I agree, it's over 3 years old now and still relevant. I'm extremely new to fpv and just ordered about 700$ of equipment, and after I'm done learning on the whoop and toothpick I plan on doing my first build. This is perfect information, and a critical area of research fire me while I partake in this endeavor. Thank you so much for this, and all your videos; I wouldn't have been able to fpv properly without them. Thank You!¡
Remembering my first build almost two years ago and trying to solder up my XT60's (FACE PLANT), been there done that. Now, two people that I work with are getting into the hobby and I'm the "Expert" to help with all of their problems, one has never soldered before (Practice, Practice, Practice) and the other is good at soldering but has been having problems getting everything configured (oh the good old days when I was first learning all of this). Great Video Stu, Keep up the FUN!
I have a problem when tinning a wire. I do it the exact way how its shown in this video, but the iron just wont melt when its on the wire. Do you have any suggestions?
thank you, you helped me not ruin a nanodrone PCB. This actually really helped me, I did not know you need to have a clean soldering iron to not mess up everything, because the several year old soldering iron I was using is has never been cleaned. Thank you!
Thank you for this. I'm sure if I read the comments there's going to be people who correct you on your technique or some of the information, but what I love about this video is that you've completely demystified the process. I've always shied away from soldiering but now have full confidence I can give it a go. Thanks again and thanks for your
Thank you Stu. I'm a Functional Test Mechanic on private aviation aircraft and have done a ton of soldering over the years but I'm always open to learning new techniques. I have always struggled with xt-60s but I tried your method and it has worked flawlessly every time. Thank you!
Thanks I appreciate this video. I am one who hates soldering and can find it frustrating at times, every once in a while I need a good refresher course on how its done. The only thing I would suggest is that you remind folks to always look for tiny solder droplets on a board that may have accidentally dripped onto a board. Can be very devastating if goes unnoticed. Just my little tidbits and thank you again.
Great vid as always, Stew. One thing that might be worth mentioning.... some motor wires have an enamel coating on them, which isn't removed when you strip the outer layer of insulation. Most of the time, the enamel coating is clear, so it's very difficult to see it. If you are having a hard time tinning motor wires, it is most likely due to the enamel coating. There are various ways to remove it. Some guys scrape it off with an exacto blade, other guys get a big glob of solder on the tip of the soldering iron and melt it off. I prefer to melt it off, but sometimes the coating used is very temperature resistant, and will require scraping. It seems that enamel coated motor wires are more common on the smaller motors. I also use a flux pen to put a bit of liquid flux on both pieces to be soldered, but that's just me. :) Really enjoy your channel, Stew, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.
Thankyou so much. This has been a huge step for me. I started today. I am really greatful for your thoughtful videos. All of builds and tips are so relevant and I shall be forever greatful. Thankyou. Richard Lothian
Hi Stuart this video is terrific; you nailed the target market :) I just bought a solder today, needed quad specific soldering tips, and this delivered. Thanks.
This should be required viewing for anyone just getting into the hobby. I like to put a little extra flux on the solder too. Some say you don't need it since most solder has a flux core but i still find it helps the solder flow better.
I am just ordering all my parts now to do my first build and first race quad. I am a plumber and I know how to solder but it does help to watch and learn again. Wire and pipe soldering are a bit different.
I fly micro quads that were pre-build right now, but just got done ordering a full parts list for my first 5" that I will be doing from scratch. Should be interesting!
Nope, it's pretty much the same deal. Rough up the parts with emery cloth or a wire brush to get some tooth on the board pads. Paint flux all over the area you're going to solder (both parts) then use a map gas or propane torch and hold the flame on the quad. Just like plumbing, you don't want to make the mistake of trying to heat up the corner of the quad arm. When it gets up to temp, push in a fair amount of 3/32 lead free solder until you see it flow. Let it cool a little, then wipe clean with a wet rag. You might melt the sheathing on the cable or singe the boards but no worries, that joint will be solid brother! The next step is mounting the props. Grab a 10 to 12 oz. ball peen hammer and some vice grips for reefing on those nuts. When you're all done, make sure you have a quality AM/FM radio. Tune it to your favorite channel and you're good to go. When I finished mine I could throw it at least a 20'! After you get really good you can start throwing it off of cliffs. They go a lot further. When you get really good at going the distance then you should step up to FPV. You'll need to buy a camcorder, a VCR or Beta deck, tapes and some big rubber bands or duct tape to mount the camcorder to your head. It's an investment, no doubt, but super fun!!
