On Tue, 17 Nov 2020 12:36:07 -0500, OJ Oxford
wrote:
Well, the Hobby King XT60's, and my 12 gauge silicon wire arrived nearly
What are the specs on the #12 AWG silicon wire? Solid or stranded.
Silicon insulated wire is offered with waterproof insulation, which is
designed to prevent water incursion through capillary action. That
means no air gaps among the strands of wire, which is done by coating
each individual wire strand with silicon insulation. Others such
cables are filled with silicon grease, which coats the strands making
them difficult to solder. For example:
https://huesonwire.com/site/wire-and-cable-products/water-blocked-cable/
https://huesonwire.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Sell-Sheet-waterblock-CS-2019-WEB.pdf
I used to design marine radios, where various waterproof power cables
tended to cause problems for installers who were not familiar with the
problem.
at the same time, but now I have a new problem: even with a 240 watt
soldering iron (which starts to melt the XT60's), I can't solder the
wire to the connectors.
Does your solder have any flux inside? Have you tried using flux:
I've tried pre-tinning the wire first, but I
can only get parts of it tinned and not the entire wire.
Use fairly fine sandpaper or emery cloth, about 400 grit, to scrape
off whatever is coating the wire strands. If desperate, burn off the
insulation with a propane torch, or use a solder pot if one is
available. Scrape off the burned coating with sandpaper, and tin it
with solder (and flux).
This is never
going to work for the low resistance, quick connections I'm going to
need.
True. However, such wires are constantly being used in marine
service, so my guess(tm) is you're doing something wrong somewhere. I
think the key here would be to disclose exactly what type of wire
you're using so we can make a determination. I have no doubt that
soldering to the gold plated connectors will not be a problem.
Also, a 240 watt soldering iron is much too big for soldering XT60
connectors. Something around 80 watts with a chisel tip and some
temperature control would probably solder without melting the
insulation.
I think I may have to revisit the crimping method unless you can
suggest something I may be overlooking.....
You can't crimp the XT60 connectors, so you'll need to start over and
find a different connector. If my guess(tm) that your wire stands are
coated with insulation, crimp won't work at all. Look into finding
some non-waterproof #12 AWG cable.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558