Soldering Deans plugs

[MiDGet]

Hey guys, under advice from matt, i bought some deans plugs and have them on my B4 now, but the solder never holds cleanly onto the plugs and it falls off after unplugging them once or twice... im using std silversolder from dick smiths, is this wrong solder to use? Help me please, im loosing interest in the car cause its not going...
Cheers
MiDGet

[James]

you need a damn hot soldering iron to get a good join. 300-400deg C is good ;)

if you dont have a damn hot soldering iron... pre-tin the deans plugs (heat the terminals up, drop some solder on them), then pre-tin the leads.

when you mate them together and drop the iron tip on them, they will join and be damn strong :)

dont hold the soldering iron on the deans for too long, you'll melt the plastic, and be pissed off.

this technique works for anything you solder. (make sure you tin whatever your soldering, both ends, etc) motor's, batteries, etc.

[MiDGet]

schweet, thanks mate, ill give that a rip tonight when i get home. Im guessing my iron isnt a super hot one... just a dick smith cheapo.

[nexxus]

Put some heat shrink over the solder when done too. Seems to help!

[azzachaz]

A bit off OT, but what soldering irons do you guys suggest?. I have 2 different DSE ones but think it is time to get something more professional.

[KingBob]

I have 2, a big weller 80W job with a 1cm chisel tip, great for batteries, and also a Weller 240V (the wattage escapes me at the moment) transformer type, with a fine tip. Good for electronic work like deans plugs.

[James]

I have a Hakko 936 knockoff (from overseas).. see:
http://www.computronics.com.au/hakko/soldering/

temp adjustable, lockable, seperate iron holder, removable iron cable, interchangable tips.

Computronics in technology park sell them, and the tips. I got my unit off EBAY for $65'ish, brand new, sealed. it came with a really tiny tip for surface mount work, so I ordered some more tip's from the computronics online store! pretty cheap, now I got a 1.6mm and 3.2 mm chisel tip.. heats up fkn fast, makes any soldering job so simple.. I usually have it with me trackside..

[James]

much like the dicksmith variable temp ones really I spose.

e107_files/public/2_hk936.jpg

[RohaN]

i've got one of these beastys
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=TS1446&CATID=29&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=425

its only 13watts, but it has constant 415° temp & has a bloody small tip.
its designed for PCB stuff, so RC is a breeze

(makes tiny fiddly FET stuff no trouble)

[Jai]

i can say james's works great... it did the job last night on my new 4 cell batt packs...

[BAGES]

I used an el cheapo and pre-tinned and they worked great - oh I used those venom copies of deans plugs (much cheaper and seem to do be just as good)