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Old 03-16-2006, 10:26 AM
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Wheelnut
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Default RE: $250 villain mods?

To make your own packs you will need a good soldering iron with a good wide tip. It is also nice to have a sodlering iron that you can change the tips cause you will need a small tip for those small jobs I use the Hakko 936, its a very nice soldering system with temp control, so you don't burn out your irons when left on too long. Also if you don't have a wide tip you can burn your battery. Make sure you only heat the surface of the battery for less than 15 sec. It is also wise to sand the surface before you begin. The Hakko 936 will set you back about $119.00. Or you can go get a cheap iron with no temp control and unknowingly over heat batteries and ruin their run time. This is one reason why you see some guys ask why their 3300mah batteries only have 5 min run times on low amp draw applications.
Oh, another nice tip is to put a small silicone beed between the batteries to hold them together while you solder them so they are nice and straight. I have what is called a speed jig, but it only works for up to 6 cells, If I'm making a 7 or 8 cell pack I use the speed jig for the first 6 because it holds the batteries nice and straight and has a clip that holds the battery bar in place while you solder it.
Step 1: Sand the surface of the battery to be soldered.
Step 2: Sand the battery bar.
Step 3: Heat soldering Iron.
Step 4: heat sanded area of battery very quickly and put a small amount of solder on it and rub it in circles till it melts and sticks.
Step 5: cool that end of the battery quickly with a wet sponge from you soldering iron kit. The secret is to not let the battery get too hot. Continue this process till all the batteries have solder on the ends.
Step 6: Silicone the batteries together, upside down to each other.
Step 7: Hold the battery bar down on the two ends of the batteries you are going to solder together, hold the soldering iron down on the top of the battery bar and after 2 seconds start putting solder on the iron to melt it down on the top of the battery bar, this will help spread the heat and quickly melts the solder you put on the battery before. once you get boat ends of the battery bar soldered, quickly cool both ends. Continue this process till all batteries are soldered together.
Step 8: Solder the wires and connectors on. I use Deans plugs for least resistance and best performance. They are the most widely used in the industry by pros.
Another reason to not buy poor quality packs is because they don't use battery bars. They use cheap thin tin bars that are just spot welded. I have taken these appart and was very dissapointed in the quality. Cheap packs generally don't last half as long as a good pack.

If you are like me and many others on this forum that are serious about this hobby and you stay in it for a long time you will realize, the more you try to save now by buying the cheap stuff the more you will spend later on the nice stuff. Save yourself the time and money and do it right the first time.
When I started I bought a cheap iron with no temp control, and ruined batteries and eventually burned out the tip. I then bought the Hakko and have been much happier with it. I also used to buy cheap battery packs and all but too soon had problems with them. Since I started buying good batteries I have not had a pack go dead yet. I also bought a cheap charger and soon learned it would not do all I wanted it to do, so I bought a nice charger.
I could have saved myself alot of money if I had of listened to some of the guys that were advising me to buy the good stuff and not the cheap stuff. Saving money now sometimes means spending more money later.