It's an over complicated hobby too many transmitters and receiver options it's not even funny I hate that side of it buy rtf but a good rtf with a decent transmitter look for the stuff that comes with the flysky i6 it's so much more less hassle
The only issue I had was that maxing out the heat is not always a good idea at all. For your iron (and admittedly many others) it's totally fine, but for certain irons that would definitely cause damage to any board, most iron tips, and would actually cause a worse joint. The best way to tell if your iron is the right temp is to tin it with flux-core solder - if it's the right temp it'll take a bit (I think around 5-10 seconds) before the flux starts smoking away; if it doesn't smoke at that point not hot enough if it immediately smokes a ton too hot. Great video though! Definitely useful for beginners.
Great beginners video. No blowing on the hot solder joint though as this can lead to a fracture and a cold joint. Blowing the flux fumes out of your face is a good idea and using a 50mm computer fan blowing across your worksite aids in this. Keep up the great work, very interesting as usual. Dave
Awesome guide, wish I saw this. But no I had to find out the hard way. Especially your hint at 4.31 is a lot of help. I dripped some on 1 of the ESC and smoke came out.
Hi Stew, hope you read this: I was watching (again) the 99 dollar drone built and came here to watch this... and I strongly suggest you make a air extrator for the soldering fumes (smoke)... they are very toxic... and you make a lot of soldering, so... A cpu fan and a large hose should do it without making noise to the mic. happy flying
XT-60 connector in gum - nice hack :) And it definitely can melt. I melted contacts out of one XT-60 connector on 350 degrees Celcius by keeping them hot too long.
Hey stew! nice video as always and surely pretty helpful for those that have never soldered before! Guys like you make the start with the hobby much easier! Keep on doin your vids, really like it! ;) As an additional tip for soldering the xt60s - put the male and female part of the xt60 together before putting heat on it. This will prevent the metal pieces from moving around when the plastic gets too hot (for example when your soldering iron is not powerful enough and you have to put it on there for a longer time...) Greets from germany
Thanks to you're the man your videos have really helped me while I have took this step into the Journey of fpv racing. Any questions I have I just refer to your RUclips channel and you have all my questions answered I really appreciate you man keep up the good work looking forward to seeing new videos. Keep ripping those drones
Used the blu tac trick from this video to solder a tiny whoop with no previous soldering experience. Cant tell if it flys yet cos my transmitter is in the post, but it gets picked up by betaflight and the FPV video feed works so fingers crossed on that one :) thanks a bunch
Its probably here somewhere already, but for people having a problem with XT60s deforming when heated, plug a male and female end together before soldering, and they'll hold each other aligned.
Hey Stewart, I'm getting pretty confident about my knowledge on the hardware side of things, but I was wondering if you can make a beginners guide to stuff like bl heli, clean flight, or tuning? A video like that would be very helpful :)
I want to mention first of all that I love uavfuture's videos! Joshua Bardwell already has made some excellent videos on those 3 topics you mentioned. Check him out!
Just a warning. If you going to use that "Sticky Tac" putty, Do NOT use it for any PCB boards that require a lot of soldering. The heat will make the putty soften to a point where it sticks all over creating a mess or worse, get into a spot where you need to make a connection. You'll be left with some nasty residue and might ruin the PCB. You might as well put an investment into some helping arms than ruin something more expensive.
on thing on soldering irons: for hefty connectors or even large ground and power traces you need quite some power. soldering a battery connector with a 30W iron is a huge pain, with 80W it's a breeze, but it will easily toast thin traces off a PCB, if you heat is just a second too long.
