How to solder electrical wires

[jc Kyle]

so recently i bought a soldering gun, and it turns out it's too powerful for car wire purposes (100 watts). So i bought a solder with just a normal tip. Well i have the rosin sod. Now how the hell do I use this thing? Do I stick sod in the tube? Wrape it around the pole/tip. there aren't any instructions :(

[need4speed]

to create an effective solder joint, the solder and the 2 parts you want to connect need to be the same temperature. Just put the tip of the iron on the 2 wires, then take a piece of solder and touch one end to the tip of the iron and the wires, it will melt the solder and it should flow a little bit around the wires, you might want to drag the iron a little bit along the bare wires to spread the solder. When you've got enough, just pull the iron and solder away. Use a wet sponge to keep the soldering iron clean, it will help you a lot. Practice on some spare wire a couple times first. You'll get the hang of it in 3 or 4 tries. But really, use that wet sponge. The key is having a clean solding iron.

[V6Bob]

"to create an effective solder joint, the solder and the 2 parts you want to connect need to be the same temperature."

This is very important. The wires need to be hot enough to melt the solder by themselves.

"it should flow a little bit around the wires"

Yes.

"you might want to drag the iron a little bit along the bare wires to spread the solder"

I don't recommend this. You're liable to smear solder along a wire that's too cold. The solder should flow readily along the wire just by heat and gravity.

[ September 26, 2003: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[slow]

you should heat the wire, and touch the solder opposite of the tip, that way, the wire is hot enough to allow it to flow.

if you do the drag, and touch the tip, your likely to get a cold joint.

First: make sure you have a good mechanical connection, before you worry about the electrical connection.

Second, heat the wire

3rds, apply solder to the wire, not the tip

4th remove solder

5th remove heat

6th allow to air cool, do not use water to cool it faster.

7th insulate, (*heatshring, electrical tape, ect)

Ryan [img]smile.gif[/img]

Ryan [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ September 26, 2003: Message edited by: slow ]</p>

[jc Kyle]

do i heat the wire by putting the solder iron itself onto the wire prior to putting the solder there?

do I just make a strong of solder and place the end of the solder line where I want something to be connected?

Thx guys

[need4speed]

I always drag it out a little bit, it seems like it makes the two hold together a little better so if they get tugged on the solder won't come apart as easily. It is not good practice to drag it like i said for most applications, these other guys are right about that. I get a good solder in place, then spread some out just to possibly hold it together better, that's all.

[V6Bob]

"do i heat the wire by putting the solder iron itself onto the wire prior to putting the solder there?"

Ryan already handled that (and pretty much everything else):

"you should heat the wire, and touch the solder opposite of the tip, that way, the wire is hot enough to allow it to flow"

That way I know the wire is hot enough.

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned is that, if the wire is hot enough the solder will keep looking shiny when it cools. If the wire is too cold the solder will tend to look frosted as it solidifies.

[chas]

always use rosin core solder. never acid flux (that's for a completely different purpose).

apply the heat (iron) and solder to different areas. if you are soldering a terminal lug onto a wire heat one side of the lug and apply solder to the other side. the heat from the iron will 'draw' the solder into the connection. if it doesnt do this, the joint isnt hot enough yet.

if tinning the end of a wire just twist the wire, apply heat to the end of the wire and apply the solder to the middle. when it hot enough the solder will flow to the iron.

joining wires? wrap each wire around each other (its called a western union splice (look around on the web for a picture) and apply heat to the middle and solder to each end. (you are trying to keep heat away from the insulating jackets of the wires).

btw, this applies to almost any kind of brazing (soldering is a type of brazing) whether its wires or copper plumbing. always apply heat away from the solder.