Soldering

[Skullkid]

i just got two strips of flexwatt, and i intended to solder them rather than use the clips. i looked up how to do this, and decided that it couldn't be that hard. I have been trying for an hour, and all i have managed to do is burn and piss myself off. the site i look at said to melt the solder on the copper strip first and than place the wire on the melted solder, than cover the whole thing in solder. does anyone have a better way of accomplishing this? diagrams or anything would be great. the iron i have isnt a conventional iron, its one of those heat cold ones, and im not sure if that has any bearin on how i will be able to do this.

[atp151415]

arbreptiles.com shows good diagrams on how to do this

first you have to scrape the plastic thats covering the copper on the flexwatt with a razor blade

[Skullkid]

arbreptiles is what i originally looked at, but it hasn't really worked for me, maybe im just really bad at this, lol

[GirDance]

Hint: The cold heat ones "suck" for using that method.

The method you're using is aimed solely at traditional soldering irons and the most efficient application of solder when using a hot iron. The same principals do not apply to the 'cold heat' ones because they do not typically melt the solder to the point that you can drip it over wires to coat them. Basically, cold heat soldering guns are pretty useless in my experience, I have had better luck with roast skewers and a bic lighter (I'm not even joking there, and I even burnt myself less).

To be honest, the clips are nice and simple... May not look as pretty, but get out the clip, knock it with a hammer, and cover with electrical tape and you're set to go... You can even use regular alligator clips, although it works better if you shave down a bit of the plastic first with a razer blade.

With the cold heat, try hammering a small nail through (just big enough to tightly fit your wire through the hole) then use the gun on either side. I'd still use electrical tape over that to be safe, but it may be your best bet with that method.

[Gloryhound]

You need to tin both surfaces with solder. Use a soldering pencil as they are much better also. Avoid using rosin core solder, best solder is the little stuff you get from radio shack. To tin something you have to heat it up till the solder melts on contact with the item being soldered not the soldering iron. Once both are tinned you position them so you can apply heat to both at the same time and add just a little more solder but again the solder you are adding should melt on contact with the item being soldered not the pencil as it should never truely contact the pencil (it may be close to the pencil just not directly on it!).

[munding]

what is the diffence between using the clips and soldering? which one is better? thanks

raymond

[icygirl]

A friend of mine just did soldering on flexwatt for the first time. He found out that large tipped soldering irons can frustrate the heck out of you, so maybe that is your problem? If so try to get a smaller soldering iron... he said he got one for around $15.

(I've never done it myself, but thought that might be helpful.)