Does Your Hot Solder Drool and Cover Your Copper Wires Like Hot Butter?

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dibbons

dibbons

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Not mine. Ever try to put alike poles together on a magnet (positive to positive or negative to negative) and notice how they repel each other? That is my lifetime experience trying to solder a new copper wire to an OEM wire on a classic vehicle. Don't matter how short I cut the wire down to, how much flux I apply, or how I twist the wires together (or don't), or what type of solder I employ.

I watch those youtube videos where the solder just melts and covers both wires instantaneously and I get so envious I almost begin to drool.

wire.jpg
 
You could try wire brushing the older wire to expose some bare copper then flux it. I've never had a problem solder older wire to newer wire........I soldered tons of wires. I also try to heat up the older wire first to help "suck" the solder in that direction. If one wire has heavier strands it does make it more difficult though but if you put the heat on the heavier wire it will still work out. treblig
 
What I should do is practice on some wires I have lying around. I think I have seen an electrical tech one time brushing wires with some kind of acid.

I do notice the older wires are a few shades darker in color that freshly purchased copper wire.
 
I used that "pasty" flux with a small acid brush and it always works well. The flux core solder doesn't always work well on all wires.
 
Contamination is the key to nice soldered joints from my experience. I have soldered lord knows how many wires in either industrial or automotive applications and everything has to be clean for a good joint.....

JW
 
I use sand paper to clean the old copper wire it works great gets it down to clean copper
 
Use barrel crimps, better connection. Clean wire ends with new 3M scotch pad. Used bare barrel crimps, insulate with heat shrink.
 
KitCarlson said:
Use barrel crimps, better connection. Clean wire ends with new 3M scotch pad. Used bare barrel crimps, insulate with heat shrink.
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I have heard this too. I just have trouble believing it. Something to do with brittleness of the soldered joint I think.
 
Are you using Rosin core solder? That is what you should be using with no flux. That acid will eat at the wires down the road and cause problems. I have done auto diagnostics and wiring for many years, and that is the only way I do it.
 
A few ways to go about it.
If that picture is of a pencil type soldering iron, its too small to do a good job.
40 watts? I think is minimum.

Iron hot,touch wire and hit iron tip with solder where its touching wire. It should take solder,and follow the running solder as it wicks up the wire.

Flux paste,heat wire and dip into flux,a couple times. Wiping wire off each time.

I use my utility knife to scrape wire after stripping,before twisting.

If wire is dark at all, its better to use solderless crimp on terminals.and use heat shrink, the double wall stuff.

I use a butane powered soldering pencil. Good tool, but they wear out. About 5 years is all i get out of them. Snap on or mac.
Next time will be a weller.
 
Tooljunkie said:
I use a butane powered soldering pencil. Good tool, but they wear out. About 5 years is all i get out of them. Snap on or mac.
Next time will be a weller.
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The Power Probe butane soldering pencil has served me well. Buy the triple filtered butane
 
One thing I forgot.....once the iron gets good and hot it helps a lot if you melt some solder onto the metal tip of the soldering gun. The melted solder greatly helps transfer heat to the wires because liquid transfers heat faster/easier than solid metal. I have found that using this method helps tremendously to heat up the wires. Once you see the solder running from the soldering tip to the wires you just keep adding more solder where the tip is touching the wires. The solder should wick its' way throughout all the wires once they are hot.


PS - I hate it when the solder gets stuck in my teeth!!!! Treblig
 
Weller P2KC is the same thing snap on sells for 2-3 times the money.
I used it constantly as i was the electrical accessory guy.
Remote starters near daily for a year.
 
Treblig said:
One thing I forgot.....once the iron gets good and hot it helps a lot if you melt some solder onto the metal tip of the soldering gun. The melted solder greatly helps transfer heat to the wires because liquid transfers heat faster/easier than solid metal. I have found that using this method helps tremendously to heat up the wires. Once you see the solder running from the soldering tip to the wires you just keep adding more solder where the tip is touching the wires. The solder should wick its' way throughout all the wires once they are hot.


