Z30 Motor wires won't solder. Please help.

[Kepler]

Just got a new Z30 Motor and went to install into my Hurri but for some reason I just couldnt get the solder to stick to the wire. I am not a novice when it comes to soldering and have many years experience with soldering motors, ESC's and even butt soldering batteries. I even have a range of irons with different temp ranges to suit different jobs. But for some reason the wires refused to take solder. I even tried a few different types of solder. Usually the wire comes pre tinned on most motors and I was supprized to find the wire to be bare. It was also quite dark in color rather then a nice bright copper color. I ended up putting so much heat into the wire that insulation melted back an inch and at this point I gave up.

Any tips out ther on how I am going to get this wire tinned so I can solder on the bullet connectors?

[Tom Viper]

Strange, on all my Z-power motors, this has never been a problem. Try to use a small file to get off some of the insulation on the copper wires.

[Happy|Harry]

you could use some fine grade sandpaper and scuff off the enamel insulation, i think this is whats stopping the solder, but i'm surprised they sent out a motor without tinning the leads first?

phil

[mjdee14]

If you haven't ried already, get some flux, clean the wire as best as possible and use plenty of flux...

I had no problem with mine but it did take a lot of heat. i found some Deans solder that is the best stuff I have used in years, but it sounds like you have a different problem if your using a good 50/50 solder.

[bugdozer]

Did you cut the original wires? My Z-power came with the wires already tined and they soldered up perfect. The motor leads are the motor windings extended out of the case and are coated with an enamel coating. If you cut them, you will need to remove the enamel coating from each wire. Some people burn the coating with a small torch and then clean them up but you can easily damage the wire if you get it too hot. You can also sand them but you have to do each wire individually.

[ke6d]

Do what mjdee suggested. RadioShack or Home Depot has it in small amount. I always tin the wires and connectors before soldering them together. Never have any problem.

Dan

[Kepler]

Did you cut the original wires? My Z-power came with the wires already tined and they soldered up perfect. The motor leads are the motor windings extended out of the case and are coated with an enamel coating. If you cut them, you will need to remove the enamel coating from each wire. Some people burn the coating with a small torch and then clean them up but you can easily damage the wire if you get it too hot. You can also sand them but you have to do each wire individually.

No l didnt cut the wire, it came as bare un tinned wire and as suggested looks to have the enamel coating still on it. I will try the suggestions. Thanks for everyones help.

[modelholic]

Second vote for flux and a clean and well tinned iron. I always sand the iron tip back to copper, flux and tin it before any soldering job. I use Fluxite paste and this works very well. Just clean off any remaining flux once the job is done as flux is corrosive. For this I use meths and an old toothbrush.

[Kepler]

Finally got the wires soldered. Ended up being a 2 hour job. Flux did not help and the only way I could finally get the wires tinned was to burn the insulation off then using a wire brush to kind of comb the stands until they were shiny. Was a very fiddly job but finally got there.

Looks like my motor missed the tinning process during final production. My advice is if you receive a motor with bare un tinned wires, send it back and get a replacement. What I went through was far from ideal but unfortunately I reached a point of no return so I had to keep persevering until complete.

[tungym]

What Watt of soldering gun you used? All my Z-powers get soldered in 2 seconds.

80W is hot enough to melt anything .

[Kepler]

I tried a few sized irons including my 80 watt. It had nothing to do with how hot the iron was, it was purely the fact that each wire strand was still insulated and until the insulation was remove (probably 30 strands per wire) it just wasnt going to solder.