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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / May 2004pushrod soldering questions
I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic knowledge of electrical soldering, but have no idea how to solder for mechanical strength. I have a few questions. Will a soldering gun be hot enough for this purpose or do I need to use a propane torch? (the pushrods are 2-56, and I have solder clevise ) Should I use resin core or acid core solder? (the pushrods will be installed inside the fuselage with the receiver, switch and servoes) Is there any special solder that should be used for this purpose? (ie:xx percent lead, xx percent tin) Do I just slide the clevis onto the smooth wire pushrod and solder it in place, or do I need to make a mechanical connection between the pushrod and clevis? If a mechanical connection is required, how do I make it? The assembled pushrods are going into a low wing 40 sized sport model. How do I test the finished pushrods to verify that they are strong enough and won't fail in the model. I would appreciate any answers to these questions, or if someone knows of a website that has instructions for soldering pushrods, please post it's url. Thank You Ken Rosin core solder is fine as long as the steel parts are mechanically cleaned (sanded with fine sandpaper). A heavy soldering iron is fine if it can heat the wire quickly enough. A torch is my second choice since it is much easier to overheat the metal and lose its temper. The clevis should be a snug fit on the wire. The closer the fit, the better the connection. If you clean the connection real well after, there is a product called Sta Brite that works very wel. It is an acid flux and if it gets trapped in the oint it can lead to corrosion. -- Paul McIntosh http://www.rc-bearings.com > I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need > to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thank You > Ken >Will a soldering gun be hot enough Yes. A small soldering iron will probably not work, but a "gun" type will do nicely. I use a 75 watt gun for this work. >Should I use resin core or acid core solder? Use standard resin core electronic/electric solder. >Do I just slide the clevis onto the smooth wire pushrod and solder it in >place, Sand the pushrod with 100 grit sandpaper to roughen it. You can cut a couple of grooves in it with a file, but I haven't found that to be necessary. >How do I > test the finished pushrods If you make a nice, shiny solder joint, it will be fine. I've used this method on competition fun fly models, and giant scale aerobatic models, too. It's easy, strong, and neat. If you want to test, pull on the assembly with two pair of pliers. > instructions for soldering pushrods Sand the pushrod. Wipe everything clean and tin the rod. Assemble the joint and heat by holding the gun at the end of the clevis/rod joint. Apply a little more solder at the end of the clevis. When this flows into the joint, pull the iron away and let it cool. Do not move it until it is completely cooled. I've used this method for many, many years on all types of models, with absolutely no problems at all. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!" >> instructions for soldering pushrods >Sand the pushrod. Wipe everything clean and tin the rod. Assemble the joint >and heat by holding the gun at the end of the clevis/rod joint. Apply a little >more solder at the end of the clevis. When this flows into the joint, pull the >iron away and let it cool. Do not move it until it is completely cooled. I do exactly as above, accept I usually apply a little solder flux to the joint before soldering. As mentioned, when the clevis/rod is properly heated, the solder will wick into the joint, much like sweating a copper pipe. Add enough solder until you just start to see the solder begin to ball up on the other end - then immediately remove the heat. Once cooled, clean the joint thoroughly with alcohol. You should have a bright, shiny "professional looking" solder joint. Try practicing on a few clevises. BTW, I use a standard Weller dual heat gun. Alan Harriman >I've used this method for many, many years on all types of models, with >absolutely no problems at all. > >Dr.1 Driver >"There's a Hun in the sun!" >BTW, I use a standard Weller dual heat gun. I'd love to have one again. My 15 year old one died about a month ago. They've disappeared from stores around here. Where do you find them? Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!" Do a search on Ebay for: 'Weller Soldering.' There be all kinds of irons and guns.... > >BTW, I use a standard Weller dual heat gun. > > I'd love to have one again. My 15 year old one died about a month ago. > They've disappeared from stores around here. Where do you find them? > Dr.1 Driver > "There's a Hun in the sun!" I'll sell ya mine - I haven't used it in about 15 years. I think the best 'all-round' soldering iron is the Weller WTCPN controlled heat station. You can put a small tip in it and do PCB work, then put in a big tip and solder pushrods or small battery cells. It heats in about 60 seconds. If I cannot do the joint with the WTCPN, I have an 80W Weller on an SCR controller to adjust the heat that will handle any other modeling job. David >>BTW, I use