Re: [DML] Fuse box replacement

[Nick Kemp <nkemp@xxxxxxxx>]

Andy, Soldering is part art and part science. It is always difficult to 
solder "flying" wires because you can't get a solid contact between the 
iron and the wire and thus you don't get good heat transfer. If you 
could get something to put under the connection so that you can push 
against it while heating up the connection it will heat up faster. Don't 
use metal because it will soak up too much heat. Use something like wood 
or fiberglass sheets (like circuit boards)

Be careful melting the solder on the iron and not on the wire. It can 
result in cold solders. A cold solder will be dull and does not show 
good wicking. I find the best spot with problematic joints is that space 
between the iron and the wire. The wire is often hot enough to take/wick 
the solder for a good connection.

Don't flow too much solder. It makes the wires rigid and the weak point 
becomes the point where there is no solder (not the connection). This is 
especially true for high vibration connections. [It is a problem 
encountered by a few home built airplanes.] For that matter, many 
believe that a good crimp connection without solder is better than a 
good connection with solder.

And ALWAYS use rosin core solder. Many have tried to use plain solder 
(usually plumbing solder) and it will not take without using rosin with 
it. This is true for wiring, circuit boards and plumbing. But I suspect 
you already knew that.

See you at the Orchard.

Nick


soma576 wrote , ----On 8/27/2012 2:52 PM ---------------------------:
>
> Hey all,
>
> 11596 is getting a new fuse box. I've had a few of the critical fuses 
> in jumpers for well over a decade. I always hated messing around in my 
> electrical compartment for fear of knocking something loose and 
> causing Bad Things.
>
> I got the new fuse box kit from DMCMW and a proper barrel crimper. Not 
> only am I crimping everything perfectly but I'm also soldering the 
> connections. Should be trouble-free for a long time.
>
> Anyway the kit is coming along nicely but as you can expect it takes a 
> long time to do right. Took me about 4 hours just to do 7 fuses last 
> night. After crimping and soldering I'm putting 3/4" of heat shrink 
> tubing on the connection.
>
> One thing that baffles me is how long it can take to heat up the 
> connection so the solder will flow. I'm using a 140 watt gun-style 
> iron with flat blade tip. Once the tip is hot I can melt the solder on 
> the tip in less than a second, but it often takes well over a minute 
> to heat up the connector. It might have something to do with "tinning" 
> the tip - once I flowed some solder onto the tip, shook it off, then 
> went right for the connector which took solder in under 3 seconds. 
> Other times it takes what seems like forever.
>
> Anyone have any great tips to make this go faster?
>
> Andy
>
> 




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