soldering lipos

[ed1]

is there any danger involved in soldering connectors on lipo batteries? i want put new connectors on some 300mah/2s/7.4v lipo batts for my micro.also dont know which soldering iron[temp range]to use!-help.

[spoo76]

Originally Posted by ed1

is there any danger involved in soldering connectors on lipo batteries? i want put new connectors on some 300mah/2s/7.4v lipo batts for my micro.also dont know which soldering iron[temp range]to use!-help.

No danger if you don't short it out by trying to connect negative and positive together. I use micro deans on my micro lipos under 400-450mah. With such a small connector it helps to have a smaller soldering tip and to plug both ends of the connector together while soldering to the wire. This helps it take more heat so you can solder the wire without melting the plastic plug

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

[DangerousDan]

Just don't clip both the pos and neg at the same time. If you do it will make a nice spark and leave a permanent indentation in your wire clippers. Don't ask me how I know this!

No other dangers really. Just complete one wire at a time. Cut, strip, tin, put heat shrink on wire, solder to connector, heat gun the heat shrink, THEN move on to the next wire.

Don't know about temps... My 20 year old Weller isn't adjustable, but has always seemed *just right*.

Great soldering info here (if you have a spare hour):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPbozW0Y3p4

[crawlhog]

someone soldered the original connector on, no reason you cant put the style you want on.

[Hydrocarbon92]

Actually there is, particularly if the battery is "full" and a smaller physical size. Excessive heat can damage the battery (150F+, solder melts >425F) and it's more dangerous with a charge in it. You should use at least a 60W or 100W soldering iron and heat the tab thru the wire. By that I mean heat the wire then press it to the tab til the tab melts. That reduces heat. Also if the tab isn't pre-tinned you'll need special nickel-compatible solder. Make sure you do it near 2 buckets of sand/dirt or outside. Water won't put out a lipo fire, only burying it in sand/dirt will.

After it's done make sure you wrap the 2 leads in kapton tape, although elec tape will work too. It's best to use masking tape when soldering since it doesn't melt like elec tape.

[nightcrawler48]

Originally Posted by spoo76

No danger if you don't short it out by trying to connect negative and positive together. I use micro deans on my micro lipos under 400-450mah. With such a small connector it helps to have a smaller soldering tip and to plug both ends of the connector together while soldering to the wire. This helps it take more heat so you can solder the wire without melting the plastic plug

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I always plug both ends of the connectors together when soldering to the wire, no matter what brand connector or what size. As spoo says, this makes a good heat sink when applying heat to make the connection. Haven't had a problem with melting the plastic on the plug since I started using this method (Deans plugs). Then again, maybe I'm just getting better at soldering connectors with all the practice I've had over the years.

[ColdFox]

Originally Posted by DangerousDan

Just don't clip both the pos and neg at the same time. If you do it will make a nice spark and leave a permanent indentation in your wire clippers. Don't ask me how I know this!

I can relate too
Now I do it one wire at a the time, with the other one taped to lipo so it stays there

[Bbknucks]

Originally Posted by Hydrocarbon92

Actually there is, particularly if the battery is "full" and a smaller physical size. Excessive heat can damage the battery (150F+, solder melts >425F) and it's more dangerous with a charge in it. You should use at least a 60W or 100W soldering iron and heat the tab thru the wire. By that I mean heat the wire then press it to the tab til the tab melts. That reduces heat. Also if the tab isn't pre-tinned you'll need special nickel-compatible solder. Make sure you do it near 2 buckets of sand/dirt or outside. Water won't put out a lipo fire, only burying it in sand/dirt will.

After it's done make sure you wrap the 2 leads in kapton tape, although elec tape will work too. It's best to use masking tape when soldering since it doesn't melt like elec tape.

I think he means soldering at the other end of the leads, not right on the tabs sticking out of the cells.