a standard Weller dual heat gun. > >I'd love to have one again. My 15 year old one died about a month ago. >They've disappeared from stores around here. Where do you find them? >Dr.1 Driver >"There's a Hun in the sun!" On 5/10/2004 6:53 AM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge: >>Will a soldering gun be hot enough > Yes. A small soldering iron will probably not work, but a "gun" type will do [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >> instructions for soldering pushrods > Sand the pushrod. Wipe everything clean and tin the rod. What "tinning" means, is to heat the piece and put a THIN coat of solder on that piece. Let it cool, then assemble and solder. Tinning assures that there is SOME solder all the way in the joint. Assemble the joint > and heat by holding the gun at the end of the clevis/rod joint. Apply a little > more solder at the end of the clevis. When this flows into the joint, pull the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Dr.1 Driver > "There's a Hun in the sun!" >> instructions for soldering pushrods > > Sand the pushrod. Wipe everything clean and tin the rod. >>What "tinning" means, is to heat the piece and put a THIN coat of >>solder on that piece. Let it cool, then assemble and solder. Tinning >>assures that there is SOME solder all the way in the joint. Absolutely a must if you want a to be sure all surfaces will be joined. After tinning , wipe the rod with a damp paper towel and make sure all the rod has been tinned where you want it. Most all what I read seems to say that all surfaces should be clean as possible. Cold solder joints are not always strong, so beware. Ken -- I prefer a heavy iron and acid core solder -- I wouldn't trust my airplane to a solder joint made with a gun and resin. Start out by sanding and cleaning everything to be soldered with solvent then use your torch to sweat the solder joint; heat the wire so that the solder will melt on contact with it and not by trying to melt the solder with the flame. When done, clean the joint with a slurry of baking soda and water; wash clean and oil lightly to prevent rust.  SignatureCheers -- \__________Lyman Slack_________/ \______AMA6430 IMAA1564___/ \____Flying Gators R/C______/ \__Gainesville FL _________/ > I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need > to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thank You > Ken I can put together a joint with a 40W iron and resin core solder that you will tear the clevis apart and not get the base loose from the wire no matter how hard you try ! ! ! ! ! David >Ken -- > [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] >> Thank You >> Ken Ken, I'm no expert, but the main thing in soldering clevises, landing gear parts, etc. is to make sure your parts are clean! Soldering guns will work nicely. I like the Sta-Brite silver solder sold by Great Planes. It's solid, and you apply the flux to the parts just before you solder. You will have to wash off your soldered parts to keep the left over flux from corroding the metal. Morris STA-BRITE Silver Solder is the only way to go! It is much stronger than regular tin based solder. The liquid acid flux works great. Very little head is needed to get a good solder joint! You don't need to use very much of it. It's the BEST. Regular tin based solder joints I have done have been known to break loose under vibration, etc. The silver solder (STA-BRITE) will never do that! > Ken, I'm no expert, but the main thing in soldering clevises, landing gear > parts, etc. is to make sure your parts are clean! Soldering guns will work [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Morris That's because you did not do the joint correctly. If it vibrated apart, it was a 'cold joint'. David >STA-BRITE Silver Solder is the only way to go! It is much stronger than >regular tin based solder. The liquid acid flux works great. Very little head [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >> >> Morris >That's because you did not do the joint correctly. If it vibrated >apart, it was a 'cold joint'. If you'd care to see a .jpg of a bright, _cracked_ solder joint, I can post one in the binaries group. "cold" solder joints aren't the only solder joints that fail. Ask NASA what they learned about circuit board construction, vis a vis snipping the excess leads off components after soldering versus snipping the leads to the proper length _before_ soldering. Mechanical shock, temperature extremes, and rapid temperature fluctuations can crack ordinary 70/30 and 90/10 solder. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber Nasa has changed their recommendations for trimming leads only in regards to the type of cutter. They used to only specify cutters that do not use shearing actions. Now they recognize both types. -- Paul McIntosh http://www.rc-bearings.com > >That's because you did not do the joint correctly. If it vibrated > >apart, it was a 'cold joint'. