----- Original Message -----

From: Keith OConnor

To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 9:47 PM

Subject: Re: [NZMAA-News] Weasel Fest

 

Thanks for spreading the word Pete. I don't see what's holding us back from a Summer breeze powered slope fest, apart from me; my weasel is suffering cosmetic damage and a bit of structural, so I hope to find a roll of covering film under a tree soon but no need to worry it'll be a quick fix.

We can have an official Fest early next year though... Closer to the time I will release more details here, so if anyone is in the neighbourhood why not just drop by, no need for a weasel this time round it'll be great to just have a few more targets in the sky!

If anyone knows more good locations in Southland for slope soaring I'll also be happy to know.

Keith

---

From: HOKONUI ALPINES <hokpines@actrix.gen.nz>
To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 21 November, 2009 9:57:48 AM
Subject: Re: [NZMAA-News] Weasel Fest

One of our youngsters, you know the type. They have the internet wired to
their brain, saw this site in America for an injection moulded flying wing
slopey kit that was going to take the world by storm. There were to be
"Weasel Fests" the world over and Keith, our youngster was going to organise
the southern most Fest.
  We bought 6 kits at $160 each and in the fullness of time have built and
flown these. They are excellent little planes. Of course a lot of the
unwashed weren't prepared to fork out the cash so I designed (copied) a
clone called the Stoat in blue foam that flies OK but not as well as the
prototype..... Fresh meat.
  I will forward an earlier e-mail with further details    Pete Salmond



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Tony.

Thanks, That's a useful offer and a pretty reasonable price.

However, the inveterate DIYer probably won't change, you can't keep your DIY
badge if you
get somebody else to do it !  ;>)

Rgds,

Barry



On 8 Dec 2009 at 10:18, Titan Energy Ltd wrote:

>
>
> Ah...just throw all you DIY´s an alternate that:
>
> Uses your own cells
> Uses your supplied lead
> Creates any desired shape with any number of cells
> Is resistant to the vibration
>
> Titan Energy Ltd will commercially weld your own cells and lead in the pack
shape desired and
> wrap the battery pack in clear or white heatshrink.
>
> 1 to 7 cells = $10
> 8 + = $15
>
> Merry Xmas
> Tony Chadderton-Smith
> www.titanenergy.co.nz
>
>
>

I'm looking for a replacement fuse for my Briggs 2m Extra. Not
necessarily new, as long is it has some life left in it.

Dave

--------
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This message and any attachments contain privileged and confidential
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----- Original Message -----
From: "FAI Secretariat" <info@...>
To: <fai-news@...>
Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 6:00 AM
Subject: [fai-news] NEW FAI SECRETARY GENERAL- STEPHANE DESPREZ


PRESS RELEASE - IMMEDIATE!

Stéphane Desprez, former Competition Director of the 2008 Rugby World
Cup in France, has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the
FAI – the World Air Sports Federation. He will formally take up his
appointment in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 1st February 2010.

For full details, please see:

<http://www.fai.org/node/747>


FAI is the international federation for all forms of air-borne sporting
activities - Ballooning, Aeroplanes, Gliding, Aeromodelling,
Parachuting, Aerobatics, Rotorcraft, Microlights & Paramotors, Hang
Gliding & Paragliding, and Astronautic Records.


Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Avenue Mon-Repos 24
1005 Lausanne
Switzerland

Tel +41 (0)21 345 1070

I think there's a bit of confusion over the failure mode of solder.

There's no end of industry literature that shows solder is actually highly
resistant to vibration.
For quite a while I was involved with HALT and HASS testing of military and
civil aerospace
systems and IT systems. HALT subjects the unit under test to quite dramatic
temperature
changes and very high vibration levels to explore the ultimate failure limits.
It's known in the
reliability test industry as "shaking and baking"

It is very rare indeed to see solder joints fail during HALT. Many other bad
things happen,
electrolytic caps get torn apart, plastic parts can split, heavy components like
transformers
get ripped off the board and crystals stop oscillating.

There's also a good explanation of all this in "Accelerated Reliability
Engineering" by Dr GK
Hobbs in Chap 7,  "The Physics of Failure"

Solder does have one weakness however, it creeps badly under a constant load.
It's also
very predictable, so much so that this "weakness" was used in the L delay time
pencil
developed by SOE during WW2 for sabotage ops.  The cunning IRA also used a crude
home-made version until they discovered that old favourite, the 555 timer chip.

