conections on brass plate.

[oldhippydude]

I am very slowly moving towards building my first box.
It will be dual parallel. I want to use a bit of rigid brass plate to connect the positive end of the batteries to the 510 connector. I plan to use thinner springier brass at the negitive end of the batteries that hopefully provide the preasure to push the batteries against the pos brass plate.
With flat top batteries I will not get a good connection if any on the brass.
Solution one would be buy button tops, generally my other mechs prefer flat tops so perhaps I would prefer to stick with them.
My other thoughts are either use something like brass bolts or screws through holes in the brass to make the battery connections. A couple of large blobs of solder directly on the brass is another possible solution.
The 510 connector will make a very good physical contact through a hole in the brass and be held tight with a locking nut.
So here is the crux of the matter I have not soldered since a brief introduction at school.
If I am making physical connections between brass plate and brass components is it still a good idea to use solder or are physically tight connection just as good.
Is a 40w solder iron able to handle soldering a small bolt to a brass plate and any tips on how to do it.

 

[EmbraSewerRat]

Tubbyengineer

 

[Tubbyengineer]

I am very slowly moving towards building my first box.
It will be dual parallel. I want to use a bit of rigid brass plate to connect the positive end of the batteries to the 510 connector. I plan to use thinner springier brass at the negitive end of the batteries that hopefully provide the preasure to push the batteries against the pos brass plate.
With flat top batteries I will not get a good connection if any on the brass.
Solution one would be buy button tops, generally my other mechs prefer flat tops so perhaps I would prefer to stick with them.
My other thoughts are either use something like brass bolts or screws through holes in the brass to make the battery connections. A couple of large blobs of solder directly on the brass is another possible solution.
The 510 connector will make a very good physical contact through a hole in the brass and be held tight with a locking nut.
So here is the crux of the matter I have not soldered since a brief introduction at school.
If I am making physical connections between brass plate and brass components is it still a good idea to use solder or are physically tight connection just as good.
Is a 40w solder iron able to handle soldering a small bolt to a brass plate and any tips on how to do it.

There are several options on this one. One I've seen used on an actual Production box mod is to have the base plate movable and to tighten it against the batteries with a screw set through the base of the mod, another is to include a certain amount of flexibility in the connection from one battery plate to the switch or 510 and to put the spring BEHIND the plate so that it pushes the plate against the battery, all you need to do then is to punch a decent dimple into the plate which is easily done by drilling a 3 or 4 mm hole in a peice of wood, laying the brass over it then using a 2mm bolt punch the dimple down into the hole. You should end up with a dimple roughly the size of the hole in the wood and around 2mm high if you hi it hard enough. You'll probably have to clamp the brass down though to stop it bending too much.

If you want to go with a simple foolproof method you can use brass machine screws with nuts and star washers, a star washer will make sure you always get a good connection that wont loosen easily.

You can solder to brass pretty easily but you'd need something like one of the big hairy arsed Weller soldering guns to give enough heat to solder even a small bolt into place as you'll het a lot of heatsinking in the sheer mass of metal. Alternatively if you use a blowtorch for Kanthal coils that will work for soldering brass, get it hot then apply the solder to the joint, you might need to reapply the heat for short periods as you work round the joint - it will take a little practice but should work well...

 

[oldhippydude]

Thanks for that @Tubbyengineer

That answers my question.Thanks.
It is a very slow burn project but I will order some flat tops and you have given me enough to decide on a solution when the time comes.

 

[Tubbyengineer]

Thanks for that @Tubbyengineer

That answers my question.Thanks.
It is a very slow burn project but I will order some flat tops and you have given me enough to decide on a solution when the time comes.

Personally I'd go for a slightly more complex arrangement but it depends on the box and what you feel comfortable with. For full mech use a flat plate fixed directly to the 510 positive and a J shape negative, punch battery dimples into both and use one end of the J shape connected to the 510 put one or two short heavy compression springs under the base of the J shape to hive pressure on the battery and allow some variation in battery size and use the reamining section of the J shape as the switch - having the two plates push against each other with a simple insulated button.