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > The House Of Balsa Dust > home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber >Nasa has changed their recommendations for trimming leads only in regards to >the type of cutter. They used to only specify cutters that do not use >shearing actions. Now they recognize both types. The change I was talking about occurred in the mid-60s, when all they had were hand-built discrete component boards and _lots_ of wire wrap posts. They found that a significant number of board failures were installed on the building bench (the same way a lot of models have crashes installed on the bench) because the mechanical shock of trimming the leads after soldering was cracking solder joints. Hence the requirement to trim the components' leads before soldering. Circa '66, or so. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber > >Nasa has changed their recommendations for trimming leads only in regards to > >the type of cutter. They used to only specify cutters that do not use [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > The House Of Balsa Dust > home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber That and the 'guns' put in too much heat and caused tolerances of some electronics change just enough to make guidance packages unreliable. Ken, there's a lot of good tips in this thread... It all boils down to cleanliness, using a flux, and having enought heat to cause the solder to wick into the joint.. One thing that I think deserves mentioning is the type of soldering iron you use... The "pistol-grip" guns such as the old Weller dual-heat guns are fine if you're using them on the bench, away from the model's electronics. But if you're soldering close to receivers and servos, use a "pencil" type iron... The "pistol grip" irons generate a pretty strong magnetic field when used and have been known to demagnetize the magnets in servo motors, and I've been told they can also zap an IC chip... I have a little 20/40W dual heat "pencil" iron (Radio Shack #64-2184).. It was only about $22 and really does a nice job on 2-56 clevises, and has microtips that are perfect for servo wires.... Anything larger gets the torch..... Cheers, Bill > I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need > to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Will a soldering gun be hot enough for this purpose or do I need to use a > propane torch? (the pushrods are 2-56, and I have solder clevise ) I agree. 20-40W pencil type is preferable for me too. The guns sometimes generate too much heat....just cooking the solder out of the joint before you get a good bond. > Ken, there's a lot of good tips in this thread... > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Will a soldering gun be hot enough for this purpose or do I need to use a > > propane torch? (the pushrods are 2-56, and I have solder clevise ) Soldering guns usually cannot transfer enough heat rapidly to make good joints. David >I agree. 20-40W pencil type is preferable for me too. The guns sometimes >generate too much heat....just cooking the solder out of the joint before [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] >a >> > propane torch? (the pushrods are 2-56, and I have solder clevise ) >Soldering guns usually cannot transfer enough heat rapidly to make >good joints. A 2-speed Weller 8200 can. 100/140 watts in six seconds. Seems pretty fast, to me. If that's not enough heat fast enough, one can always step up to a D550 or a D650. You can _silver solder_ with those guns, never mind make good joints with 70/30 or 90/10. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber Before making this comment, I looked up the Weller 8200. The key to making a good solder joint is having a "good heat reservoir" to heat the work. Granted, the 8200 has the triangular chunk at the tip, but it still has that long loop to dissapate heat. An analogy is - heat a cup of water rapidly to boiling and hope it stores enough heat to cook the egg. I gaurantee that my slower heated to boiling quart of water will come much closer to cooking that egg. David >>Soldering guns usually cannot transfer enough heat rapidly to make >>good joints. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >The House Of Balsa Dust >home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber >Before making this comment, I looked up the Weller 8200. The key to >making a good solder joint is having a "good heat reservoir" to heat [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >stores enough heat to cook the egg. I gaurantee that my slower heated >to boiling quart of water will come much closer to cooking that egg. Your analogy is technobabble nonsense. Your mathematical acumen is a bit lacking, as well. 80 watts does not equal 140 watts, at least not in this physical universe. One does not heat metal to be soldered until it reaches a specific temperature, remove the heat, and apply the solder. Won't work. One heats metal to be soldered until it reaches a specific temperature (liquidus of 375 F for 60/40 tin-lead solder)) and then one applies the filler _while maintaining the application of heat_ until the filler flows and the joint is filled. Do yourself a favor. See the soldering/brazing chart at http://www.jwharris.com/jwref/chart/ Note the several SOLDERING products listed for joining steel or stainless steel to steel or stainless steel, namely Stay-Brite 8, Safety-Silv 40, 45, 45T, and 56. Those are NOT welding products, they are silver solder SOLDERING products. If three different people tell you that you've got it wrong, chances are better than even at least one of 'em might be right. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber Ken, You don't need a lot of heat. I use a 40 watt pencil by Weller. The trick is use "Sta-Brite silver solder.' It is very strong, requires little heat and comes with it's own flux. Clean the parts before you solder and it is very important to get all the flux off afterwards, or the parts will rust. But make sure that you use the flux. The flux is the key. > I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need > to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thank You > Ken PMFJI, folks. If you're going to use Sta-Brite (I use it all the time and recommend it highly) and its flux, do yourself a big favor when the joint has cooled: make up a thin mixture of baking soda and water, put the _cool_ soldered joint in the mixture, and let it sit until the bubbling stops. The baking soda will neutralize the acidic nature of the flux. If a mainly liquid mixture isn't practical or if you can't put the joint into it, make the mixture more like a thin paste and brush some on the joint. Let it sit until you can't see any bubbling, wipe off, then do again. The idea is to let the acid react with the base of the baking soda until bubbling stops...and having a "liquid" mixture helps you to see the bubbles. If the acid flux isn't neutralized, corrosion can and probably will occur, leading to eventual problems. John P. >I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need >to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic >knowledge of electrical soldering, but have no idea how to solder for >mechanical strength. I have a few questions. The only thing not mentioned in other responses is that some push-rod stock seems to have a coating of some sort - it looks a bit like zinc (galvanized) to me (but I doubt that's what it really is). If you're working with that sort of rod, sand the thing until you see base metal. Trying to get solder to flow onto that 'mystery coating' is an exercise in getting pissed. Otherwise, a spritz of denatured alcohol is about all the cleaning you normally need. Sanding doesn't hurt, but it's not routinely necessary. I've been making up mechanical solder joints for model airplanes for over two decades with rosin core solder because that's what I had on hand. I've been making up silver soldered refrigeration joints for a lot longer than I'm going to fess up to, and I rarely ever need flux at work. Ditto for hobby soldering. In many cases flux just gets in the way and has been known to mask a flawed solder joint. The only reason I've got lead solder in the building shop now is that I finally ran out of rosin solder, and I won't use the lead-free crap unless I'm working on a potable water system. Sho 'nuff lead solder can still be had, but not at The BORG - you have to sniff out a welding supply house if you want the good stuff, which IMHO is _way_ better than rosin solder for mechanical joints. I wouldn't waste the time trying to silver solder 2-56 rods - takes too much heat. 4-40 is about the smallest thing I ever use silver on. Forget silver solder until you're ready to tangle with home-brewed landing gear. BTW - if the clevis is a sloppy fit on the rod, crimp it first, then solder. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber If you sand down to bare steel, ya ain't gonna get solder to stick, no matter what. Steel must be welded or brazed. That's why that black finished crap pushrod material is a pain in the butt. David >>I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need >>to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] >The House Of Balsa Dust >home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber >If you sand down to bare steel, ya ain't gonna get solder to stick, no >matter what. Steel must be welded or brazed. That's why that black >finished crap pushrod material is a pain in the butt. Nonsense. Check out "Models On The Bench" on my web site (only one model under construction at the moment - a 1/3 scale L-4). Peruse the photo album "Functional L-4 Landing Gear". Nota bene that except for the small brass bearing tubes where various fixing and pivot bolts go, the landing gear is all _steel_ and that various sub-assemblies are either silver soldered or are SOFT SOLDERED. I used J.W. Harris 15% Safety-Silv, J.W. Harris solid wire _lead solder_, and a MAPP torch. Soft solder will most assuredly "stick" to bare steel, but not at soldering iron temperatures. Nowhere near enough heat. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber > Soft solder will most assuredly "stick" to bare steel, but not at > soldering iron temperatures. Nowhere near enough heat. I have soldered some large steel rod landing gear together and I noticed that sanding the spots to be soldered real bright and using a torch and flux did the job. But what made it adhere faster was rubbing the heated solder /flux area on the steel rod with a piece of wood. I think it was spruce or pine. Crazy I know but it worked. Moderate pressure. >I have soldered some large steel rod landing gear together and I noticed >that sanding the spots to be soldered real bright and using a torch and >flux did the job. But what made it adhere faster was rubbing the heated >solder /flux area on the steel rod with a piece of wood. I think it was >spruce or pine. Crazy