Now that I've come up with a technique to solder the EC3 connectors I do find them a little easier to use. The way I do it is to put some soldering paste into the connector where the wire goes before inserting the wire. Heat the connector and then just touch the solder to the wire where it meets the connector. The solder will usually flow into the connector, not get all over the outside and you have a nice solid solder joint. The hard part can be getting the connector to seat propperly in the plastic housing. I've taken to using a small flat blade screw driver to push the connector into the housing. Many of the batteries have wires too thick to fit into the connector. I use a wire cutter to cut off just enough strands to get them to fit. I do use heat shrink (which I slide over the wire prior to soldering) to cover the end of the wire where it meets the connector just as an extra precaution.