Power of soldering iron is of little importance, high capacity low power soldering iron will do same job as high power soldering iron for couple joints (it will bad job for high volume soldering). Power of soldering iron will never toast or lift even tiniest traces, high temperature will (which have noting to do with power of soldering iron). For most my work I use 90W iron and never lift any trace even 0.5mm width traces.
Also ever since i discovered your channel I have almost been watching all your videos non-stop because they are so entertaining and helpful and since your almost to 10k subscribers a good giveaway item can be one atom v2 ready to fly accept u need to put your own receiver,camera, and VTX just a suggestion
Very nice video. But some advice from experience my side: please buy a proper stripper before you hurt something/self. It is a lot more consistent and not damaging the wires. I've almost clipped some wires of using that method. With smaller solid core wires, they tend break at the strip point that way. If i really have to (wire too thin, like servo leads), i will use a small knife, not clippers. You did convince me to heat up my iron a bit more ;)
Great video, I never thought of using blue tack/ticky-tack. I have one question about soldering a motor directly to your ESC. How do you know the order of the wires? I like having bullet connectors in between the two just in case the motor spins the wrong way. Then I can just swap any two wires and the motor will spin the correct direction. Of course, bullet connectors do add weight and can be a point of failure...
Hi, Stu', I've been watching for a couple of months, and love your work. I have mostly been working with toy and camera quads for the last seven months, and I am just starting my first build now. I noticed that you mentioned that you "have" to solder motors directly to ESCs. Is this necessary? Can you not use connectors or join wires between the ESC and the motor? If not, why not?
Turn your wire cutter round so that the beveled faces of the cutter are away from you, works much better. Money spent on quality tools is money never wasted mate, and these jobs become a whole lot easier. Honest! Also I would suggest once you have stripped your wire twist the stands back together with your fingers. I'm good at the building but totally suck at the flying!! REALLY!!! Anyway fantastic videos! :-)
My soldering is absolutely horrible. Coming from rc trucks it wasn't too much of a problem but now it is. I'm using a Weller 60watt with conical tips. And it's like it doesn't get hot enough after a couple joints. The solder has a hard time melting and sticking to the item. It will just roll off even though I get the pad so hot it blackens around it. Yes I tin the new tips and keep clean. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the video-- helped me, my freind. I heard that you use lead solder (I use the cheap China stuff) Also, I have a digital read out, and I-- might be soldering too low temp.-- any ideas, or just go!
Hi. Nice video. Questions.... I landed here as I need to install new motors on my little Hubsan quadcopters. 1. Is a simple Weller 25W like the SP25NKUS a good choice? The wires I need to remove that lead to the motors are very small and so are the pads plus the pads are quite close together. 2. Is 60/40 solder typically used by OEM manufacturers such that I should use 60/40 resin core solder, or is it likely lead free solder was used so I should get some lead free solder to match. Are the two compatible such that if 60/40 was used and I go with lead free it will still bond?
Something I did not know about soldering is that you have to prepare your soldering iron tip. A new tip needs a good coating of solder applied and this layer of solder on the tips needs to be maintained. I messed up so many tips due to this. The layer of solder on the tip also helps with transferring heat and makes soldering a lot easier.
on my omnibus f4 pro should i be putting my little signal wires through the holes on flightboard or solder the tiny holes and then apply wire to it without trying to have wire protrude through board instead?
Help wanted When soldering, the tip should heat the part I want to solder, right? And solder should melt when touching that part, is this correct? Just making some leads for my charger, and the solder only melts when I touch the iron, not the cable. The cable is hot down it's length
Hey Stu, Quick question Im planning on my first entry level build/hack. I want to take apart my Hubusan x4 H107C and transfer the bits on to a EACHINE QX90mm frame, and then attach a FPV camera. My quest is I might need to extend the motor wires and Im curious if you would know what size gauge wire to go with on this micro quads? Thanks
If you solder your motor directly to the ESC and no bullet connectors - what happens when you have to switch two of the wires to make the motor spin in the reverse direction?
Dude even in Australia there is no word such as pretin. It's just tin. You don't preplan something, you just plan it... Same thing. Also you need a little bit bigger tip on the iron, but other than that, it's a gooxd video.