I know but it worked. Moderate pressure. Next time try steel wool, or even better, a stainless scouring pad. The mechanical scrubbing action chases away stuff the flux didn't quite deal with on it's own. Sorta like the rocket scientist doing hearing research with frogs . . . . Put a frog on the table, smacked the table with a 2 x 4, frog jumped. Cut off one of the frog's legs. Put the frog back on the table, smacked the table with a 2 x 4, frog jumped but the landing was a bit off. Cut off another leg. Put the frog back on the table, smacked the table with a 2 x 4, frog jumped, but the landing is pretty ugly. Cut a third leg off the frog. Put the frog back on the table, smacked the table with a 2 x 4, frog still managed to jump but both the take-off and landing were truly lousy. Cut off the frog's last leg. Put the leg-less frog on the table, smacked the table with a 2 x 4, frog didn't move at all. Concluded that frogs go deaf when you cut their legs off. It wasn't the wood, but don't tell anybody. Let 'em think you've found a secret wood-assisted soldering technique. Tell 'em you used lignum vitae . . . they'll go nutz trying to find the stuff. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber Steel is easy to solder if you use the correct materials and techniques. Most of those have been written about here already. -- Paul McIntosh http://www.rc-bearings.com > If you sand down to bare steel, ya ain't gonna get solder to stick, no > matter what. Steel must be welded or brazed. That's why that black [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > >The House Of Balsa Dust > >home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber >If you sand down to bare steel, ya ain't gonna get solder to stick, no >matter what. Crap. Bare metal is just what you need to make a good solder joint. Just what do you think a 2-56 rod is made of? Ah...STEEL! What do you think electrical wire is made of when it's not copper or aluminum? Ah...STEEL! When you solder a washer or nut to a metal bracket for your strut attachment, what do you think they are made of? Ah...STEEL! Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!" It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! David >>If you sand down to bare steel, ya ain't gonna get solder to stick, no >>matter what. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >Dr.1 Driver >"There's a Hun in the sun!" The pushrod I been using aren't nickel plated and they soldered just fine. SignatureHugs are great gifts, one size fits all. Have you hugged a loved one today? Vance > It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Dr.1 Driver > >"There's a Hun in the sun!" Good grief! Never read such bickering over a seemingly simple subject. Guess not many of you used music wire to make takeoff dollies for U/C speed models? Don't care what you purists call the process, but I know my ancient 200 Watt American Beauty soldering iron used to "join" pieces of music wire that had been cleaned, then wrapped with copper wire prior to heating the flux-coated wire joint and applying acid core solder sure bonded together and took a heck of a lot of abuse. And I didn't even get a PhD in welding! BTW, my Dad first got that iron for me from war surplus in 1946 and it's still going strong! Cheers -- \__________Lyman Slack_________/ \______AMA6430 IMAA1564___/ \____Flying Gators R/C______/ \__Gainesville FL _________/ Visit my Web Site at: http://www.LymanSlack.com >Guess >not many of you used music wire to make takeoff dollies for U/C speed >models? Nope, but SOLDERED many a music wire slot car chassis back in the late '60s. A 100/140 Weller gun will apply a LOT of heat. Your 200 watter Shoney's Big Boy will do it to it, too. :) Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!" I still wish I had the soldering iron that I could shove in the coal furnace when I wanted to make a good solder joint on something large. > Good grief! > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > \__Gainesville FL _________/ > Visit my Web Site at: http://www.LymanSlack.com I reckon you have the right idea there Jim - I picked up a couple of those from a junk shop (about $1 each or so) and they are so handy for any of the big jobs for which you wouldn't want to have to buy a 100w electric iron. BTW for that guy who reckons you cannot solder to steel, just ask any of the old time radio guys (like me) who made their own radio chassis and soldered earth lugs etc to them. The advice to use a corrosive flux worries me some. While that is OK where you are soldering bits together than can be washed clean, corrosive residue trapped inside the end tubular bit might be a source of trouble after a while - if you do want to use then I suggest you tin the wire and the end fixture - wash them clean - then sweat them together. David > I still wish I had the soldering iron that I could shove in the coal > furnace when I wanted to make a good solder joint on something large. >It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! Do you mean NICKEL plated steel? Leave it out in the rain and see how plated it is. I've never had any problems getting solder to stick, after lightly roughening the area with fine sandpaper or steel wool. 60/40 rosin core electrical solder is what I use. