Soldering High Amp Cable

[Eventorizon]

I have started to solder up some of the circuit in my robot and run straight into a problem...

I don't know how to solder thick cable or how to solder it to things like motor tabs etc...

I have access to a Hakko FX-888 soldering iron which will reach 450 degrees C and I have an entire 500g reel of leaded solder to get into (along with a pair of extractor fans; I don't fancy getting lead poisoning no matter unlikely it might be...)

The wire is Gimson robotics 53A silicon cable...

[typhoon_driver]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

Clean the solder iron tip. Tin the solder iron tip with a little solder once it's up to temp. Touch solder to the wire end, let it pass heat into the wire for a second or so and then pass in extra solder to tin the tip. Do the same with motor tabs. Then once both have been tinned, hold the two of them together and with a clean iron with a little solder on it apply heat to join the two.

[Eventorizon]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

Will that small amount of solder be able to take the current that the motors will draw or do you add solder on top one the two are attached?

[typhoon_driver]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

the small amount of solder on the iron is only there to allow heat to easily flow from the iron to the join. You can add a little solder to the join to increase the surface area should you desire. It's something that you are best practicing to get right.

[typhoon_driver]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

o and the most important thing is to make sure that the final joint is nice and shiny!

[terry]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

Mmmmm shiny !
Reminds me about a bit from the film wolverine
Wouldn't mind some of that metal on my robot

[PJ-27]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

Tinning high current cable is hard because it doesn't want to get hot enough to melt the solder, at least not before it's roasting which isn't much good for the components it's attached to (like a Li-Po).

I never really found a way to help this, anyone have any tips?

[terry]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

use a higher wattage soldering iron with a large contact area, min 60w but i use 80w for cells
and large leads. when i do crimp lugs or large terminals for h/w links i use my blowtorch !

[PJ-27]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

I may have to look into getting a more powerful iron.

[jonny]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

Last time I soldered big wires I used a blow torch

[harry hills]

Re: Soldering High Amp Cable

i use a 30 watt and a 100watt soldering irons, seem to do the job fine