Haynes Manual Build a Robot

[AdamST180]

I've had trouble melting the housings of the xt pin connectors when soldering, so the contacts go all wonky and don't fit the other connector any more... I guess that's what you've had too?

It can help to mate the connector you're working on with a spare connector, that keeps the contacts lined up and works as a bit of a heat sink...

... Though there's also the risk you ruin two connectors not one.... :'(

Well it looks like the ones I ordered were pre soldered which meant were useless

Im looking to replace my soldering iron as its a bit old, any ideas?

Spent ages looking on amazon but even the ones with mostly good reviews have a few "DANGEROUS this will burn you" reviews so no idea lol

Plus don't know how much to spend on one when will only use it for this lol

[Ocracoke]

So long as the iron works, it should be fine. What is the wattage?

TBH, I don't solder connectors these days without a third hand, makes things that much easier to do. The presoldered one you bought will still be useful. If you cut off the banana plugs, like you mentioned, they become pigtails and easy enough to solder into a wiring loom. That is what I did before getting to grips with a third hand.

[McMullet]

I mean, if the iron isn't hot enough to burn you it's not going to melt any solder...

If your old iron has a really knackered tip or is low power then you probably will have problems whatever you do technique wise. From what I remember something in the 80-100 W range is about right.

[Ocracoke]

From what I remember something in the 80-100 W range is about right.

I have to make do with a 25W! It works but I would prefer something like a 60-80W.

[AdamST180]

Well it turns out my little iron is only 15W lol, the bigger one is all worn off so no idea so defo need a stronger one

[COAESystems]

I've had the standard RS mains soldering iron for XT60s and XT90s and it works for both, also invest in a small metal clamp with corkscrew handle to hold the connector in place while soldering, makes it much easier. For anything smaller most cheap irons should be ok.

[AdamST180]

Got a strong and neatish solder on the EC5 now but managed to get solder down the connector so would not slot into the plastic housing

So now i have ordered a soldering station and solder sucker from RS, spent a lot of money on all the parts so committed now so might aswell give myself the best chance when soldering.

[Ocracoke]

It'll come with practice as to how to solder these things.

[AdamST180]

Yeah, I have plenty EC5's now so going to get practising soldering more, connectors so much trickier than just wires lol

[RogueTwoRobots]

Get a block of wood and drill a hole in it same diameter as the connectors (5mm I think). Push the connector down into it until just the last little section that you're soldering the wire onto is sticking out the wood. This way, when the solder runs, it won't run down the connector. Any excess around the soldered end can just be filed down (again easier when it's in the block of wood). Also use a little less solder so less overflows when you put the wire in. So long as the wire and the connector are tinned beforehand, you'll still get a good solid connection.

[AdamST180]

Wheels done and ready to go

IMG-7423.jpg
IMG-7424.jpg

EDIT: Anyone know why my images are showing so small untill click on them? Using the build in "insert image" button

[McMullet]

Good work on the wheels!

Anyone know why my images are showing so small untill click on them? Using the build in "insert image" button

Unfortunately attached pictures always display as thumbnails. If you want them to display at full resolution as inline images then you need to host them externally and wrap IMG tags around them. I upload my pics to Imgur which offers free hosting, and auto-generates the BB code to insert them. I'm sure they do all kinds of underhand crap in terms of copyright but that doesn't really bother me for this type of thing.

I get the feeling message board software is optimised for the days when data bandwidth was expensive and internet speeds slow, so you didn't want your hosted images to load at high resolution every time someone clicked on a thread... Sadly webforums seem to be going the way of the dodo thanks to "social" media and the like.

[IMG]OLD_MAN_SHOUTING_AT_CLOUD.JPEG[/IMG]

[Ocracoke]

Wheels look good, better than my attempt for the first Middleweight I did. :P

Unfortunately attached pictures always display as thumbnails.

That is true for here but it does have the advantage of not breaking the look of the forum, making things easier to read.

[McMullet]

I guess it's personal taste really... I find it quite distracting having to read a bit, click the picture, go back and read some more then come back to the picture and so on. If there's only one image it's fine, but I like to tell more of a story.

[AdamST180]

Many weeks/months later I have finally done a basic wire up and motors run!

Although im struggling with mixing on the dxi6 transmitter, using a FeatherTwo ESC, looked online and in the manual etc but cant seem to find a guide, can anyone help?