It looks more like the wires have been glued on than soldered!

Great post - helpful to many I'm sure!

Unseen,

Making good clean soldering joints does take a little skill but really in knowing what to use.

First, don't rely on the flux core soldering wire to help you. Still use the flux core as added insurance though. Look at using a Kester 951 Pen to treat wire ends, solder pads and through hole areas. Press the spring loaded tip down on the solder joint and while wet apply the solder. Solder loves this stuff and creates a perfect bond super fast. 

Second, Get a adjustable soldering iron. Once you have control of the heat you can do a multitude of work from tiny pinhead joints to even large 10 gauge wiring. I use a cheap but very reliable adjustable soldering iron here. They also come in a kit with some handy tools. Also use Tip Tinner for treating your tips without fighting tip oxidation. 

If you worry about unprotected solder joints shorting out, You probably might want to use MG Chemicals Red Insulating Varnish to insulate the bare ends. Also if you want to protect your electronic equipment from dust, corrosion and even waterproof your circuit boards try out MG Chemicals Modified Silicone Conformal Coating .

Just a few pointers on soldering and protecting your equipment.

Great posts Unseen, soldering is a real art. It takes lots of practice to get good. I do enjoy it though and find it quite relaxing.

(11-May-2018, 01:40 AM)ARC Wrote: Unseen,

Making good clean soldering joints does take a little skill but really in knowing what to use. 

First, don't rely on the flux core soldering wire to help you. Still use the flux core as added insurance though. Look at using a Kester 951 Pen to treat wire ends, solder pads and through hole areas. Press the spring loaded tip down on the solder joint and while wet apply the solder. Solder loves this stuff and creates a perfect bond super fast. 

Second, Get a adjustable soldering iron. Once you have control of the heat you can do a multitude of work from tiny pinhead joints to even large 10 gauge wiring. I use a cheap but very reliable adjustable soldering iron here. They also come in a kit with some handy tools. Also use Tip Tinner for treating your tips without fighting tip oxidation. 

If you worry about unprotected solder joints shorting out, You probably might want to use MG Chemicals Red Insulating Varnish to insulate the bare ends. Also if you want to protect your electronic equipment from dust, corrosion and even waterproof your circuit boards try out MG Chemicals Modified Silicone Conformal Coating .

Just a few pointers on soldering and protecting your equipment.

Glad to see someone mention flux finally. I actually prefer to use flux paste over the pens but they both get the desired effect. There is no issue when tinning to apply solder to your (clean!) iron and then tin the pad or wire with no extra solder, provided you put flux on whatever you're tinning first. Also if you're trying to rework a dodgy joint just put flux on it and reheat and generally speaking it will flow much nicer and you won't have to remove/ re add solder as all you are doing here is extracting more flux from the flux core wire.

I can say that I will never even touch soldering on something like a flight controller without flux. Also get yourself a nice big sponge to keep damp so you can clean your tip!

Sorry for the bad pic, but here's one I recently put together.

I have a post with example images of how I solder, hope that's useful
https://oscarliang.com/soldering-guide/

I’m new to drones and I’m having problems with basic repairs requiring soldering.

I freely admit I’m not very good at soldering as I have not done a lot and had not picked up a soldering iron in very many years, I’ve literally forgotten the basics!

I’ve been using an Antex M12 12w soldering iron for years but last time I used it I ripped up a pad from my fpv goggles because the solder hadn’t melted properly (also getting solder spikes) so I invested in an Hakko fx-888D soldering iron. This time I’m just replacing the battery wires to fc but yet again it can’t melt the solder on the circuit board.

I’ve tried bigger tips and even temps @ 400 degrees (I know I should have to go that high) but same result.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

(01-May-2019, 01:39 AM)stephen0278 Wrote: I’m new to drones and I’m having problems with basic repairs requiring soldering.

I freely admit I’m not very good at soldering as I have not done a lot and had not picked up a soldering iron in very many years, I’ve literally forgotten the basics!

I’ve been using an Antex M12 12w soldering iron for years but last time I used it I ripped up a pad from my fpv goggles because the solder hadn’t melted properly (also getting solder spikes) so I invested in an Hakko fx-888D soldering iron. This time I’m just replacing the battery wires to fc but yet again it can’t melt the solder on the circuit board.

I’ve tried bigger tips and even temps @ 400 degrees (I know I should have to go that high) but same result.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

What solder are you using? I recommend 63/37 or 60/40 lead solder. Lead free are very difficult to work with. I normally have temperature set at 315C or 600 F. You don't really need anything higher except a few really large pads. Get yourself some Flux.

