problem with soldering cells

System · January 2010

I soldered a series of 9 cells. When I checked them with a multimeter, I still had only .5 volts. What did I do wrong? I read on another blog that you can overheat the wires and damage them. Is that possible and if so, can I somehow fix the problem?

BB. · January 2010

Re: problem with soldering cells

When you solder the cells, you have to connect them in series or + to - to + to - etc... Each + to - connect is one piece of wire/copper. You do not run a long length to all of the 9 cells if you are trying for a series connection.

So, depending on the cells you will will probably have to solder top of cell A to bottom of Cell B then Top of Cell C to bottom of Cell D, etc...

You may also have problems with the soldering itself... The cells are very fragile and can be damaged by too hot of iron.

-Bill

System2 · January 2010

Re: problem with soldering cells

I did solder top of first cell to bottom of next cell and so on. I think the iron was too hot. Can I still use these cells and if so, how?

BB. · January 2010

Re: problem with soldering cells

To be honest--I am not a big believer in Do It Yourself solar panels... They are difficult to assemble and hard to make last for any length of time (flexing/thermal cycling causes solder joints/tabs to fail, water leaks, even potential fire hazards with larger arrays because of the typical plastic/wood construction-->10-50+ watt panel range).

It is OK at a science project... But not as a investment in building your own solar panels for grid tied / off grid power.

Perhaps somebody else here has some suggestions.

I am sorry.
-Bill

mike95490 · January 2010

Re: problem with soldering cells

Post a pic. If the wires are attached to the cell, there is still enough metal to conduct, but, if you are a beginner solder, and think you used too much heat, you likely did. Get a temperature controlled soldering iron, about 675f should work well, with a medium tip. Don't use too small of tip, it will not conduct enough heat to the work.

GreenPowerManiac · January 2010

Re: problem with soldering cells

Without seeing an actual picture of the results, it's difficult to explain.

Provided you did the top to bottom in series method like mentioned, there should be around 4.0- 5.0 volts in that string of 9.

I use a 40watt Weller pen type solder iron from menards. It has the chisel tip. Also you must have the R86 flux pen or equivalent. Before doing anything I'd suggest you get a piece of glass to do your work on. Mine is in the form of an old storm window. This absorbs the excess heat to the glass when soldering. I'll tin the pre-cut lengths of tabbing wire(small stuff) with 50/50 rosin core solder. Next I'll put two beads of flux on the white tabbing conductive strips. Hold the tab wire(tin side down) and place a small weight on it to keep it steady. Take the hot iron and place it in the middle on the tab wire until it melts. Light pressure downward until it seats, then in a smooth motion let the iron melt the tinned wire and white strip moving toward you and off the cell. Remove the weight on the other end and start from the point left off and solder that off the end. Repeat on other side and do this for the remaining cells in the series.

Of course, pre-wired cells are the easiest. In this case you're just attaching the Positives.

problem with soldering cells

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