Chameleon Pro is alive!

[4-tecDreamer]

I finally got my chameleon pro. After hours of solding and it falling off, doin it over, burning my hand a million times it is complete! I'm using 16/84 for off road and 19/84 gearing for on road with the XL-1. Its running great, lots of improvment, I wouldn't say its going over 25 with the 19/84, its around 23-24 but a great improvment over the stinger. I would recomend it. Here some pics of my qaulity soldering job..haha, I declare shinadigens on soldering!!

http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/ViewImage.dll?userid=AdambombAH&album_id=33314&image_id=0&courtesy=1

http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/ViewImage.dll?userid=AdambombAH&album_id=33314&image_id=1&courtesy=1

http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/ViewImage.dll?userid=AdambombAH&album_id=33314&image_id=2&courtesy=1

http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/ViewImage.dll?userid=AdambombAH&album_id=33314&image_id=3&courtesy=1

[draggerman11]

Just a wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee too much solder. use ALOT less next time ok?

[4-tecDreamer]

lol, it just got away from me!lol, hey it works...thats all that matters.

[jeepinator]

OMG dude !

What were you using ? Heating up a screwdriver tip with a lighter ?

I will say it again, the hotter the iron, the better. Also, the more mass the tip has, the better (within reason).
It cracks me up to see some poor person trying to solder motors, batts, etc with a 20 watt iron with a fine point pencil tip !

You gotta go 60 watts or better and a BIG FAT SCARY looking tip on there to do batts and possibly a bit less to do motors.

I have a pretty sweet gas soldering iron made by Weller. I am not sure how it would equate heat wise, but that thing could solder ships together ! I love it. It gets hot in like 20 seconds (not an exxageration) and creates a frightening amount of heat.

Here is my standard iron, just so you know what I am talking about:

http://www.theshreves.com/pics/iron!.jpg

[4-tecDreamer]

haha...no I have a standard soldering iron, like in the picture..hey I'm not that good at it..o well, it still works. Does the way its soldered affect performance?

[ 08-04-2001: Message edited by: 4-tecDreamer ]

[jeepinator]

Yes, it can. Reliability of the connection is another concern. Solder is a good conductor, but not a great one. You want as little solder between your connections as possible.

Try to do a better job next time, K ?
Heheh, just kidding :p http://www.theshreves.com/pics/smiley/uhoh3.gif

[combones]

Hey jeep, was that a sonic2 in your drag car? If so, do you know what brushes come on a 12 double sonic2 from the factory?

[Andrew the RC man]

jeep- what exactly is that exacto knife for??

i mean the only tools i need when soldering is a soldering iron. the solder and depending on the wire. a pair of needle nose pliers

[XXXER]

To strip the insulation off of it, of course! It really is better to use a razor blade, or an X-Acto knife to cut off the insulation, so as to not cut off any of the wires. You just roll the wire across a flat surface, with the blade on top of it, and it makes a super clean stripping job.

[jeepinator]

It is merely in the pic for scale, foo !

I could have stuck my *beep* in there, but I did not want to humiliate you :eek:

[Andrew the RC man]

humiliate??? i think it would shock everyone to know that they have a bigger *beep* than you :D :D :D


j/k

[speedydave]

OK then...im betting some mod is...well im not a mod so lets not try and guess what a mod would do...but still guys...

[jeepinator]

what ?

[bluesy]

4-Tec... Here's a suggestion for a clean reliable soldered joint. "Tin" the wire and the solder tab on the motor first. Tinning means applying solder to the surfaces before you solder them together. When you have all surfaces tinned ( you should still be able to see the details of the surface after tinning) simply put the wire on the solder tab and put the soldering iron on top with a tiny bit of solder to conduct the heat to the joint. Once you have seen the solder "flow" or get shiny on the joint pull the iron off and let it cool. If the joint is not shiny after you are finished it is probably a "cold" solder joint and may cause you problems with lower conductivity and lack of power flow. I sure don't want to seem like this is a lecture but I used to teach in a tech school and good soldering practice was one the many things to be mastered. My humble $0.032CDN... :cool: :cool: :cool:

[KIWIRCGUY]

Jeep is right (again) Good tools make for a good job. For soldering I have a 20 watt pencil tip, a 90 watt gun and a 100 watt iron with a nasty fat tip. I also have a gas iron, was told and it even says so on the package... It can melt gold... Like Im ever going to need to melt gold!!

[4-tecDreamer]

would it really add a lot of performance if I did it over? is it worth my time or is it minor?

[Andrew the RC man]

jeep- whats wrong with using a lighter and screw driver for soldering???? a little lysol here and there and well...you get the idea :D :D

[maxxxracer]

that is the most pitiful soldering job iv ever seen. the first time i tried soldering I did better that that. Actauly it does matter how much solder u have on there. It will get a better connection if u use alot less and get the wire right on the motor tab.

[maxxxracer]

also about striping the wires, if ur good at it, like i am (family trait) u dont cut any wires. using an exacto knife will not get u a better strip job.

[4-tecDreamer]

ok a better connection, will that affect speed? run time? or just hold better? I need to know if its worth doing over...it seems to run fine right now.

[bluesy]

If you take it off and remove all the excess solder then (now that everthing is tinned) place the wire on the solder tab and then the soldering iron on top of the wire with a tiny bit of solder you will have a correct joint....and one that will conduct current better. An extra plus will be the pride you will have in doing a correct and good looking solder joint. """Old saying here""" If it's worth doing it's worth doing right... enough already.... Hope everything works out okay for you..

:D :D :D :cool:

[maxxxracer]

yes it will do all of those things u asked. its well worth it and when people see it they wont laugh and they will think that u konw what ur doing.

[4-tecDreamer]

I'm gonna do it over...well considering I used this thick plumbing stuff that could be part of the reason why I screwed it up...lol..I burnt off some of the rubber of the motor leads so doing it over will be better anyway..lol

[jeepinator]

Dude !

STOP !!!!!!

Don't use that plumbers stuff. THAT is your problem. It has no rosin in it. Go to Radio Shack and buy their solder that says, "rosin core". The big roll is a great value. I think it was $22 the last time I bought some. And that is for a HUGE roll.

The rosin in the solder act like thermal paste. It allows easy heat transfer and the solder just "flows". It also acts as a cleaner and reduced surface tension. YOU MUST USE ROSIN (or sometimes called flux).

Good luck !

[maxxxracer]

hey jeep, I would not use radio shack solder. I learned this from my dad (profesional solder guy {builds and maintains music equipment for a living**) and the manager at hobby peeps, the cheaper stuff my say it has rosin in it but alot of times they dont have good quality control and it has a low amount of none at all. So if I were u I would go to a good electronis store and shell out the extra bucks and get some good stuff.

[Railman]

I'm with Jeep on the solder. Radio shack 60/40 rosin core has worked well for us. Just keep the iron tip & parts tinned before soldering...piece of cake!
By the way the problem with plumbers solder is that the EPA made them take all the lead out of plumbers solder so as to avoid lead poisening in copper water lines. What they replaced the lead with is antimony, which is just about imposible to use on electrical soldering. It needs more heat & a very clean joint to flow properly, even on copper.

The other thing that can be a big help on stubborn solder joints is to lightly sand & use a little soldering paste (like plumbers use) on the joint. Just be sure to clean the joint with a little water when done to neutralize the flux.
A 40 watt iron is plenty for soldering wires, but is borderline for building battery packs. Good luck.

[jeepinator]

maxxracer, while you are probably right about the quality issue, he will still be miles ahead with the Radio Shack stuff.
And, FWIW, I have used the Radio Shack stuff for literally decades without issue. Sure, there is better stuff (and I have used it before), but for RC there is hardly much benefit.

[4-tecDreamer]

I'm gonna go to the hardware store and see what they have. In tech ed in school we used this really thin stuff, that worked well on the circuit boards we were soldering.

[Matt Stepanian]

Hey, I'm proud of you for making an effort. :D

[cabbynate]

Just make sure it's rosin core 60/40. :)

[loki]

Hey, if you spend $200 on some quality solder, you'll get the most out of your $50 no-motor-limit ESC... or something like that.

I haven't been back to this board in quite a while, but reading posts for the last coupla hours has been *very* amusing. Jeepinator, you've had *plenty* of better chances to whip out your *beep* on this board, it seems. I must really commend you on managing to work in useful information while battling off the flamers and trolls (no doubt with one hand tied behind your back ;)) The rosin-core is definately the ticket for 4-tecDreamer.

Here's a tip when you're removing the solder.(not really for you, 4-tec, since this thread's almost two weeks old and you've probably done this by now) If you can, buy a solder wick. It's basically a braided copper wire, which you touch to the solder while heating it up with your big manly soldering iron. The wick sucks up the excess solder, and you're left with nice clean surfaces!

So okay, I threw that in there just so I wouldn't do what so many others can't seem to resist: post, jibe, and offer no useful information whatsoever. "pitiful soldering job" indeed. No question. But what was the point? 4-tec, I'm sure the motor's looking nice and clean today!

Later,

Loki