Here’s my cart so far…
To attach for charging
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0090VQK7C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m787ybQ7G9A0Z
Is this attached to the E-Switch for an On/Off system?
In route to home now. I’ll post answers in about 30min
I know the Weller soldering iron is good, but i’d still prefer a more flexible solder station for both fine and heavy wire work.
https://www.amazon.com/F2C-862d-Soldering-Station-Accessories/dp/B013DQQ4XO
I have an older model than this, which was $30’ish more, but still working well. Seriously some of the best $ spent on DIY tools in a while.
The interchangeable tips - get an extra set until you know which tips you like. Bigger tips for heavy wire, and smaller for the rest of the time. Some good Kester solder (60/40 .05" is my usual preferred).
The hot air is great for re-work and heat shrink!
Look forward to seeing it built and rolling! GL!
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I recommended a powerful soldering gun for the heavy soldering that you will be doing. Truth is your really need this and a low wattage soldering station for small stuff. If you try to use a low power soldering tool for heavy wire to connectors and the pads on the bms it will take too long to heat up the wire and the pad and the slower you heat it the more the heat spreads where you don’t want it to. Soldering needs to be done quickly while avoiding cold solder joints. I have soldered heavy wire and even soldered 5.5 bullet connectors together. And I have soldered components on circuit boards so small that I had to use a magnifying glass to see what I was doing.( back in the days when we still used transistors) before SMD even before IC’s. So, you really need both if your gonna really get serious about this stuff. Your low wattage iron needs to be thermostatically controlled. A soldering pencil that just plugs straight into the wall will heat out of control and burn its tip. I have found them to be useless.
This is the worlds best tip cleaner: https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Soldering-Cleaner-sponge-needed/dp/B005C789EU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492121410&sr=8-3&keywords=soldering+brass+sponge
Considering that you can use the hot air gun for heavy soldering, That looks like a good option.
I’m really old school so I have a heavy duty gun and a temp controlled pencil. I bought my low temp soldering station something like 30 years ago. It’s not adjustable but it is temp controlled so it doesn’t burn the tip. I probably should get a new one but hey, this one still works.
The little momentary switches are for the battery meter. If you want to unlock it’s extra features, you will have to ad the switch to the circuit board. I did this so that I could have it display voltage instead of percentage. I detailed the modification in my Li-ion build thread.
For the BMS e-switch, you can use any automotive on/off switch.
@AndrewFox That F2C Station looks like a good deal. I imagine you can turn the heat down and use the air gun for shrink tube as well ?
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When you say heavy soldering you mean what? 8 Awg cables can be solded with a normal solder, right?
Man, let’s talk, are you going to use a Bms? Which one? If yes, that Charger is good, If not you will need a charger.
You don’t said nothing about pulleys and belt and motor mount, let us know what are you using. You said at the first time but you changed a lot of things so I’m lost.
Namasaki is a pro in my opinion, so you can trust him, but sometimes you need to go intuition!
What are you missing?
- Enclousure -Something to turn your board On/Off -Remote
Your building is good at the paper, we need to see it on the road!
Even 12ga wires, if you want to have a good quick solder joint you need high power gun. Or else your either gonna have a cold joint or your gonna be heating 2" of wire to solder the end. Soldering bullet connectors requires a lot of heat. The solder pads on the bms require a lot of heat. I used a 260w gun to solder mine and that was difficult enough.
Thank you for the compliment @IsTalo Although, It might not be a good idea to trust ones intuition if they have no experience with this stuff. I trusted my intuition at the first and wasted a lot of money and wound up making a lot of changes. It is however advisable to get multiple opinions not just mine. For example @sl33py made an excellent recommendation for a soldering station that does it all for a very good price.
Exactly - instead of a big iron, plus a small iron - the solder station w/ adjustable temp works really really well.
I’ve soldered 5.5 bullets, 12/10/8awg - as well as small smd stuff. One iron that does it all really well. If you are a professional, maybe you’d get separate ones, but for DIY this thing (mine is similar not exact) kicks butt.
The hot air is genius - when you have it - it’s really helpful for heat shrink and hot-air rework. Even using it to heat up a board before using the iron can be super helpful instead of pounding heat into the board w/ the iron and possibly burning a trace or damaging it.
for bigger wire - my suggestions would be to make sure it’s clean - add flux if you want to wick the solder into the wires, and put a blob of solder on the fatest tip you have to help w/ heat transfer, then feed in your solder.
I don’t do enough wires to justify a solder pot, let alone the harder big wires, but i might keep an eye out for a used one after @longhairedboy mentioned getting one for tinning his wires.
I seriously don’t think you need two irons. Having a nice variable iron and hot air in the solder station seems like the better way to go IMO.
GL!
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The guy at the hobby store solded mine with a normal solder, maybe more powerful than mine, but I wasn’t like the pistol that you listed.
I’ve spent some money on my intuition too, that explains my 4260 motor Haha!
I used to have a 300watt Weller solder gun. I used it to solder Nicad cells together with gold plated bars for my RC race car. This was long ago before Lithium batteries. Talking 1980s Soldering batteries with 300watts made a believer out of me.
Maybe his one was 300W, it was old too!
Hey IsTalo,
The first post should contain the links for my motor mount, pully system and BMS.
I have yet to order an enclosure.
Thanks for the solder station recommendation!