I agree. In the context it's being used. Pre-tinned means the wires came from the factory already stripped and tinned. (Ie, the motor wires came pre-tinned, so you don't have to tin them.) If you cut and strip a wire, you then tin it. You are tinning them 'pre' soldering, but that's not the same thing as pretinning. Probably arguing semantics though.
I'm sorry but do you guys even listen to your self.... how can you pre-do something. Wires come from factory tinned. Using 'word' pre is just stupid in pretty much any context. I say that again... You can not pre do something... you either do it or not.
We have pre-discussed this issue and put it to bed, but thank you for agreeing with me. With the dozens of amazing quads built and reviewed on this channel, I think the most valid comment I can make at this point is "Thank You and G'day". :)
I have small cheap welder that has adjustable power settings. Can I use it for soldering? It's wire fed, seems like it would be easier than trying to use both hands.
I have used some cheap iron and though they work I destroy the tips.i would recommend if going with a cheap iron get a good name brand tip. It may cost a few dollars more but it will last much longer.
Nathaniel Harter I saw a video where this kid was making tips out of old metal closet hangers. Cost him pennies on the dollar. Seen it on RUclips can’t remember the name.
PLEASE, please more of these. Wow so freakin helpful for this 50 yr old. thx my friend.
FROM the USA
MICHAEL D
This video is almost 3 years old and still EXTREMELY useful! Thank you for this!
I agree, it's over 3 years old now and still relevant. I'm extremely new to fpv and just ordered about 700$ of equipment, and after I'm done learning on the whoop and toothpick I plan on doing my first build. This is perfect information, and a critical area of research fire me while I partake in this endeavor. Thank you so much for this, and all your videos; I wouldn't have been able to fpv properly without them. Thank You!¡
Remembering my first build almost two years ago and trying to solder up my XT60's (FACE PLANT), been there done that. Now, two people that I work with are getting into the hobby and I'm the "Expert" to help with all of their problems, one has never soldered before (Practice, Practice, Practice) and the other is good at soldering but has been having problems getting everything configured (oh the good old days when I was first learning all of this). Great Video Stu, Keep up the FUN!
I have a problem when tinning a wire. I do it the exact way how its shown in this video, but the iron just wont melt when its on the wire. Do you have any suggestions?
thank you, you helped me not ruin a nanodrone PCB. This actually really helped me, I did not know you need to have a clean soldering iron to not mess up everything, because the several year old soldering iron I was using is has never been cleaned. Thank you!
Thank you for this. I'm sure if I read the comments there's going to be people who correct you on your technique or some of the information, but what I love about this video is that you've completely demystified the process. I've always shied away from soldiering but now have full confidence I can give it a go. Thanks again and thanks for your
Thank you Stu. I'm a Functional Test Mechanic on private aviation aircraft and have done a ton of soldering over the years but I'm always open to learning new techniques. I have always struggled with xt-60s but I tried your method and it has worked flawlessly every time. Thank you!
Thanks I appreciate this video. I am one who hates soldering and can find it frustrating at times, every once in a while I need a good refresher course on how its done. The only thing I would suggest is that you remind folks to always look for tiny solder droplets on a board that may have accidentally dripped onto a board. Can be very devastating if goes unnoticed. Just my little tidbits and thank you again.
Some videos, like this one, stand the test of time. I just came across this today, and found it extremely helpful. Thank you.
Great vid as always, Stew. One thing that might be worth mentioning.... some motor wires have an enamel coating on them, which isn't removed when you strip the outer layer of insulation. Most of the time, the enamel coating is clear, so it's very difficult to see it. If you are having a hard time tinning motor wires, it is most likely due to the enamel coating. There are various ways to remove it. Some guys scrape it off with an exacto blade, other guys get a big glob of solder on the tip of the soldering iron and melt it off. I prefer to melt it off, but sometimes the coating used is very temperature resistant, and will require scraping.
It seems that enamel coated motor wires are more common on the smaller motors. I also use a flux pen to put a bit of liquid flux on both pieces to be soldered, but that's just me. :)
Really enjoy your channel, Stew, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.