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!" I use regular threaded on the end rods made from steel, not the rolled thread nickel plated rods you buy at the hobby shop. > >It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Dr.1 Driver > "There's a Hun in the sun!" >It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! More metallurgical nonsense. Nickel plated steel is far too expensive for hobby uses. Even stainless is less expensive. If you think you cannot solder steel, you're gonna have a real hissy fit when you find out folks been soldering _aluminum_ for a couple of decades now. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber How do you know this? I would bet that they are cadmium or zinc plates as nickel plating is far more expensive and would flake off if you bent the wire into a Z bend. -- Paul McIntosh http://www.rc-bearings.com > It is all NICKLE PLATED STEEL ! > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Dr.1 Driver > >"There's a Hun in the sun!" >I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods need >to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Will a soldering gun be hot enough for this purpose or do I need to use a >propane torch? (the pushrods are 2-56, and I have solder clevise ) I use my Master Appliance UT-100 butane iron, but any good iron or gun over 45 watts will do the job. I use normal electrical 60/40 rosin core solder, and actually treat the connection like an electrical connection. The music wire pushrods are coated and oily... they will not take solder as they are. I clean them up with emery paper... 400 grit sandpaper will work though. After that, I slip the clevis on and give it a crimp with my Kleins (only to be sure it doesn't move while soldering). Like an electrical connection, heat one side and feed the solder in through the other. I like to put the tip of the iron on the wire, against the edge of the clevis, and feed the solder in through the end that attaches to the control horn. I haven't had a failure in 15 years. --- Rich http://richlockyer.tripod.com/ >After that, I slip the clevis on and give it a crimp with my Kleins >(only to be sure it doesn't move while soldering). A fine tool. Had one in constant use at work for almost a decade now, and it's just as tight as the day I got it. 'nother trick where the Klein comes in handy . . . making up cables. Slide the wire through a high temperature electrical butt-splice connector (the thick-walled variety), then through the eye-bolt or whatever, and loop it back through the butt-splice twice. Crimp once, solder, and bump it on the wire wheel a couple of times. Makes a pretty joint that can only be cut apart. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. All of my questions have been answered, I will check my local hobby shop for the STA-BRIGHT solder tonight, if they don't have it in stock I will use acid core. I will try the baking soda bath to neutralize the remaining acids. I expecially want to thank Bill Fulmer for his comment about the electromagnetic fields generated by soldering guns. My building area is this desk, the one my computer sits on. I think I will do the soldering in the garage somewhere. Thank you all Ken Barnes >I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. All of my questions have been >answered, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >desk, the one my computer sits on. I think I will do the soldering in the >garage somewhere. LOL! I've known more than one inexperienced guitar tech who has ruined $150 pickups by using a gun to solder them into the guitar's wiring. Guns make GREAT degaussing coils :) --- Rich http://richlockyer.tripod.com/ >A fine tool. > >Had one in constant use at work for almost a decade now, and it's just >as tight as the day I got it. My buddy put mine down in the bottom of his inflatable boat... in a puddle of salt water! I didn't notice and he put them back in my tool belt. The next morning, they were bright red and would not MOVE. I put two drops of Mobil-1 5w-30 on the pivot, and 10 minutes later they were as good as new (movement wise, I still had to clean the rust). --- Rich http://richlockyer.tripod.com/ >I need to make a couple of pushrods for a wing mounted servo. The pushrods >need >to have a clevis soldered on one (non threaded) end. I have a very basic >knowledge of electrical soldering, but have no idea how to solder for >mechanical strength. I have a few questions. Been gone for a while and I ain't gonna' read 47 replies to solder a clevis!!! While a Z-Bend on the non-threaded end would be the easiest for a .40 machine, I will give you a rapid recipe for soldering RC non-electric stuff. Pick up some Sta-Brite silver solder at the Hardware store or it is sold under the Great Planes name at the Hobby Shop. Your choice. Use your regular solder gun. First clean the joint with a touch of fine sandpaper of your choice. Warm up the joint a bit and place a couple drops of the supplied liquid flux on the joint. The flux makes the S-B run very well when it gets hot. If you get the joint hot and use adequate flux for the solder to run and look really silvery it will be well strong enough for any toy airplane joint. Clean the soldered joint with rubbing alcohol and an old tooth brush. Works fine. |
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