The real problem in R/C is soldering multistrand wire to a terminal or battery. 
The solder
wicks up the wire, about 2-5mm and basically converts the multistrand wire to a
single
strand version. This junction is prone to break, by fatigue, if continually
flexed. The solution
is to anchor down that junction, by tape, or glue or something, so that flexing
takes place
only in the multistrand section.

Old time modellers will remember the good advice in "Grid Leaks" and
"Aeromodeller" to
bind up such joints with cotton thread and Evostik. Nowadays we might use
hot-melt and
heat-shrink tube, but the fundamentals are unchanged!

Regards,

Barry Lennox





On 7 Dec 2009 at 9:55, Mike Andrews wrote:

>
>  Well just when you thought thatyou hadall the info that you would ever want
on soldering-
> heres a bit more.
> Solder iscalled soft solder because it's soft, sowhen you mount the battery in
your plane it's
> important to support thesolder jointin a way thatstops vibrationdegrading it.
Usually this means
> binding thejoint tightly to the battery in such a way thatthe joint and
anywire that has solder in
> the strands is not subject to vibration stresses.
>
> Mike Andrews
>
>
>
>

Yes, my bad (I hate that saying)... for some reason my brain put W&D into WD40.

Duh!






----- Original Message ----
From: "barrylennox@..." <barrylennox@...>

Note, Bruce did not appear to read my email, I do NOT use WD40, but alcohol (IPA
to be
exact)  Alcohol and WD40 are utterly different beasts!

Dave, and all.

I have soldered many cells with and (some) without flux, and it does make a very
useful
difference. I don't have much left, but know where I can get more (I think)  I
could be
persuaded to bring some to the Nats, if there's any demand. You need very
little, about 5mL
will do hundreds of cells.

Note, Bruce did not appear to read my email, I do NOT use WD40, but alcohol (IPA
to be
exact)  Alcohol and WD40 are utterly different beasts!

Another important thing I always do, is leave 1-2 cm of bare wire at the
negative terminal,
and arrange things so that I can view this, either by leaving it exposed, or
covering it with
clear heat-shrink. Then a routine inspection, maybe every 3-4-5 months will
reliably detect
the early onset of the dreaded black-wire corrosion.

Marks' suggestion of practicing on old cells is an excellent idea.

Of course, if one wants to really get into this, they can develop their own spot
welder, as
Gordon suggests. This is very easy, and cheap, to do with an old ex-microwave
oven
transformer. However, there is a fair amount of background swot to do, and like
everything,
technique and much experimentation is in order. But it does work very well, once
you
understand what's going on, and can get control of all the variables.

Everyones' mileage will vary on this subject, the a summation of the general
principles that
have been posted here will serve one well.


Rgds,

Barry





On 4 Dec 2009 at 19:42, david.ackery@... wrote:

>
>  My apologies to anyone with religious sensibilities who may have been
offended by myDIY
> approach.
>
> As a humble balsa basher with aKISS attitude, itclear to me at least, that a
simple soldering job
> makes a lot more sense that trying to weld tags onto 16 AA cells.
>
> (PS where can get some of that flux ?)
>
> cheers
> Dave
>
>
>
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: barrylennox@...
>     To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com
>     Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 6:20 PM
>     Subject: Re: [NZMAA-News] Soldering
>
> Dave,
>
> You may or may not be aware that the argument over soldering to cells is akin
to a religious
> one and can lead to holy wars.
>
> Most manufacturers, battery pack re-sellers, and folk that like to
worry/control other folk say
> it's one of the most dangerous things we can do (and yes, you might well
suspect their
> motives in some cases) However, there's many modellers that have done it for
years
> without any problems whatsoever. In particular, many electric flight modellers
have
> soldered massive links or copper braid onto cells.
>
> The main danger is overheating the cell, and this leads to the seperator
(usually a woven
> plastic) degrading. So the key points are:
>
> Use a good sized iron, I would not use less than a 60 Watt on small cells and
80-100 Watts
> on larger cells. Keep the tip clean and tinned.
>
> Clean the cell surface with a little alcohol and fine W&D paper.
>
> Tin the cell surface quickly and let the battery cool.
>
> Solder the wire onto the tinned area.
>
> This MUST be done quickly to avoid overheating, my rule of thumb is that I
should be able
> to put my finger on the solder joint within about 2-3 seconds.
>
> It also helps to use a flux, but clean off the flux residue afterwards.
Another great help is a
> block of wood drilled so as to act a stand for the cells.
>
> I have found the best flux to use is one optimised for nickel soldering, I use
Lonco CF-430,
> or Johnson's J-35 with excellent results, I'm not sure how comonly-available
they are, but
> there's bound to be others. Somewhere I also have a recipe for a DIY version,
but can't put
> my fingers on it now.
>
> Barry
>
>
>
>

