it doesn't want to solder!!

[Krawler23]

I am trying to wire up my xr 10 and i am having a heck of a time soldering it together. I am using a 30w iron with rosin core lead free solder. The solder takes awhile to heat up and the iron is inconsistent with the heating, sometimes it heats up fast sometimes it takes forever. Also the solder just balls up and doesn't bleed out and stick. Also how much flux should i put on? I am getting very frustrated and can't seem to get it. Can someone please point me in the right direction? Thanks so much

[Mikey007]

Is your wire clean? Are you using a thick solder wire?
You wanna apply flux to your wire and heat it until clear.

Make sure your tip of your iron is clean as well, if its dirty wet a sponge and run the tip of your iron over it until clean, then apply solder to the tip before heating your wire.

Pre-tin your wires also.

The wire should get hot enough to melt the solder, if not your iron may not be working proper.

[ohh EPiC FAiL]

sounds like you need a better iron. i can't tell you how many cheap 20-30w irons i went through before i realized they just wouldn't work. i got a good iron now and i have yet to come across a solder job that needed flux.

[Krawler23]

THanks for the responses. I haven't been fluxing the wires so maybe thats it, but the iron i have is cheap so maybe thats it. I just can't seem to do it to save my life. Any more input is welcome.

[hoghead5150]

those cheap 20 and 30 watt irons are ok for small electronics, but if your going to be soldering bigger stuff like motors and such, you will need a bigger better iron. i just got a Hakko FX-888 for christmas. it is amazing the difference it makes having a good soldering station.

[King James]

Definatly look into a better iron. I had the same problem with a cheap Walmart one when I was swapping everything over to deans plugs, finally went to lowes and got one that's adjustable for like 30 bucks on sale . Took me like an hour a plug with the cheap one, the nice one was knocking them out in minutes

[Maxx_Savage]

Going by your description if I were you I'd try some new soldering tips first. They're cheap enough and are worth a shot, being consumables after all.

Tips are very fragile and should not be subjected to bending, sudden temp changes, shocks etc.

[Joe&Jeep]

Also make sure the tip is tight in the holder, a loose tip will give incinsistant heating.

[JasonInAugusta]

I taught soldering to the 35 series MOS when I was in the military. It's not hard if you know proper technique.

Soldering is capillary. The solder will flow into the heated area if properly fluxed.

Make sure your tip is in and tight, flux the item to be soldered, tin the wire, then tin the wire and the terminal, then solder the wire to the terminal.

Tinning is the process of applying solder to the items to be joined.

To keep the solder from balling up, try heating the item to be soldered from one side and applying solder from the other. An example; if you're soldering a Dean's connector, apply heat from one side of the connector blade, and apply solder to the blade from the opposite side. DO NOT HEAT THE SOLDER, OR APPLY SOLDER TO THE TIP. This will result in a "cold" solder joint - if you can join the items at all.

Make sure your iron is good (I used a 150/400W gun with a 1/4" tip for battery and power connections) and work from there.

[Krawler23]

alright thanks for all the help so far. i tried to heat up the other side but i dont think my iron gets hot enough to heat the whole thing up hot enough to melt the solder. i am using 14awg by the way so that doesnt help either. i will try some of those suggestions tho and see what happens.

[SlickRockSpider]

I use rosin core lead free solder (radio shack). It comes with flux. (?)

JasonInAugusta is right on the money.

Look on you tube for a instructional video.


Evan

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by Krawler23

I am using a 30w iron

Originally Posted by Krawler23

i am using 14awg by the way so that doesnt help either.

Those 2 factors make it a tough scenario for you to overcome.

You need a lot of quick heat for 14 guage, and the little 30 watt iron is going to be insufficient if conditions are less than perfect. You will most definitely have to tin both wire and terminal beforehand before you try to join them.

Make sure everything involved is as clean as it can be, especially the tip of the iron. Wipe it on a damp sponge to clean it up. It's amazing how much faster a clean, bright tip transfers heat compared to a dirty tip...

[bob1961]

yeah a better iron and some shack 60/40 rosen core LEAD solder, never did like the lead free junk.......bob

....

[Maxx_Savage]

A proper 30w iron should be good enough for 14awg. Remember the wattage of the iron only determines how quickly heat gets generated at the tip, for bigger jobs you need a bigger tip. Always use the maximum tip size that you can.

[Draggermirage]

I've had awesome luck with a Craftsman 45 watt pencil iron. They're like $10-$12 and have done as large as 10 gauge joints for me. Makes short work of 14 gauge wires onto Deans connectors.

Nice bonus with them is that they do include one chisel tip and two different sizes of pointed tips..

I've used mine for probably a decade now with no issues.

Marcus

[Hoosierdady]

also, get the wire itself hot. For example, I lay the iron on the wire to be soldered for a few seconds and then apply the solder to the iron. You may have to hold the iron on the wire while the solder is balled up setting there. But after a few seconds it bleeds into the wires. I had the same problem with a little crrappy 30w iron. I bought a new 30w iron (budget) and using this method works like a charm.

[SMR 510RR]

Technically speaking you are not supposed to apply solder to the tip of the iron for any other purpose than to tin the tip.

Tinning allows the iron to effectively transfer heat to the wires and is probably the most important thing a beginner will not do. Without tinning the tip it will take much longer to get the wires hot enough to melt the solder.

After your tip is tinned you will want to tin both end of the connection you want to make, doensnt matter what it is, wires tabs on a motor whatever you want to tin it.

Then get the joint setup with your helping hands or whatever you are using to position your joint.

I like to apply heat to the bottom side of the joint, once I see the solder on the wires (the tinned solder) flow out just dab some more solder ONTO THE WIRES if you need to (sometimes you may not need any more) and pull your iron off.

Congrats, you have just made a nice solid solder joint that isnt going to fall apart on you!

[DiggyStyle]

First and foremost, get a new and better Iron. One that is at least 40 watts. You want to heat the solder joint at fast as possible and then get the heat off, for best results. Also, you should use a 60/40 solder with a rosin core, (never an acid core) if you are using a rosin core solder, then you don't need to apply flux, the rosin in the cores acts as the flux. Also like many others said, pre-tin all your surfaces.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

[M1tch]

the iron is inconsistent with the heating

I had a similar problem with my iron being slow to heat up. I pulled the tip out from the iron and clean the tip and inside of the iron to remove any corrosion. it made a great difference in the tip temperature.

[Maxx_Savage]

As I've said before - there is no need to get a bigger iron. I can do 14awg all day every day with my 18w Antex. Post up a pic of your current iron and the tip and particular?