I'd like to share a technique when soldering vinyl jacketed wire "ESC control" wire (not used as much anymore since silicone came into use). How many times have you had the jacket of a 28 or 30 gauge wire melt just as you were soldering it to the pad, causing exposed wire as a result of the vinyl phasing into the wire strand, or worse the tweezer pulls the cooked jacket right off the wire? The fix is to quickly tin the end, trim off the excess lead and use a small piece of shrink tube to secure the wire just below the tinned lead. Now when you go to solder it to the board, the tweezer wont melt into the jacket and a cleaner, more electrically isolated connection will be obtained.

(30-Apr-2019, 04:16 PM)Oscar Wrote: I have a post with example images of how I solder, hope that's useful
https://oscarliang.com/soldering-guide/

Sweet, I just joined the forum looking for this type of information and here it is, appreciate the guide! 

Here is a picture of my solder job on the pdb, how poor do you think this job is? I'm having a hard time soldering the 12awg wires to the pads using a TS100 soldering iron at 400c. 


I have an issue with my fpv camera shutting off for a second mid flight during flips and rolls. I've seen there is a post about the voltage sag and it causes the camera to reset, maybe I should add a capacitor? I try to wiggle the wires and see if there is a poor connection somewhere but video quality is great when just sitting down on my table, and no resets.

My tip with TS100 is to flash the custom firmware (https://github.com/Ralim/ts100) which will unlock 450c to it. Then get some fat tip (I'm using the TS-BC2 from here: https://www.banggood.com/MINI-Original-R...rehouse=CN but even fatter would work). Also make sure to use 24V power supply (or at least 19-20V) so you get the full power. Originally I was using 12V only, but that way the power of the iron is way too low and it can't keep the tip hot when soldering the thick wires.
This way it's much easier to solder even the big ground pads.

(18-Dec-2019, 10:40 AM)izzy26 Wrote: My tip with TS100 is to flash the custom firmware (https://github.com/Ralim/ts100) which will unlock 450c to it. Then get some fat tip (I'm using the TS-BC2 from here: https://www.banggood.com/MINI-Original-R...rehouse=CN but even fatter would work). Also make sure to use 24V power supply (or at least 19-20V) so you get the full power. Originally I was using 12V only, but that way the power of the iron is way too low and it can't keep the tip hot when soldering the thick wires.
This way it's much easier to solder even the big ground pads.

Sweet! Thanks! I do notice my 12v power supply is having a hard time keeping it at 400c, I'm going to order a better power supply and those tips you linked.

24 volts puts the TS100 into a god mode It heats from room temperature to 450c in like 10 seconds and keeps it there. I just love the little guy.

Soldering is the process of applying a filler metal (solder) to hot metal which bonds during cooling. Keep in mind the necessity for all parts to be at sufficient temperature to melt the solder. The purpose of the soldering iron is to heat the metal rather than directly melt the solder.  The flux in the solder needs to be on the metal to remove oxidation.

Although there are a variety of similar but different technics to accomplish the task of soldering and there are many videos, some better than others, my approach to soldering battery leads to pads is as follows:

NOTE: My iron is a 110 volt (AC) 60 watt $15 unit that I keep between 425 and 450 degrees Celsius.

1. Tin the wire:  Touch the iron to one side of the wire and solder to the other. When the wire temperature is sufficient, the solder will melt and flow over and
through the wire.

2. Tin the pad: Touch the iron to the pad a little off center and solder to the pad (not the iron). When the pad temperature is sufficient, the solder will melt and flow over the pad.

3. Place the tinned wire on top of the solder that is on the pad, touch the iron to the top of the wire and apply slight pressure. When solder begins to melt the wire will sink into the solder on the pad. Remove iron. Done.

(15-Nov-2019, 05:21 PM)rot8tion Wrote: I'd like to share a technique when soldering vinyl jacketed wire "ESC control" wire (not used as much anymore since silicone came into use). How many times have you had the jacket of a 28 or 30 gauge wire melt just as you were soldering it to the pad, causing exposed wire as a result of the vinyl phasing into the wire strand, or worse the tweezer pulls the cooked jacket right off the wire? The fix is to quickly tin the end, trim off the excess lead and use a small piece of shrink tube to secure the wire just below the tinned lead. Now when you go to solder it to the board, the tweezer wont melt into the jacket and a cleaner, more electrically isolated connection will be obtained.

How did I never think of this! Such a handy tip, thanks! I asbolutely hate having the cheapo wires melt.