Hi,

I am trying to replace a couple of sub-c nicads. Something that should
be so simple is not going smoothly!

Is there a trick to soldering the tags of two cells together? It has
taken me ages and the result looks untidy. What trick am I missing?

I now find that the remaining tags are too wide for the spade
terminals, so I was going to change the terminals for wider ones. I've
not crimped before so I am unsure what size spade terminals to buy.

In tool station they describe them as 1.5, 2.5, and 6mm. I presume
this means they take 1.5mm^2, 2.5mm^2, 6mm^2 cable rather than being
the actual size of the terminal?

In cpc they list the spades as being IIRC 2.8mm and 4mm. I think the
ones I have are 3mm (2.8?) and the ones I need are 4mm. So far so
good, but they then say something about being 0.8mm. Is this the
thickness? Why don't they mention the length or are all spade
terminals a standard length?

TIA

On 1 Nov, 11:40, Fred wrote:
Hi,

I am trying to replace a couple of sub-c nicads. Something that should
be so simple is not going smoothly!

Is there a trick to soldering the tags of two cells together? It has
taken me ages and the result looks untidy. What trick am I missing?

I now find that the remaining tags are too wide for the spade
terminals, so I was going to change the terminals for wider ones. I've
not crimped before so I am unsure what size spade terminals to buy.

In tool station they describe them as 1.5, 2.5, and 6mm. I presume
this means they take 1.5mm^2, 2.5mm^2, 6mm^2 cable rather than being
the actual size of the terminal?

In cpc they list the spades as being IIRC 2.8mm and 4mm. I think the
ones I have are 3mm (2.8?) and the ones I need are 4mm. So far so
good, but they then say something about being 0.8mm. Is this the
thickness? Why don't they mention the length or are all spade
terminals a standard length?

TIA

Obviously I can't see your soldering from here, but the essentials are
suitable materials (e.g. copper and tinned surfaces take solder well,
steel doesn't), clean surfaces (no oxides), clean soldering iron
(scrape off any blackened flux & when hot - wipe the iron frequently
on a damp sponge), HOT iron and BIG ENOUGH FOR THE JOB (a little hobby
iron for component soldering may struggle), and suitably sized solder
for the job (which should contain flux). Technique, get the iron hot -
solder should melt onto it in less than a second, get a little melted
surface onto the iron to act as the contact point, firmly make contact
with what you want to solder until you have wet solder on the surface
- then add what solder you need for the job.

Overall a slightly overpowered soldering iron is better than an
underpowered one - which may tend to cook everything whilst you wait
and wait for the joint to get hot enough.

1.5, 2.5, and 6mm is probably the wire size (x-sectional area), as you
suspected.

Can't help you with the terminal size. Try swinging by a halfords
(where they'll charge you quids for a pack of 3 or summat) - but at
least you can compare what you need with what they have.

I agree, battery tabs are a pig to solder, but I don't know what material
they are. Nickel plated perhaps? Advice about a big hot iron is correct,
though.

In article ,
Fred wrote:
Is there a trick to soldering the tags of two cells together? It has
taken me ages and the result looks untidy. What trick am I missing?

Tin them both, clamp together with a crock clip, and wave a small
(jeweller's) blowlamp over them.

--
*Rehab is for quitters

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Fred wrote:

I am trying to replace a couple of sub-c nicads. Something that should
be so simple is not going smoothly!

Is there a trick to soldering the tags of two cells together? It has
taken me ages and the result looks untidy. What trick am I missing?

You tin each tag on its own first (i.e. melt solder onto them).
Then you position the two cells so that the tags overlap, apply a
blast of heat, and let the two blobs flow together.

Chances are that this positioning is the critical part of the
operation and requires more hands than you have, or is awkward
because of the way the cells need to fit together when done.

If so, it may be better not to solder the tags together, but to
take a short length of wire and solder one end of it to each tag.

On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 04:58:07 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

HOT iron and BIG ENOUGH FOR THE JOB

I wonder if this was my problem. It's an antex but I can't remember
what power it is. I've always been a bit unsure about soldering iron
power ratings, a quick look on the internet shows antex make irons
from 12w to 100w. Is there a guide that to do job x, you need y watts?

I am guessing mine might be the 25w model.

Thanks.

On Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:44:46 +0000, Ronald Raygun
wrote:

Chances are that this positioning is the critical part of the
operation and requires more hands than you have, or is awkward
because of the way the cells need to fit together when done.

it may be better not to solder the tags together, but to
take a short length of wire and solder one end of it to each tag.

IIRC I wound a bit of wire around the tags to help hold them together
because I needed three hands and also it seemed to help the solder
"hold".

Thanks.

In article ,
Fred wrote:
On Mon, 1 Nov 2010 04:58:07 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

HOT iron and BIG ENOUGH FOR THE JOB

I wonder if this was my problem. It's an antex but I can't remember
what power it is. I've always been a bit unsure about soldering iron
power ratings, a quick look on the internet shows antex make irons
from 12w to 100w. Is there a guide that to do job x, you need y watts?

I am guessing mine might be the 25w model.

Thanks.

Most decent electronics irons these days are low voltage (24 volt) 50 watt
thermostatically controlled. 50 watts will cope with most things you're
likely to find round electronics like even large terminals. But without
thermostatic control would get too hot.

The 'standard' small Antex non thermostatic mains is 15 watts. This is
fine for PCB soldering. With a large enough bit and left to pre-heat or
recover it could do bigger one offs. An 'instant heat' induction 150 watt
type can be worth having for the odd larger job - although I prefer a
small jeweller's blowlamp for this mostly these days.

--
*Wedding dress for sale. Worn once by mistake.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:40:53 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Most decent electronics irons these days are low voltage (24 volt) 50 watt
thermostatically controlled. 50 watts will cope with most things you're
likely to find round electronics like even large terminals. But without
thermostatic control would get too hot.

Thanks. You've answered my next question which was going to be about
thermostatic control. I see a lot of irons do not have it but your
reply suggests that there is a real advantage to having it.

The 'standard' small Antex non thermostatic mains is 15 watts.

Could be. I am sure it ends in a 5. I did look but I've forgotten
again! I'm pretty sure it does not have thermostatic control. It was
bought cheaply from maplin in the days when maplin was good and the
catalogue was like a data sheet compendium.

An 'instant heat' induction 150 watt type can be worth having for the odd larger job - although I prefer a
small jeweller's blowlamp for this mostly these days.

Instant heat, no waiting, that sounds good. The blowlamp sounds as
though you could destroy things if you weren't careful/don't know what
you are doing.

TIA

In article , fred@no-
email.here.invalid says...

On Wed, 10 Nov 2010 09:40:53 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:


The 'standard' small Antex non thermostatic mains is 15 watts.

Could be. I am sure it ends in a 5. I did look but I've forgotten
again! I'm pretty sure it does not have thermostatic control. It was
bought cheaply from maplin in the days when maplin was good and the
catalogue was like a data sheet compendium.


There is a difference which distinguishes the 12 & 15 watt irons from
the rest of the range. Look he

http://www.antex.co.uk/prodtype.asp?...ts=&CAT_ID=180
&numRecordPosition=1

or http://tinyurl.com/2bem7g5

That should clinch it.

--

Terry

On Nov 14, 8:05*pm, Fred lo wrote:

Thanks. You've answered my next question which was going to be about
thermostatic control. I see a lot of irons do not have it but your
reply suggests that there is a real advantage to having it.

Thermostatic irons can use 50W elements with plenty of "oomph". Non-
thermostatic irons were limited to half or a third of this.

In article ,
Fred lo wrote:
An 'instant heat' induction 150 watt type can be worth having for the
odd larger job - although I prefer a small jeweller's blowlamp for this
mostly these days.

Instant heat, no waiting, that sounds good.

Not actually instant, but faster to warm up than a conventional iron of
that sort of size. But only really of use for quick jobs. If you were
soldering large areas of say tinplate or brass, a conventional one would
be better.

The blowlamp sounds as though you could destroy things if you weren't
careful/don't know what you are doing.

True, but that can apply to an iron too.

--
*There's two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...

Not actually instant, but faster to warm up than a conventional iron of
that sort of size. But only really of use for quick jobs. If you were
soldering large areas of say tinplate or brass, a conventional one would
be better.

I have seen some RF heated irons, they appeared to have some sort of
waveguide to send power to the tip.
They were a few hundred watts (or so i was told) so would have heated tin
plate I would think.
I never used one so I don't know what they were like to use.