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

Treblig said

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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

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Howard The Stoney Crusty Plumber told me years ago, "solder follows flux, and flux follows heat."

Over the decades, I found this to be true.

dibbons said

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I do notice the older wires are a few shades darker in color that freshly purchased copper wire.

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Well, that's because those dark wires are what you call corroded

If they get worse, they'll be green and fuzzy. But anything short of looking like a brand new shiny penny is not clean enough... Period.

And, as far as solder having greater electrical resistance than copper wiring... If you're putting enough current through that circuit for this theoretical consideration to come into play, you're putting far too damn much current through that circuit.

In practical use, you should not really see any difference. It's kind of like arguing between running 32 or 32.5 PSI in a tire...