Soldering iron and 6ga wire?

[kfxguy]

Did some searching. Didn't find the answers I was looking for. First, I need a soldering iron that will make quick work of soldering three 8ga wires together. I'm using a weller 80w right now and it does it, just takes longer than I like. I really don't want to spend an arm and a leg either so a expensive soldering station is out of the question for me right now.

Next. Where in the heck can I get flexible 6ga wire? Preferably silicon. I can't find it anywhere. I prefer to tie the two 8ga together on these sf300's and then branch to a 6ga. Might be a moot point as the battery wires are only 10ga but on some of my setups I have longer than I like length of wires.

[z400]

Cant remember the wattage.. but years ago i had a digital iron from RadioShack. Thing was awesome as heck!
I just checked out what they have listed on the net, looks like they have a 60w model, but that looks nothing
like what i use to have.

[kfxguy]

Yea I went into radio shack the other day to get some circuit board and they stopped carrying it and looked like they were transitioning to become a cell phone and junk/trinket store. I don't give them much time to be around. Sad. They could have done so much better had they priced their stuff a decent prices.

[jaike5]

I use a small hand held torch, tin each wire then solder them together. great for heating heat shrink too. a must when in a pinch at the races.

Cheers, Jay.

[kfxguy]

I use a small hand held torch, tin each wire then solder them together. great for heating heat shrink too. a must when in a pinch at the races.

Cheers, Jay.

I've tried a torch but it seems to crisp the wires easily if your not careful. I feel more confident with an iron. Not to mention with my clumsy self I'll set my shop on fire with it lmao! Speaking of which, I ruined a nice pair of expensive khaki pants and a $200 pair of mizuno shoes the other night because I knocked over a bottle of black epoxy dye and it went all over my pants and shoes. Meh. Lol

[klbo]

You need to buy a good Unger or Weller Solder station not a pencil soldering iron

[modvp55]

You can get tinned 6GA wire from a marine dealer. Anchor would be the wire of choice should you go that way.

[NativePaul]

I think a good old fashioned half pound lump of copper with a handle would be the way to go, I used to use my dad's one filed into a slight hammerhead and heated on the kitchen stove, to end to end solder round nickel based cells almost instantly. Recently I failed at removing the 8g wires from a Castle Ice 200 with my 80W Weller (which has no trouble with connectors on 8g, but the board wicks away heat like it was designed to wick the heat from FETs), and I thought I would have to buy one myself, but cutting the wires close to the board got the stubs off reasonably quickly once I thought of it.

a search on ebay for "vintage soldering iron" or "blacksmiths soldering iron" brought up a fair few from £5-10, much more reasonable than a 150w soldering station at £400+ for a name brand.



Torches can introduce static, and an ESC designer/maker advised me against using use one on an ESC.

[dontrinko]

I use a solder gun. It has 2 heat ranges. Made by Weller. Don

[SD Eracer]

My TrakPower TK-950 60 watt, was like $60 or so, and does great on 8 gauge wires.

Just make sure to use full power, and to melt a good bit of solder right at the soldering joint (creating a heat bridge with the iron tip), it will get hot very quickly.

I'm able to de-solder connectors off 8mm wires without the heat even going beyond a few inches from the solder joint using the method above.

[gixx1k2]

My TrakPower TK-950 60 watt, was like $60 or so, and does great on 8 gauge wires.

Just make sure to use full power, and to melt a good bit of solder right at the soldering joint (creating a heat bridge with the iron tip), it will get hot very quickly.

I'm able to de-solder connectors off 8mm wires without the heat even going beyond a few inches from the solder joint using the method above.

I use the TrakPower as well. Gets super hot

[kfxguy]

My TrakPower TK-950 60 watt, was like $60 or so, and does great on 8 gauge wires.

Just make sure to use full power, and to melt a good bit of solder right at the soldering joint (creating a heat bridge with the iron tip), it will get hot very quickly.

I'm able to de-solder connectors off 8mm wires without the heat even going beyond a few inches from the solder joint using the method above.

Ok, it says it's 60 watts. My weller is 80 watts. Wouldn't the weller have more heat? Or does watts really not matter, look at the temp rating?

[shua]

I have the same TK950. It has to work hard to solder 8g wire for me.
But it will do it. I soldered up a sf300 this summer. Joining 3x 8g wires into a Y. And it took some time. But did it nonetheless.

[kfxguy]

Thanks josh. I don't need to be wasting any money right now and that sounds like it would have not worked any better for me. Keep in mind I'm joking (3) 8ga wires together so I need something that packs some serious heat and can retain it. I saw a weller 100w professional series on their website that's priced well, I've got a b day coming up in a few days so I may see if the wife will get it for me.

[crispyspa]

Do a search on EBay for 150w soldering iron then filter price lowest.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150W-120V-Soldering-Iron-Tool-with-Chisel-Style-Tip-Wood-Handle-11inch-US-PLUG-/311481821375?hash=item4885c368bf:g:MfsAAOSwymxVOqob

If you're willing to wait for the boat from China you can get some really good deals. I have one that's so hot, solder wont stay tinned on the tip, it just burns off, but it will do 8awg wire in seconds with lead free solder with no problem.