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Bill, if you lay the iron on the battery tab, IMHO you are asking for trouble, regardless of the wattage..try melting a drop of solder on the tip of the iron & heat the connection with THAT. If you heat the connection with the solder drop *instead* of the iron tip, as soon as the joint becomes hot enough to accept the solder, the solder wicks into the joint..Yes, a higher wattage iron will shorten the time required for this to happen, but if done properly it's pretty short anyway..Think about it.. a hot sphere of liquid enveloping the connection, or a hard, solid point of contact.. which transfers more heat? Also, if the heat is transferred more efficiently, the local area gets hotter quicker than the surroundings, so the tab gets hot but the plates do not. My $0.02 worth.. On Mon, 14 Feb 2000 22:22:51 -0500, you wrote: >Alright, wait a minute guys. When I said get a bigger soldering iron, I >didn't intend for the user to hold the iron on the terminal until it = turned >freaking red-hot (and consequently fry the batteries). Obviously, if = done >properly, the bigger (higher wattage) iron means that you don't have to = sit >there holding the iron to the terminal for several minutes while it = heats >up. It will reduce the stress factor for the user by making the contact >time shorter. In order to achieve the same temperature on the terminal = for >the solder to bond, the same amount of heat would transfer to the plate >connection inside the cell no matter what the wattage of the iron; = causing >the same amount of "damage" in either case. Just be careful to hold the >iron on the contact *only* long enough to allow the solder to bond. I = guess >my original advice should have been labeled for experienced solderers = only >;-) > >- Bill > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Drew Glasbrenner" <glasbrenner@mi*.co*> >To: "Rich Lesperance" <richl@uf*.ed*> >Cc: <techdiver@aq*.co*>; "Cave listserv" <cavers@cavers.com> >Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 5:51 PM >Subject: Re: soldering light batteries > > >> Rich....Easy on the heat too...too much on the terminals will damage = the >> plate connection inside the cell. Soldering is an art, don't be too = proud >to >> ask someone who is good to do it for you. >> >> Oh yeah...should go without saying...don't use acid core plumbing = solder, >> and be sure to tin the leads before you try to solder them to the >> terminals...most terminals are pretinned. >> >> Drew >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Trey <trey@ne*.co*> >> To: Rich Lesperance <richl@uf*.ed*> >> Cc: techdiver@aq*.co* <techdiver@aq*.co*>; Cave listserv >> <cavers@cavers.com> >> Date: Monday, February 14, 2000 5:19 PM >> Subject: Re: soldering light batteries >> >> >> >tinned and soldered only. >> > >> > >> >Rich Lesperance wrote: >> >> >> >> I wanted to ask opinions on this - >> >> >> >> I just got two new batteries for my AUL spectrum 14 light - the >> >> old batteries were dogs with only about 70 min of burn time. >> >> In getting ready to use these new batts, I discovered that >> >> soldering is a little harder than it looks. Is there any downside = to >> >> using slide-on connectors to the battery terminals? I have the >> >> proper-sized connectors, that are crimped onto the wire, and slide = on >> >> to the battery terminal, and hold firmly, but I have never seen >> >> anyone's cannister lights without soldered connections, so I was >> >> curious if there is a good reason not to. >> >> >> >> Rich L >> >> >> > >> > >> >>
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