PS - I hate it when the solder gets stuck in my teeth!!!! Treblig
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Been there done that. Amost as bad as welding sparks in the ear..
 
Tooljunkie said:
A few ways to go about it.
If that picture is of a pencil type soldering iron, its too small to do a good job.
40 watts? I think is minimum.

Iron hot,touch wire and hit iron tip with solder where its touching wire. It should take solder,and follow the running solder as it wicks up the wire.

Flux paste,heat wire and dip into flux,a couple times. Wiping wire off each time.

I use my utility knife to scrape wire after stripping,before twisting.

If wire is dark at all, its better to use solderless crimp on terminals.and use heat shrink, the double wall stuff.

I use a butane powered soldering pencil. Good tool, but they wear out. About 5 years is all i get out of them. Snap on or mac.
Next time will be a weller.
Click to expand...


Yep, I got a 50 watt pencil type iron.
 
Bodyperson said:
I have heard this too. I just have trouble believing it. Something to do with brittleness of the soldered joint I think.
Click to expand...
More to the story, solder has 5 times more resistance than copper. Solder on a molecular basis leaches into the outer layer of copper, increasing junction resistance. Copper softens when heated and quickly cooled, the opposite of steel. Copper easily work hardens and becomes brittle. Soldering wires works better than soldering terminals. In high vibration situations, wire at terminal will break at end of solder bead.
 
dibbons said:
Not mine. Ever try to put alike poles together on a magnet (positive to positive or negative to negative) and notice how they repel each other? That is my lifetime experience trying to solder a new copper wire to an OEM wire on a classic vehicle. Don't matter how short I cut the wire down to, how much flux I apply, or how I twist the wires together (or don't), or what type of solder I employ.

I watch those youtube videos where the solder just melts and covers both wires instantaneously and I get so envious I almost begin to drool.

View attachment 1715265577
Click to expand...
Might just not be enough heat. Possibly iron too small or tip not on tight. I prefer a gun. To join two wires, I slide heat shrink on one side first. flare the strands a bit and clean with scotch bright. Apply flux and twist together. Heat the wire and feed the solder to the wire, not the tip. let solder cool on its own before sliding shrink tube over and finishing it.
 
inline solder joint, I always double heat shrink, first about twice the OD of wire in extra length both sides, then outer heat shrink, twice that length again, helps with strain relief.
 
Because I solder a lot... and I have trained dozens of technicians how to solder, I'll chime in here. In the example photo, the wires seem clean enough. However, the user is not applying the tip of the soldering iron correctly. This is particularly important when soldering heavier gauge wire with a relatively low watt pencil iron.
You want to hold the tip of the iron more parallel to the joint, so there is a much greater area of the tip in contact with the wire you are trying to heat. The technique shown in the photo would take almost double the heat to get the wire hot enough. It's all about transferring the heat from the tip to the joint, and the more surface area that's in play, the better it works. It also helps to melt a little solder on the tip right next to where it's touching the wire. The liquified solder will help heat the rest of the joint, and the solder will flow easier. This is what my son refers to as an "old guy trick". LOL!
 
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I like using a welder gun type soldering iron for wiring. Heats up fast & then is off when you aren’t using it so you don’t burn yourself or something else. The only disadvantage is that the tips dont last long. Must be made of crappy material. Seems like they lasted a long time in years gone by.

Watch what solder you buy. Some of it is crap. Rosin core solder should solder about any wire. It is all about surface condition of the wire and technique.
 
You need to scrape the old wires clean "as clean as possible" and you need some ELECTRICAL compatible flux..........NOT acid, designed for plumbing, etc. The electronics industry has a number of liquid fluxes, and one I always used to use is called "Nocorrode" (spelling?) which is supposed to be safe for electrics

EDIT "Nokorode"

nokorode for electrics - Google Search
 
For 2 bigger wires on my trolling motor. Bared and frayed each end. "Jammed" together and made sure each end laid flat and was inter mixed. Took a single strand of copper and wrapped it tight and snug around connection. Impossible to pull apart if wrapped tight. I then used paste and soldered. These were bigger sized wires but worked amazing.

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