You will by now have picked up that the main theme throughout the replies is to
have a decent sized soldering iron and to get the cells soldered up in 1-2 sec
each.

You could practise on some old dry cells to get your technique nice and slick
before doing the rechargeables.

I have always solderd up my own packs and use the following simple procedure. 
lightly abrase each terminal by whichever method you prefer, I normally give a
few passes with some 40 or 60 grit paper

Line all the cells up and quickly 'tin' each terminal.

Tape the cells together in a block of four, inserting a 3/32 strip down the
middle will stop them trying to roll around each other.
(make sure you get the polarity orientation right!)

Stick them in the deep freeze for around 15 minutes.

Get some old coax cable and strip the braiding out, and cut 3 1 inch lengths
from it and tin each end, making sure that there is around 1/4 inch in the
centre that remains untinned and then nip around 1/8  or so inch off each end. 
The strip should be just long enough to reach from one terminal to the next.

Rescue the now cold pack from the deepfreeze and solder the strip of tinned
braid over each terminal.  This will give some flexibility between the cells and
being cold will give you some leeway in soldering without over heating the ends
and melting the seals.

If the pack is to be left as a block a short length of heatshrink can be slipped
over it and shrunk up tight, if you want a flat pack then the braid links allow
the pack to folded open and a smaller diameter length of heatshrink tubing can
be slipped over and again shrunk up.
(Heat shrink tubing in various sizes and colours is available from electrical
supply outlets a lot cheaper than from the electronic stores)

And of course you did also solder on the leads at the same time right?
I find that some of the silicon type wires are the best to use for the leads,
very soft and pliable.

However, since places like Jaycar sell the tagged cels for the same price as the
untagged ones soldering packs up has become a lot quicker and easier.
Since Jo has already bought untagged cells he does not have that option and will
have to solder them up by whichever method but the bottom line is -Dont overheat
the cells.

Cheers - Mark

Christchurch Model Aero Club on the Web.
http://www.cmac.net.nz



--- In NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com, Steve Warner <steve.warner@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All
>         One of the guys from my club asked me the below question,  I soft
> solder my packs and do not personally know of anyone who has the gear to
> do this.
> I am sure any leads would be most welcome.
>
> Thanks and best  regards Steve
> ----- Forwarded by Steve Warner/NZABB/ABB on 03/12/2009 11:42 p.m. -----
>
> Jo & Jo <jospod@...>
> 03/12/2009 07:41 p.m.
>
> To
>
> cc
>
> Subject
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hi modelling colleagues
>
> I had to buy new batteries for my planes but could only afford single.
> Does anyone know of somebody that can spotweld the little tags on?
> I have 16 batteries and want to make 4 x 4AA receiver packs.
>
> Any info appreciated
>
> Regards
>
> Jo Spod
>

----- Original Message -----

From: david.ackery@...

To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 7:42 PM

Subject: Re: [NZMAA-News] Soldering

 

My apologies to anyone with religious sensibilities who may have been offended by my DIY approach.

 

As a humble balsa basher with a KISS attitude, it clear to me at least, that a simple soldering job makes a lot more sense that trying to weld tags onto 16 AA cells.

 

(PS where can get some of that flux ?)

 

cheers

Dave

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: barrylennox@...

To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 6:20 PM

Subject: Re: [NZMAA-News] Soldering

 

Dave,

You may or may not be aware that the argument over soldering to cells is akin to a religious
one and can lead to holy wars.

Most manufacturers, battery pack re-sellers, and folk that like to worry/control other folk say
it's one of the most dangerous things we can do (and yes, you might well suspect their
motives in some cases) However, there's many modellers that have done it for years
without any problems whatsoever. In particular, many electric flight modellers have
soldered massive links or copper braid onto cells.

The main danger is overheating the cell, and this leads to the seperator (usually a woven
plastic) degrading. So the key points are:

Use a good sized iron, I would not use less than a 60 Watt on small cells and 80-100 Watts
on larger cells. Keep the tip clean and tinned.

Clean the cell surface with a little alcohol and fine W&D paper.

Tin the cell surface quickly and let the battery cool.

Solder the wire onto the tinned area.

This MUST be done quickly to avoid overheating, my rule of thumb is that I should be able
to put my finger on the solder joint within about 2-3 seconds.

It also helps to use a flux, but clean off the flux residue afterwards. Another great help is a
block of wood drilled so as to act a stand for the cells.

I have found the best flux to use is one optimised for nickel soldering, I use Lonco CF-430,
or Johnson's J-35 with excellent results, I'm not sure how comonly-available they are, but
there's bound to be others. Somewhere I also have a recipe for a DIY version, but can't put
my fingers on it now.

Barry

Dave,

You may or may not be aware that the argument over soldering to cells is akin to
a religious
one and can lead to holy wars.

Most manufacturers, battery pack re-sellers, and folk that like to worry/control
other folk say
it's one of the most dangerous things we can do (and yes, you might well suspect
their
motives in some cases) However, there's many modellers that have done it for
years
without any problems whatsoever.  In particular, many electric flight modellers
have
soldered massive links or copper braid onto cells.

The main danger is overheating the cell, and this leads to the seperator
(usually a woven
plastic) degrading.  So the key points are:

Use a good sized iron, I would not use less than a 60 Watt on small cells and
80-100 Watts
on larger cells. Keep the tip clean and tinned.

Clean the cell surface with a little alcohol and fine W&D paper.

Tin the cell surface quickly and let the battery cool.

Solder the wire onto the tinned area.

This MUST be done quickly to avoid overheating, my rule of thumb is that I
should be able
to put my finger on the solder joint within about 2-3 seconds.

It also helps to use a flux, but clean off the flux residue afterwards. Another
great help is a
block of wood drilled so as to act a stand for the cells.

I have found the best flux to use is one optimised for nickel soldering, I use
Lonco CF-430,
or Johnson's J-35 with excellent results,  I'm not sure how comonly-available
they are, but
there's bound to be others.  Somewhere I also have a recipe for a DIY version,
but can't put
my fingers on it now.

Barry

From: Steve Warner

To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 11:49 PM

Subject: [NZMAA-News]

 

Hi All
        One of the guys from my club asked me the below question,  I soft solder my packs and do not personally know of anyone who has the gear to do this.
I am sure any leads would be most welcome.

Thanks and best  regards Steve
----- Forwarded by Steve Warner/NZABB/ABB on 03/12/2009 11:42 p.m. -----

Jo & Jo <jospod@clear.net.nz> 03/12/2009 07:41 p.m.

To cc Subject

Hi modelling colleagues
 
I had to buy new batteries for my planes but could only afford single. Does anyone know of somebody that can spotweld the little tags on?
I have 16 batteries and want to make 4 x 4AA receiver packs.
 
Any info appreciated
 
Regards
 
Jo Spod

----- Original Message -----

From: Steve Warner

To: NZMAA-News@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 11:49 PM

Subject: [NZMAA-News]

 

Hi All
        One of the guys from my club asked me the below question,  I soft solder my packs and do not personally know of anyone who has the gear to do this.
I am sure any leads would be most welcome.

Thanks and best  regards Steve
----- Forwarded by Steve Warner/NZABB/ABB on 03/12/2009 11:42 p.m. -----

Jo & Jo <jospod@clear.net.nz> 03/12/2009 07:41 p.m.

To cc Subject

Hi modelling colleagues
 
I had to buy new batteries for my planes but could only afford single. Does anyone know of somebody that can spotweld the little tags on?
I have 16 batteries and want to make 4 x 4AA receiver packs.
 
Any info appreciated
 
Regards
 
Jo Spod