I posted some soldering tips in another thread
before I realized this was a better place for it.
So, here they are:

-------------------------------------------

Wear long pants and real shoes
when soldering.

Have a damp sponge to wipe the
soldering iron tip on. Wipe it every
time before you touch it to the joint.
Don't use this sponge in the kitchen
ever again.

Use rosin core solder made for electronics
not solder made for plumbing. Don't use
acid core solder. Don't use NoCorrode flux.
Once it burns it is YesCorrode.

Tin the wires before soldering onto the
deans connector. This means melt some
solder into the wire.

Don't forget to put the heat shrink on
the wire before you solder the connector.
Never mind, you will forget. I always forget too.

The battery gets the female plug and the
ESC gets the male plug.

When you are soldering connectors onto
a battery put tape over the second wire
while you solder the first, so they don't
touch. After you solder the first, shrink
the heat shrink before you start soldering
the second. Make sure the heat shrink
goes all the way to the plastic part of the
deans connector, so the second wire can't
touch the first while you are soldering.
Be careful that the soldering iron also
doesn't touch both wires at the same time.

Don't move the wire or connector AT ALL
while the solder is cooling, until it is solid.
If you do, melt it again and let it cool again.

Jenny

all good tips/advice, however I would add one more. The use of a tinning block of "Sal Ammoniac" can greatly enhance the process. Have a look here https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...c+where+to+buy

one thing that i learned , after destroying alot of solder, is DONT use too much heat , you can actually
solder two pieces of music wire up to 1/4 thick with a soldering iron , i never thought it possible
, but not over heating the metal is key

DON'T use sal ammoniac !

From this web page: http://www.muzique.com/schem/solder.txt
"Sal ammoniac blocks are sold for tip cleaning but they
should be avoided as well since the chloride salt residue from
the block will cause corrosion on pc boards and connectors.
Remember, rosin flux only."

Jenny

I have this old, really really old roll of solder. It is for electronics, but the label fell off 10 plus years ago. It is the best stuff I have ever used. It is 3/64" in diameter and I use it for all my "E" stuff. I know it would never be able to be sold in Kalifonia today, because it works well and has all sorts of bad stuff in it.

I have used acid flux many times for stainless, hardened piano wire. Also have used a lot of the no corrode flux too. Yet I have the bottle of alcohol and a brush to clean them. For giggles, a test I used the silver plumbing solder on some Deans connectors. It works a little differently than the "E" solder. With lower heat, as compared to the propane torch, it does not flow until the temp comes up, then runs like water. It seemed very heat sensitive. Just a few degrees nothing, then it flows very well. Also seemed to need more flux than on the copper pipe.

Also a small fan is a good idea to vent the fumes. good light source so you can see what you are doing. As pointed out, a hot blob of solder on the top of you bare foot will wake you up real fast. Yes, I have done that.

To do a good job, you need a good iron and good solder. The cheap stuff from the dollar store will not give you good results. I have (2) 30 year old Weller stations one has a deer foot, the other has a blunt point, (1) 30 year old Weller micro station, (1) harbor Freight station. Harbor Freight does not sell it any more but it is a clone like the one they sell at Hobby King, Hobby People Tower hobbies. I picked it up for $20.00 on sale. I have been using it for 4 years now. For the price hard to beat.

Practice, practice, practice, soon you will have good solder joints.


Buzz.

I have to disagree that to much heat is a great problem. I've seem more poor solder joints on electronics due to to low a heat from the iron. With low heat and a small tip, you ruin to much adjacent circuitry (especially small track on printed circuit board) than were ever destroyed by to hot a tip. Yes , temperature is important but more joints are ruined by to low a temp iron than by to high. If the joint is clean, flux applied and the heat applied only long enough to flow the solder, high temp makes the better and quickest connections.

More like the appropriate heat for the job at hand. You really can't compare techniques used to solder music wire as opposed to soldering electrical components. The issue with too much heat is that you can burn off the flux which will create more issues then no flux at all. You know you are using the correct heat when the flux does not burn off and has the color of honey when your soldering is finished. Too much heat can also cause gold plating to bubble up exposing the now oxidised base metal. You will never get a good solder joint once that happens. Too little of heat means that you will have to apply heat longer and any components adjacent to your work will absorb more heat. Rule of thumb, if it takes longer then 3 seconds to flow and wet out your work then you need more heat. " Heat " is not really the correct term in most cases. Changing the size of tips does not really increase the actual temp but it does increase the conductivity which means the heat will flow faster and more evenly. Once the soldering is done always clean with alcohol and an epoxy brush. Even though some rosin core solder or flux claims to be non corrosive, that claim seems to be true in most cases before heat has been applied and not after.

No corrode flux won't corrode copper pipe that is used for potable water. It is water soluble, so it gets washed away as soon as the pipe is used. And for whatever reason, the outside of the joint won't ever corrode either even without being cleaned off. I know this because I used to work for a plumber and made a few thousand solder joints with no corrode flux and solid solder.

It is acidic though, so for music wire it should be cleaned off with a solution of baking soda and water. Even on that I wouldn't worry much, but that's what you can do to be sure it's ok.

My post was mainly focused at electrical soldering. The difference between your copper pipe example and electrical is that obviously the electrical will be flowing current. That by its self will promote electrolysis but will be accelerated if flux residue is left behind. I have had Mil spec aerospace solder certification for 20 years now and have to be tested every 2 years to keep my cirtifications. The material is very specific when it comes to the use of flux and rosin core solders.

The right wattage soldering iron is very important as is the right size of tip. The tip must be large enough to transfer enough heat to the work quickly, the wattage determines how fast the tip will recover. The idea is to heat the immediate area of your piece up quickly then remove the iron. You want the iron on the work for only a few seconds otherwise you will be heating up the surrounding area needlessly and damaging stuff nearby.

For light weight electronics like servo wires use a 15 watt or so. For the larger deans connectors and average size electric power batteries use a 25 watt or so. For the big battery wires you will need an even larger iron, 50 watts or so. I prefer the simple pencil type of irons, they are cheap and last a long time.

Soldering guns are useless in my opinion because there is not enough mass in the tip to quickly transfer heat to the work unless it is very lightweight.

Oh I know you know how to solder, Speed. No arguments here about using acid flux on electrical work. It's not the right tool for the job. But it does work just fine for wire landing gears and pushrods and such.

Do yourself a big favor and purchase a separate soldering iron for mechanical soldering jobs that use acid core. Never mix them up and I don't even store them and they're associated supplies in the same container. I have a plastic container for electrical and one for mechanical. For your mechanical iron buy one with the biggest tip you can find. It will hold the heat longer for those heavy soldering jobs. I use an 80 watt iron with a large heating element and tip and have no problem soldering 3 diameters of 3/16 wire wrapped tightly with steel mechanics wire.

http://www.wellerred.com/products/80...heavy-duty.php

Some times these are sold as stained glass soldering irons.

Dennis

I just use a plumbing torch. It puts out way too much heat, but it's easy enough to move it away a little and watch for the flux to bubble.

micro torch for brass tubing and other larger metals. Available from HF and hardware stores. I even have one that uses soldering tips. Thanks to all for the tips.

Jenny and Rodney are right on, having spent 30+ years in electronic mfg back when most all electronics was hand soldered, we taught proper prep Hi heat quick joint as solder flows remove heat, and CLEAN all residue off (Hi grade alcy works great)

Cheers

Isopropyl alcohol ("rubbing alcohol") from the drug store works well for removing flux. I use the 92%. Get a pump bottle and some acid brushes.