You've come a long way! Thanks RUclips and people like you who genuinely are good people who enjoy helping others
This is exactly what I needed. If there's one thing that's been terrifying me since getting into this recently, it's soldering. Cheers!
Man, what a huge help. I know its a few years late, but you've been a huge help on my journey. Thank you for doing what you do, I appreciate it!
Thankyou so much. This has been a huge step for me. I started today. I am really greatful for your thoughtful videos. All of builds and tips are so relevant and I shall be forever greatful. Thankyou.
Richard Lothian
Watching in 2020. Got
My first fpv quad and preparing for inevitable crash repair.
excellent video.I'm a noob to quadcopting & I just ordered my first brushless so I know it's a must I learn to solder. Thanks!
Nice quick tutorial, thanks for setting this up. You pointed out some things I learned from trial and error, haha.
Hi Stuart this video is terrific; you nailed the target market :) I just bought a solder today, needed quad specific soldering tips, and this delivered. Thanks.
This should be required viewing for anyone just getting into the hobby. I like to put a little extra flux on the solder too. Some say you don't need it since most solder has a flux core but i still find it helps the solder flow better.
ha thanks for the feedback.
Am I the only one watching this not having a quat yet and not knowing when or witch one are you getting, but just preparing to jump into it?
i am also but decided to build. i simply cant get to grips with soldering.
I am just ordering all my parts now to do my first build and first race quad. I am a plumber and I know how to solder but it does help to watch and learn again. Wire and pipe soldering are a bit different.
I fly micro quads that were pre-build right now, but just got done ordering a full parts list for my first 5" that I will be doing from scratch. Should be interesting!
Nope, it's pretty much the same deal. Rough up the parts with emery cloth or a wire brush to get some tooth on the board pads. Paint flux all over the area you're going to solder (both parts) then use a map gas or propane torch and hold the flame on the quad. Just like plumbing, you don't want to make the mistake of trying to heat up the corner of the quad arm. When it gets up to temp, push in a fair amount of 3/32 lead free solder until you see it flow. Let it cool a little, then wipe clean with a wet rag. You might melt the sheathing on the cable or singe the boards but no worries, that joint will be solid brother! The next step is mounting the props. Grab a 10 to 12 oz. ball peen hammer and some vice grips for reefing on those nuts. When you're all done, make sure you have a quality AM/FM radio. Tune it to your favorite channel and you're good to go. When I finished mine I could throw it at least a 20'! After you get really good you can start throwing it off of cliffs. They go a lot further. When you get really good at going the distance then you should step up to FPV. You'll need to buy a camcorder, a VCR or Beta deck, tapes and some big rubber bands or duct tape to mount the camcorder to your head. It's an investment, no doubt, but super fun!!
It's an over complicated hobby too many transmitters and receiver options it's not even funny I hate that side of it buy rtf but a good rtf with a decent transmitter look for the stuff that comes with the flysky i6 it's so much more less hassle
This sponge looks like a piece of toast
lol I went back and checked. Now I cant un-see toast haha
Waiting for the vegimite to be spread on... Now I am distracted. Still a great video!
That's actually what I thought it was until he said sponge.
UAVfutures
I hope you dont do some saudering while getting you some breakfast toast. Mistakes will be made.
At least there's no jam... ;)
I've watched a lot of these types of videos and I found this one to be very useful. Thanks!!
Thanks stew, you got rid of my fears of soldering
The only issue I had was that maxing out the heat is not always a good idea at all. For your iron (and admittedly many others) it's totally fine, but for certain irons that would definitely cause damage to any board, most iron tips, and would actually cause a worse joint. The best way to tell if your iron is the right temp is to tin it with flux-core solder - if it's the right temp it'll take a bit (I think around 5-10 seconds) before the flux starts smoking away; if it doesn't smoke at that point not hot enough if it immediately smokes a ton too hot.
Great video though! Definitely useful for beginners.
Great beginners video. No blowing on the hot solder joint though as this can lead to a fracture and a cold joint. Blowing the flux fumes out of your face is a good idea and using a 50mm computer fan blowing across your worksite aids in this. Keep up the great work, very interesting as usual. Dave
thanks Dave. Yeah I really do need a fan.
