General > General Technical Chat

Copper plating nickel covered brass contacts

(1/4) > >>

Buriedcode:
I have about 50 power connectors to solder, two terminal, 7.5mm pitch, with what appears to be nickel plated brass pins (non magnetic, shiney, brassy under plating when filed/sanded).

I am unable to get any replacement/equivalent for these so I'm stuck with them, and whilst I can get them to take solder, its a task - requires higher temperature, by which time the plastic housing becomes soft, its generally an unpleasant experience all round. I had a similar problem with those cheap test-hooks from fleabay - but those were most likely steel.  If I was just soldering a handful of these I'd suck it up, but 50 is a daunting and depressing prospect. 

They have no thread, or any kind of crimp termination, just a terminal similar to the bottom of a winding post shown here on the right:


So, as I have the time, I'm thinking of using a handful of the surplus connectors to test out plating them to see if it improves solderability:  copper plating, and/or tin plating.

Does anyone have experience with this?  I don't see it as being that problematic - nickel is often used as a strike before copper plating on many metals, so copper -> nickel should be fairly straight forward.  I also don't really need a thick plating at all, its just something to allow the solder to wet.  It's a lot of hassle for a few connections, but might be a handy setup to keep for future problems/projects.


andy3055:
Get some lugs like attached.

thm_w:
What soldering iron and what flux are you using? A better iron can heat solder on the surface faster, meaning potentially less part heating.

Electroless tin is available, but only works on copper.
Probably tin or tin-lead electroplating is the best, but I'm not sure what chemicals are needed to prep the nickel https://www.aotco.com/metal-finishing-processes/tin-lead-electroplating/

Photo of connectors?

Buriedcode:

--- Quote from: andy3055 on August 04, 2022, 08:59:51 pm ---Get some lugs like attached.

--- End quote ---

I'm not sure how to attach those to a secure connection for >3A.


--- Quote from: thm_w on August 04, 2022, 09:02:04 pm ---What soldering iron and what flux are you using? A better iron can heat solder on the surface faster, meaning potentially less part heating.

--- End quote ---

Just standard RMA, I'm hesitant to use anything more agressive as it would require cleaning afterwards.


--- Quote from: thm_w on August 04, 2022, 09:02:04 pm ---Electroless tin is available, but only works on copper.

--- End quote ---

I do have some immersive tin crystlas that I once used for DIY PCB's, but as you pointed out, they're meant for copper, and as its electroless, has probably quite specific chemistry that may not work on nickel.  And even then I'd still ahve to activate thenickel surface regardless


--- Quote from: thm_w on August 04, 2022, 09:02:04 pm ---Photo of connectors?

--- End quote ---

Attached, you can see one terminal I went at it with a file just to see the base metal, looks like brass to me.

thm_w:
Yeah looks like brass.

What soldering iron and tip? The tip should be large enough to completely cover the end flat portion when pressed up against the terminal.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod