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Copper plating nickel covered brass contacts

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MikeK:
I would be using my big pistol-grip Weller (>100W) for this.  In another thread I saw IanM improved soldering on some micro-grabber tabs by dipping in copper sulfate for a few seconds.

thm_w:

--- Quote from: Buriedcode on August 09, 2022, 10:23:13 pm ---I have a 60W iron with a large 3mm chisel tip - pretty beefy, or at least the beefiest I have.  This works just fine for tin plated large screw terminals of a similar size/mass.  I do indeed use the flat side butted up against the end of ther terminal - furthest from the plastic housing to minimise potential melting, along with a small blob of solder to provide the best thermal contact.  Again, for similar tin plated terminals this works well, I can tin the terminals in about a second - but for these its more like 6-7.  Temp was set to 400C (350 took way too long).  By which time the poor flux had all burned away.

--- End quote ---

Watt rating doesn't mean too much in terms of iron performance. Additionally, if its a poor quality tip, it will be even slower to respond to load.
3mm should be OK, but if I were you I would have a 5mm on hand in case you ever need it.

Of course, if it works well for all your other tasks, and this is the only difficult one, well, it might be fine.

Watch this coin comparison from SDG for an example:
https://youtu.be/TGaTJmuy21U?t=1088



--- Quote from: MikeK on August 10, 2022, 09:14:26 pm ---I would be using my big pistol-grip Weller (>100W) for this.  In another thread I saw IanM improved soldering on some micro-grabber tabs by dipping in copper sulfate for a few seconds.

--- End quote ---

Could be worth a try https://www.sciencesource.com/archive/Image/Nickel-Reacting-With-Copper-Sulfate-SS2603127.html

Buriedcode:

--- Quote from: MikeK on August 10, 2022, 09:14:26 pm ---... In another thread I saw IanM improved soldering on some micro-grabber tabs by dipping in copper sulfate for a few seconds.

--- End quote ---

I believe that was copper chloride.  The spring steel he was plating too would self plate in sulpahte, but without adhesion, the chloride probably activated the surface of the steel and allowed it to plate.  Similar to a woods nickel strike, copper chloride can be used to plate copper onto "difficult" metals.

mawyatt:
One could use a very "aggressive" flux and tin all the terminals, and clean them IPA. Then use a "normal" flux and solder to attach the wire.

Best,

Cerebus:
Perhaps turn the problem on its head.

You said "requires higher temperature, by which time the plastic housing becomes soft". I've fixed that problem before by cooling the plastic. It just needed something as simple as wrapping as much of the plastic part as possible with wet paper towel (making sure to include the part where the metal and plastic join). Messy, not elegant, but it got the job done.

That solution of course requires that your part is situated where you can afford to have water slopping about and that you have enough room between the "bit to be soldered" and "bit to be kept as cool as I can".

I've never had any difficulty soldering clean nickel plating, just knock-on effects like you're experiencing. I have found that cleaning the terminal first (scotchbrite is ideal) and wiping some liquid flux on before starting helped (just a standard Multicore flux pen). Actual soldering: just standard Multicore (loctite) rosin core flux and a suitable sized soldering iron bit on a 40W or higher iron and the confidence/patience to wait for everything to get hot enough for the flux to do its work and the joint to wet out.

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