devdvr: Could you make some pictures of your “work”?
I`m using a very cheap ($7) soldering iron, and I have no problems with getting the driver attached to the pill.
It doesnt look that great, but it works.
I wonder what your soldering-job looks like, after it failed.
Just curious to see whats going on.
The way I do it, is just taking a piece of soldering wire, keep it at the place that I want to solder… Touch it with the soldering tip, until it melts…. then push the iron flat so the solder flows nicely into the gap, thats the way I do it…
I dont pre-heat anything, except the soldering-iron.
edit: Im just watching a video on Youtube about soldering, and it seems that my way of doing it, is wrong!….
But at least it does what I want it to do…. connecting the stuff together.
Tin [apply solder] to several points on the driver ground plain [the part at the edge]. Now do the same to the pill so the tinned spots will line up when the driver is placed into the pill. Add a bit of rosin flux to each spot, quickly apply a HOT iron and the two tinned spots should join into a nice smooth joint. Cool the spot, allow the iron to fully reheat then repeat on the next spot.
If you have a driver that doesn’t fit the pill tightly you can use single strand bell wire [20 ga]. Strip the wire, cut into short pieces then “tin” each one and use it to connect the driver to the pill. I’ve wound the wire onto a 18650 cell [or whaterver you have at hand] so when its cut it makes a curved arc. I use 2 or 3 pieces to securely solder the driver in place.
(quickly apply a HOT iron and the two tinned spots should join into a nice smooth joint)
This is where i go wrong. lol
I can never get them to join.
Everything has been tinned and i apply some flux when i go to connect them.
This is why i think my technique is all screwed up
I will still try exactly what you said again though.
I refuse to give up
You will get it and when you do let us know what made it work. Something is missing from the information pool. I file clean(and shape if necessary) the tip, and apply flux to the tip before I plug it in then re-tin when solder melts on the tip. I do this whenever solder does not flow evenly around the entire tip. I also have a two stage high power iron and was surprised to learn that the first stage was high and pressing the trigger fully actually resulted in lower output.
Keep trying. I’ve had the same frustration which is why I use solid copper wire to create a secure bridge between the pill and the driver. In some cases the driver’s - connection ring is rather narrow so you have a gap that solder alone won’t bridge, thats the time for the wire trick. Once you get the gap bridged it only takes a moment to make a good solder joint. If you find you’re applying the iron for more than 2-3 seconds, stop. You’re going to overheat the driver and ruin it [I have].