Thanks for the instructional. I haven’t soldered before and have blown a motor on my babyhawk so this video certainly is going to help me 👍🏼
Awesome guide, wish I saw this.
But no I had to find out the hard way.
Especially your hint at 4.31 is a lot of help.
I dripped some on 1 of the ESC and smoke came out.
Thanks stew, Been doing this all wrong on some other solder attempts , great news, be doing my first build because of this vid, THANKS
thanks so much. soldered my vtx camera to my whoop. first time ever soldering. it was no prob thanks to ur video.
the best solder video of all time!!!! thank you so much stew!!! God my soldering iron was so dirty😭
Hi Stew, hope you read this: I was watching (again) the 99 dollar drone built and came here to watch this... and I strongly suggest you make a air extrator for the soldering fumes (smoke)... they are very toxic... and you make a lot of soldering, so...
A cpu fan and a large hose should do it without making noise to the mic.
happy flying
tell you what, i've been soldering for years but the blu tak has changed my life.
Same here
XT-60 connector in gum - nice hack :) And it definitely can melt. I melted contacts out of one XT-60 connector on 350 degrees Celcius by keeping them hot too long.
Great video Stew I have never soldered before, I actually think I might be able to do this. Thanks for sharing this video mate.
Great video. Quick, efficient, simple no fancy or expensive tools.
Hey stew! nice video as always and surely pretty helpful for those that have never soldered before! Guys like you make the start with the hobby much easier! Keep on doin your vids, really like it! ;)
As an additional tip for soldering the xt60s - put the male and female part of the xt60 together before putting heat on it. This will prevent the metal pieces from moving around when the plastic gets too hot (for example when your soldering iron is not powerful enough and you have to put it on there for a longer time...)
Greets from germany
awesome tip,
Thanks to you're the man your videos have really helped me while I have took this step into the Journey of fpv racing. Any questions I have I just refer to your RUclips channel and you have all my questions answered I really appreciate you man keep up the good work looking forward to seeing new videos. Keep ripping those drones
Thanks for doing the video mate. I have built my quad already but this will help for my next one.
Best of luck with your next build
Used the blu tac trick from this video to solder a tiny whoop with no previous soldering experience. Cant tell if it flys yet cos my transmitter is in the post, but it gets picked up by betaflight and the FPV video feed works so fingers crossed on that one :) thanks a bunch
Its probably here somewhere already, but for people having a problem with XT60s deforming when heated, plug a male and female end together before soldering, and they'll hold each other aligned.
Awesome vid the best one on soldering in my opinion and the most useful and I agree with MrA the sponge does look like a slice of toast
YEP, just a bit pink
i use a solder sucker for pins and braid for cleaning pads. not essential but helps for a nice clean job.
0:30 relatable moments...............
Love the blu tack idea.
Hey Stewart, I'm getting pretty confident about my knowledge on the hardware side of things, but I was wondering if you can make a beginners guide to stuff like bl heli, clean flight, or tuning? A video like that would be very helpful :)
sure, It is just getting time. It is hard at the moment between work, reviews and builds videos
I want to mention first of all that I love uavfuture's videos! Joshua Bardwell already has made some excellent videos on those 3 topics you mentioned. Check him out!
UAVfutures OK I understand :)
EmDoubleA I will thanks ;)
Just a warning. If you going to use that "Sticky Tac" putty, Do NOT use it for any PCB boards that require a lot of soldering. The heat will make the putty soften to a point where it sticks all over creating a mess or worse, get into a spot where you need to make a connection. You'll be left with some nasty residue and might ruin the PCB. You might as well put an investment into some helping arms than ruin something more expensive.
on thing on soldering irons: for hefty connectors or even large ground and power traces you need quite some power. soldering a battery connector with a 30W iron is a huge pain, with 80W it's a breeze, but it will easily toast thin traces off a PCB, if you heat is just a second too long.
Power of soldering iron is of little importance, high capacity low power soldering iron will do same job as high power soldering iron for couple joints (it will bad job for high volume soldering).
