# Soldering Gun Question



## RC12L3 (Jan 2, 2006)

What tempature do you set your guns to for soldering batteries/motors and also for making battery packs info would be appreciated just picked up an 80 watt gun goes to 850 degrees  


Later,

12L3


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Hopefully you got a soldering "iron" and not a "gun". Just as important (or maybe more) is the size of the tip being used. You can have a 100w, 850deg iron and if the tip is too small the cell will suck the heat right out of the tip.

I use a 60w iron that says it gets to 450 deg but the tip is a 3/8" chisel tip that really holds the heat. I am normally not in contact with the cell more then 4 or 5 seconds... much more then that and you can damage the cell.


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## RC12L3 (Jan 2, 2006)

*hello*

Yeah we need a new tip then because the tip we got is a crappy stock one it comes to a point... lol


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## briano_72 (Jan 21, 2006)

i got a snap on (blue point) gun, with a 1/4 inch chissel type tip, its perfect for batterys, its 1000 deg, and you do have to be quick !! you can get a 1/2 inch tip, its good for 1070 they say !!


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## burbs (Apr 21, 2002)

The best battery building iron ive ever seen or used is a the orange 80 watt weller from a hardware store.. It has a monster tip and gets killer hot..but as hank says you need to be fast and accurate..a good solder connection is ket to a good running pack, and the less heat you apply to the cell the better..

We had one local guy who bought 5 new packs from a local matcher.. the pack ran like crap and got really hot.. he blamed the matcher.. the matcher took the packs back, and when he saw how much solder was on the cells, and under the battery bars he knew right away.. He disassembled the packs took off the exess solder, and rebuilt them.. they worked good as new after that..


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

My favorite for building packs is the weller 4033-S tip. It is only 40 watts, but it has a rated tip temperature of 1100 degrees and a 1/4" chisel tip - perfect size for battery bars. The only complaint I have about these is that they don't last forever - after 2 years, my first one wasn't getting as hot as it used to and I had to replace it. Also, you need a separate handle for it.


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## RC12L3 (Jan 2, 2006)

Ohk....

I have a Radio Shack 80 Watt Digital Readout solder iron and i cannot find a chisel type type anywere......they are tiny tips and wellers and them are too big.....hmmm mwhat to do what to do?


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

The weller 4033-S is not too big. 1/4" chisel tip is the same width ad a Deans battery bar.


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## pepe (Sep 29, 2001)

RC12L3 said:


> Ohk....
> 
> I have a Radio Shack 80 Watt Digital Readout solder iron and i cannot find a chisel type type anywere......they are tiny tips and wellers and them are too big.....hmmm mwhat to do what to do?


 For battery building there's not really a tip that's too big,or do you mean too big for your iron?


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## RC12L3 (Jan 2, 2006)

The width of the cylinder that drops into the iron is really tiny on this one compared to any others and i can't find a tip


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## pepe (Sep 29, 2001)

RC12L3 said:


> The width of the cylinder that drops into the iron is really tiny on this one compared to any others and i can't find a tip


 Yea, that's why you don't go to radio shack and buy a iron,it's not compatible with anything else,I always recommend to go ahead and spend the few extra dollars and buy high quality, name brand tools.I've been in this hobby for 15+ years now and am now just on my second iron.


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## d4man (May 3, 2005)

For building batteries I use this iron ONLY!!

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=123159-273-SPG80L&lpage=none

with one of these:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=123231-273-WPC300

I have never had one problem trying to build a battery with this iron and the Deans Battery Jig. My batteries come out looking like works of art. 

Then for little work like building battery wires with Deans, I use this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062750&cp=&kw=soldering&parentPage=search

I have seen so many guys ruin brand new expensive batteries by trying to build them with a soldering iron that isnt hot enough. If the soldering iron is hot enough, you should be able to melt the battery bar right onto the battery in a couple seconds. Any more than that, youre asking for trouble.


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## Manning (Mar 2, 2004)

The 80 watt Weller is the only way to go for building batteries......The 40 watt model for everything else.


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