soldering tips

imma honky · Apr 13, 2006

I just spent the better part of an hour soldering my stupid radio wiring harness. The solder didn't really want to seep under the jacketing. could this be because the wire was 18-20G? Also, am I just crazy or does the iron "cycle" through heat. Because it took a while for it to heat up each wire hot enough to melt the solder. I'm using a 40W pencil iron and some 40/60 rosin. I also ended up buying three different kinds of effin solder before I got the right one. What's the difference?

Rev Den · Apr 13, 2006

The solder will flow toward the heat. You should be using a fairly small gauge rosin core solder. Do NOT use acid core. the 40W iron should be fine, the tip should be "tinned" before use, and lept clean with a damp sponge during use. If the wire is not clean and shiny, it will not conduct heat.
The idea is heat the wire, apply solder to the wire, do not apply solder to the iron.

HTH

Rev

ChiXJeff · Apr 13, 2006

A 40w pencil should have plenty of heat for the job. Don't worry about the solder wicking under the insulation. You'll need to cover the joints any, I use heat shrink.

Soldering is a learned art. You need to heat up the wires, and let them melt the solder. If you melt the solder on the iron, you'll end up with a cold solder joint (it'll look dull instead of shiny.) You do *NOT* want to use acid core solder, your connections will corrode away.

Good irons will cycle as they're temp controlled, better irons have a very short cycle. Your iron sounds like a cheapie, so I wouldn't expect that. The tip may be loose, though. Check the set screws, or make sure it's screwed in tight.

5-90 · Apr 13, 2006

Also keep a light "tinning" on the iron tip - it helps conduct heat.

Having said that, why are you soldering a radio harness? Crimping is far easier, just as reliable, and I'll usually use quick-connects to make it easier to change head units later, or if I get ripped off...

5-90

Beej · Apr 13, 2006

Crappy little soldering irons make crappy little soldering joints. I find it usually takes a while to heat the wires up with those little pencil irons. I have a big honkin' Weller gun I got at a garage sale when I was 10 that will melt the plastic right off the wires if you hold it on the wiring longer than a few seconds. I can't explain any more because I barely know what I'm talking about as it is...

imma honky · Apr 13, 2006

.052 Dia. solder. 40/60 tin/lead. The first container of solder I bought was lead free silver bearing solder @ .032 dia.

imma honky · Apr 13, 2006

Beej said:
Crappy little soldering irons make crappy little soldering joints. I find it usually takes a while to heat the wires up with those little pencil irons. I have a big honkin' Weller gun I got at a garage sale when I was 10 that will melt the plastic right off the wires if you hold it on the wiring longer than a few seconds. I can't explain any more because I barely know what I'm talking about as it is...

I figured one of those would be wayy overkill on suck small wire. Maybe on some wire 12G and down.

Rev Den · Apr 13, 2006

imma honky said:
.052 Dia. solder. 40/60 tin/lead. The first container of solder I bought was lead free silver bearing solder @ .032 dia.

That should be fine.

The silver stuff is for Jewelers, I think.

Rev

imma honky · Apr 13, 2006

Rev Den said:
That should be fine.

The silver stuff is for Jewelers, I think.

Rev

Do you know of a reason why the 40/60 melts faster/better compared to the lead free silver bearing? Is it a heat issue? OR a contents issue (IE, lead helps it melt)?

5-90 · Apr 13, 2006

Contents issue. The lead has a MUCH lower melting point than tin (which is why there's more lead than tin in solder,) and I think the silver-bearing solder is mainly silver, tin, and bismuth (although I'd have to look that up.)

Lead has probably one of the lowest melting points of the metals (save mercury, of course - it's a liquid at room temperature!) but there's a bit of a jump once you go away from there. I don't have my materials properties sheets handy, but you can ask me after I get home from class, and I can probably look it up for you.

5-90

Bent · Apr 13, 2006

Rev Den said:
... the tip should be "tinned" before use, and lept clean with a damp sponge during use.
Rev

I put a new tip in my iron a while back, for the life of me I can't get it tinned. I've done it before, I know I have; it must have been in a prior life though. Without the tinning, I had to give up and use crimp on connectors, after a few words that is.

Lou · Apr 13, 2006

You should apply a bit of solder to the tip of the iron, to form a bubble/puddle on the tip, just before you make contact with the metal(wire) to be soldered -- this insures better heat transfer by increasing the contact area of the iron to the wire.

imma honky · Apr 13, 2006

Lou said:
You should apply a bit of solder to the tip of the iron, to form a bubble/puddle on the tip, just before you make contact with the metal(wire) to be soldered -- this insures better heat transfer by increasing the contact area of the iron to the wire.

ah hah! So that's what my friend meant, but couldnt explain.

Rev Den · Apr 13, 2006

Bent said:
I put a new tip in my iron a while back, for the life of me I can't get it tinned. I've done it before, I know I have; it must have been in a prior life though. Without the tinning, I had to give up and use crimp on connectors, after a few words that is.

Clean it.

Rev

87manche · Apr 13, 2006

Rev Den said:
Clean it.

Rev

I usually clean and then give it a light sanding with some 200 grit paper. It will tin real easily then.

GSequoia · Apr 13, 2006

Last time I tinned a tip (using cheap stuff) I hit the tip with some 0000 steel wool first, wouldn't stick otherwise.

Bent · Apr 13, 2006

Rev Den said:
Clean it.

Rev

But I did! <hanging head, mumbles> But I'll clean it better.

ChiXJeff · Apr 13, 2006

87manche said:
I usually clean and then give it a light sanding with some 200 grit paper. It will tin real easily then.

You can do that on the cheap soldering irons. I've been told that on the new good irons there's a thin coating that is relatively hard with soft alloy under it. If you get through the coating, the tip will start to erode quickly.

klonestar · Apr 13, 2006

Any type of silver solder requires considerably more heat to do the job! Using a plumbers torch and soldering copper pipe w/silver solder I toss out the propane bottle and use mapp gas as it burns much hotter. I know this isnt electrical advice but just as an example im familar with.

The higher the lead content the less heat it takes to do the job!

Plumbers silver solder is 90% silver and 10% tin. Lead free!

I used to have to do military splices on multistrand wire back in the day. You cant pull it apart! The wire breaks before/after the splice instead.

Been told by audiophiles that you really should solder most wire "splices" for performance reasons. Silver is a better conductor than lead!

Rev Den · Apr 13, 2006

ChiXJeff said:
You can do that on the cheap soldering irons. I've been told that on the new good irons there's a thin coating that is relatively hard with soft alloy under it. If you get through the coating, the tip will start to erode quickly.

X2, the real good ones do not require tinning, they will be well noted in the instructions. I was assuming the the mentinoned iron was a less expensive unit, as if it was the "top-of-the-line" he would not be asking about tinning.

But you never know....

Rev

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