Power of soldering iron will never toast or lift even tiniest traces, high temperature will (which have noting to do with power of soldering iron).
For most my work I use 90W iron and never lift any trace even 0.5mm width traces.
Also ever since i discovered your channel I have almost been watching all your videos non-stop because they are so entertaining and helpful and since your almost to 10k subscribers a good giveaway item can be one atom v2 ready to fly accept u need to put your own receiver,camera, and VTX just a suggestion
lol you want me to give away my atom v2 ....that is like giving away your child
No I meant u make another one just like the one you have but I believe you giving away the most fun quad you own is like giving away your child.Funny
THIS IS AWESOME!! YOU ROCK!!! (Seriously, nice work dude, killer video!)
Very nice video. But some advice from experience my side: please buy a proper stripper before you hurt something/self. It is a lot more consistent and not damaging the wires. I've almost clipped some wires of using that method. With smaller solid core wires, they tend break at the strip point that way. If i really have to (wire too thin, like servo leads), i will use a small knife, not clippers. You did convince me to heat up my iron a bit more ;)
Man I agree. I asked my wife for some for chirstmas...Still waiting....
and a great video! Many have never had much experience with soldering....
Love all this info for needs! Thank you!👍👍👍👍👍🏻🥇
Thank you for this, just what I've been looking for!
A huge help thank you for the tutorial!
Great video! What is the wattage of your soldering iron? Is there a minimum wattage I should look for in an iron?
I think it is either 40 or 80w. Either way I just crank it to max
Thank you so much =) As a soldering beginner it was sooo helpfull !
Keep up the good work :)
my pleasure
Great video, I never thought of using blue tack/ticky-tack. I have one question about soldering a motor directly to your ESC. How do you know the order of the wires? I like having bullet connectors in between the two just in case the motor spins the wrong way. Then I can just swap any two wires and the motor will spin the correct direction. Of course, bullet connectors do add weight and can be a point of failure...
now days 99% of the escs allow you to reverse the direction by plugging int he usb to the connected FC.
Thanks for helping me out great video from a great Aussie. Aussie Aussie Aussie
oi oi oi
Hi, Stu', I've been watching for a couple of months, and love your work. I have mostly been working with toy and camera quads for the last seven months, and I am just starting my first build now. I noticed that you mentioned that you "have" to solder motors directly to ESCs. Is this necessary? Can you not use connectors or join wires between the ESC and the motor? If not, why not?
great video
keep up the good work !
will do
Ur a champ stew, awesome video m8
today... i learnt, i cannot solder. this hobby has just been put on hold
Even after watching all your 5326425 videos......i still have to giggle after every intro......cant help it :)
Great video! Wish I watched this sooner! Thnx!
I like your simple tricks, thank you
That is perfect! Exactly what people need. Thanks a lot!
Did you see that little mini owl up there in the background?
You know, it took me a while to find it. Now I can see it, I guess it is just too small - lol
Flex RC hoot mini hoot
Thanks man It was perfect Know I can get to My jobs
Turn your wire cutter round so that the beveled faces of the cutter are away from you, works much better. Money spent on quality tools is money never wasted mate, and these jobs become a whole lot easier. Honest! Also I would suggest once you have stripped your wire twist the stands back together with your fingers. I'm good at the building but totally suck at the flying!! REALLY!!! Anyway fantastic videos! :-)
My soldering is absolutely horrible. Coming from rc trucks it wasn't too much of a problem but now it is. I'm using a Weller 60watt with conical tips. And it's like it doesn't get hot enough after a couple joints. The solder has a hard time melting and sticking to the item. It will just roll off even though I get the pad so hot it blackens around it. Yes I tin the new tips and keep clean. Any suggestions?
thanks for this, made it much less scary!
What about guides to different motors and other parts that is used in racing?
