans with out any trouble, if your iron is too small it will not heat the metal fast enought and cause the plastic to melt

He is using a 40 watt iron as stated above. I'd like to see this 450 watt iron sounds like a beast.

[Sydwaiz]

Your iron should be plenty as that is what I use. What type of tip do you have on it? Pointed, chisel, or screwdriver?

I like to clamp the deans into a little hobby vise to hold it. You can then solder the two wires together, hold them together with a small alligator clip, and then solder it to the deans tab. Or solder one wire to the deans, hold it together with the alligator clip, and then solder the second wire on.

[brokeitagain]

sorry i was mistaken, its 400 watts
. pricey yes, but its well worth it
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

[456heinbach]

I use to have the same problems soldering only one wire on lol, but my iron was only 35w, I use a 60w now and only takes seconds. What about stripping the insulation a little bit down from the one end of wire then solder the second wire on there cover with heatshrink and solder the end to the Deans, you would only be soldering one wire onto the plug then.

[sim]

I make up for my lack of soldering skills by going overkill with the prep work. I double-sided tap the deans to a flat surface (the table or floor), get some solder flux ready, get a scouring pad wet (for cleaning the solder tip), plug in a male deans into the female, put some tubing over one of the male tabs (if I'm doing a battery), use a big fat Hakko soldering iron with a chisel tip, tin everything, and then go to work.

And if I'm doing two wires like you, I'd hold the thinner wire with a third hand tool (or get a buddy to help with a 2nd pair of pliers). Oh ya, don't forget to sleeve in the heat shrink tube first.

If you're still having trouble... you could solder some long wires to the males first. That would give you all the heatsink action you need. These can be also be handy as a handle for the third hand tool to grab (if you're not taping down the Deans). Cheapo household electrical wires would work.

Sounds like a lot of extra work, but sometimes it's actually the easier way.

[motorman1600]

I use a high temp. solder for the first wire. Then use a lower temp solder for the second wire. If you have a good iron and can see what you are doing the second wire melts into the higher temp solder without letting loose of the first wire. Hope that helps.

[twisted concept]

That YT vid helped a lot!!! Thanks

[losikid]

Originally Posted by motorman1600

I use a high temp. solder for the first wire. Then use a lower temp solder for the second wire. If you have a good iron and can see what you are doing the second wire melts into the higher temp solder without letting loose of the first wire. Hope that helps.

Sounds like it will work, are you saying a high temp solder iron or the solder itself

[Big Mike]

You need a bigger iron. 40 watts is borderline for doing heavy work like what you describe.

Your 40 watt iron is taking too long to heat the joint, it's slowly heating the whole plug instead of quickly heating just the end of the tab.

I just set up 2 new LiPos in like 5 minutes. I use a Weller WES51, and when doing Deans I crank it up to 80 watts so the heat transfer is fast. I'm done with my joint before the heat has time to sink up the tab into the plastic plug housing...

[AlmstEvil665]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

You need a bigger iron. 40 watts is borderline for doing heavy work like what you describe.

I have the same iron he is using and have no problems with heat transfer. I won't disagree that 40 watt is broderline though. I use 12g wire from time to time and it takes forever to get the wire hot enough to tin. Once the wire is tinned though I have no issues with soldering.

You were asked above what tip you are using. Make sure you use the chisel tip. It transfers the heat much faster than the pointed tip. It may be the screwdriver tip though I'm not sure. It is the medium sized tip that came with your iron.

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by AlmstEvil665

You were asked above what tip you are using. Make sure you use the chisel tip. It transfers the heat much faster than the pointed tip. It may be the screwdriver tip though I'm not sure. It is the medium sized tip that came with your iron.

A good point there - tips with larger surface area will transfer heat faster. I usually use the screwdriver tip.

Another tip for the tip - keep it clean while you work by wiping it on a damp sponge. When the tip is shiny and clean it transfers heat much faster than when it's black and grungy looking...

[BansheeManiac]

tin both the tab and your wires and it should bond clean, strong, and fast