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Permalink Reply by Christopher Cooper on October 3, 2012 at 1:34am

I don't think the type of solder matters, provided the joint was made properly. Using a multimeter's continuity setting is the easiest way to check a solder joint. Put one probe on the pin and the other on on a connected solder pad, the multimeter should beep if continuous.

The battery you've selected sounds reasonable. You can change the connector by cutting off the old one and soldering on the new. Be very careful not to short the battery when doing this, you'll end up with sparks/fire and damage the battery.

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Permalink Reply by Hawhoo on October 3, 2012 at 1:50am

Jason take a magnifying glass and examine you solder joints, if they look smooth like in the YouTube videos you watched you should be ok.
The battery should be ok. You need to standardize on one type of connector for you batteries. Then nyou need to solder a new connector on one of the connections. If you change the battery connector be carefully to finish and cover one cable with shrink tube before you work on the second cable. Otherwise you may end up with a big spark and a ruined battery.

Aloha....

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100KMPermalink Reply by u4eake on October 3, 2012 at 1:52am

Indeed.  Cut 1 wire of your battery at a time, don't cut both + and - wire at the same time, cause your scissors will create a short.

When soldering, you should see the liquid solder flow around the pin and sinking in the hole.  If it's then shiny when solidified, it should be a good solderjoint.  Heat the pin (at the short end), not the solder.  Then hold the solderwire against the hot pin to let it melt and flow around the pin and into the hole and on the solderpad.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen R Mann on October 4, 2012 at 1:22pm

Lead Free solder just requires a higher temperature to melt.  60/40 tin/lead melts around 200-degrees(f).  Depending on the alloys used to replace the lead, the melting point will be as high as 250- to 300-degrees(f).  This can lead to "cold" solder joints.

"Rosin core" and "Lead Free" are not related issues.

The rosin core reduces the oxidation of the solder (oxidation makes poor joints).  It also makes the solder "flow" better into the joint.  If the work "puffs" smoke while soldering, then you have a rosin core solder and the puffs of smoke are the rosin boiling off.  What u4eake said - if the joint is shiny when it cools, then you likely have a good solder joint.

Radio Shack has a beginners soldering kit.

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Permalink Reply by Luke Olson on October 5, 2012 at 9:25pm

That battery will do just fine and will provide good flight time. The connector that comes on the battery is matched to the current it can deliver which is probably more than you need in this situation. Replacing the connector on the battery is one way to get it to work (just don't use it where more current is needed than the connector can deliver) or you could solder up an adapter to go between the two connectors so you can use the battery in higher current applications down the road.

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Permalink Reply by Jason on October 8, 2012 at 9:50pm

thanks for the advice, and I did one at a time.  Seems to have worked out.  I really like the rosin as it seem to work easier.

 

Jason

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