Thanks for the video-- helped me, my freind. I heard that you use lead solder (I use the cheap China stuff) Also, I have a digital read out, and I-- might be soldering too low temp.-- any ideas, or just go!
crank it up to high, Use good quality solder
Hi. Nice video. Questions.... I landed here as I need to install new motors on my little Hubsan quadcopters. 1. Is a simple Weller 25W like the SP25NKUS a good choice? The wires I need to remove that lead to the motors are very small and so are the pads plus the pads are quite close together. 2. Is 60/40 solder typically used by OEM manufacturers such that I should use 60/40 resin core solder, or is it likely lead free solder was used so I should get some lead free solder to match. Are the two compatible such that if 60/40 was used and I go with lead free it will still bond?
I’m very new to soldering
Thank you for this video!! It helps a lot!
my pleasure
Something I did not know about soldering is that you have to prepare your soldering iron tip. A new tip needs a good coating of solder applied and this layer of solder on the tips needs to be maintained. I messed up so many tips due to this.
The layer of solder on the tip also helps with transferring heat and makes soldering a lot easier.
interesting. that is one plus of having a cheap cheap soldering iron... if t breaks.. well it is easy to replace
Best tip - blu tack - thanks!
No worries
Worth its weight in gold.
Will silly putty work like the clay used in the video to hold things down? I have some silly putty lying around.
Hi,
What is the gum that you use to put all the circuts above?
Thanks.
great vid, thanks again stew!
i would love to try soldering, but i think my hands are too shakey :( . Like the rest of your vids, great tutorial!
Thanks for the great video this will help
great video! very helpful!
on my omnibus f4 pro should i be putting my little signal wires through the holes on flightboard or solder the tiny holes and then apply wire to it without trying to have wire protrude through board instead?
great tips cheers stu
Help wanted
When soldering, the tip should heat the part I want to solder, right? And solder should melt when touching that part, is this correct?
Just making some leads for my charger, and the solder only melts when I touch the iron, not the cable. The cable is hot down it's length
Hey Stu,
Quick question Im planning on my first entry level build/hack. I want to take apart my Hubusan x4 H107C and transfer the bits on to a EACHINE QX90mm frame, and then attach a FPV camera. My quest is I might need to extend the motor wires and Im curious if you would know what size gauge wire to go with on this micro quads? Thanks
honestly any wire is fine, but maybe like 20 gauge or something
So you do not recommend using flux? Also do you think its a good idea to use hot glue when soldering wires to a board to make it stronger?
If you solder your motor directly to the ESC and no bullet connectors - what happens when you have to switch two of the wires to make the motor spin in the reverse direction?
when do we use the slag hammer? : )
Dude even in Australia there is no word such as pretin. It's just tin. You don't preplan something, you just plan it... Same thing. Also you need a little bit bigger tip on the iron, but other than that, it's a gooxd video.
good to know.
i say pretin
I agree. In the context it's being used. Pre-tinned means the wires came from the factory already stripped and tinned. (Ie, the motor wires came pre-tinned, so you don't have to tin them.) If you cut and strip a wire, you then tin it. You are tinning them 'pre' soldering, but that's not the same thing as pretinning. Probably arguing semantics though.
I'm sorry but do you guys even listen to your self.... how can you pre-do something. Wires come from factory tinned. Using 'word' pre is just stupid in pretty much any context. I say that again... You can not pre do something... you either do it or not.
We have pre-discussed this issue and put it to bed, but thank you for agreeing with me. With the dozens of amazing quads built and reviewed on this channel, I think the most valid comment I can make at this point is "Thank You and G'day". :)
I have small cheap welder that has adjustable power settings. Can I use it for soldering? It's wire fed, seems like it would be easier than trying to use both hands.
I have used some cheap iron and though they work I destroy the tips.i would recommend if going with a cheap iron get a good name brand tip. It may cost a few dollars more but it will last much longer.
Nathaniel Harter I saw a video where this kid was making tips out of old metal closet hangers. Cost him pennies on the dollar. Seen it on RUclips can’t remember the name.
Great video!
What wattage soldering iron would you recommend? I am having a really tough time soldering the motors to the ESCs.
Hey Thanks!!! I needed that.
Legend just what i needed!
What was the temperature setting on your iron?
and that's how easy it is!
That was very helpful😎👍