Soldering Question

I went thru the school of hard knocks concerning electrical connections. We had contracts for plow/salt truck maintenance.
I learned decades ago to cut out crimp connectors. Wires just need to be clean, twisted together correctly, soldered correctly [ enough heat and resin flux] and covered securely. I shrink tube or rubber coat every connection. There are some connectors now are pretty good at all this, but, I still get out the solder gun/iron.
Heck, I'm so anal about this stuff, I do it in household wiring. But, I also hate normal 14 gauge house wire and use 12 instead.
For electrical stuff, resin/rosin core/ flux should be used, not, acid.
When I mean 'cut out crimp connectors' I mean but/splice connectors not ends.
 
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I use rosin core solder from Walmart on electrical connections and have never needed any type flux. I have used this method on many old cutouts that I converted to diode and never had a connection failure. The parts must be clean before any solder attempts.
 
SeaSlugs said:
... some of the solder goes into the wire and gives it additional strength and conductivity.
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That one of the biggest mistakes people make when soldering. The solder flows up the wire and makes it a solid wire with no flexibility, taking away the reason stranded wire is used in the first place.

Even the manufacturers (Painless, Ron Francis, etc.) of aftermarket wiring harnesses recommend against soldering for that reason.
 
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Y-Blockhead said:
Actually you'll notice that most connectors are crimped these days but for our cars unacceptable?

Most people don't know how to solder correctly and a good crimp is much better. But that doesn't help the "Points Guy" much.
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I actually do both when the connector will allow. Crimp and then solder.
 
Y-Blockhead said:
Actually you'll notice that most connectors are crimped these days but for our cars unacceptable?

Most people don't know how to solder correctly and a good crimp is much better. But that doesn't help the "Points Guy" much.
Click to expand...

I actually do both when the connector will allow. Crimp and then solder.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
I actually do both when the connector will allow. Crimp and then solder.
Click to expand...

I do the same. That way, you are sure of a good connection. Rosin core solder stays in place good for me instead of running off like water. I use to have problems until I discovered the benefits of rosin core solder .
 
FWIW,

A real good crimp is a cold weld. I use them all the time for the aircraft work I do. A neat tool that has 4 pins that squish the shell of the connector. Granted the A stuff I do not think was done this way. The crimping they did was a great mechanical connection. I have taken some apart.

Only solder is very bad in a connection that carries any current flow. A connector is a point of resistance. Over time the heat causes corrosion and the resistance of the connection increases. This can get bad enough for solder to melt and the wire can get loose. This can be very bad if the wire still has a connection to the electrical source.

In fixing stuff I have had to work with low quality connector ends and had to mix wrong size wires into a connector. In those cases I will crimp then solder to ensure a proper connection.

In the case of exposed connections I will crimp then solder. The crimp gives me the mechanical electrical connection for safety. The solder coats the metals preventing internal corrosion on the strands and between the connector and the wire.

A lot of what I do is based on experience. I am called in frequently to get stuff working and so I get to see what went wrong and I always look close to find out why.

Keep in mind Ford crimped then soldered the connections. I do not recall the bullet ends, but I know the wires on the switch were crimped the soldered.
 
Tom, I'll get you a picture in the morning. I think you will be surprised how inexpensive the tool is, but it works the best of any I have tried. It's for non-insulated connectors 14-22 awg.
 
All of the above recommendations above as far as the soldering technique are good.

Of course there are different opinions about whether you should solder or not, but since that is not what you asked for I will ad one tip to the process you did ask for.

When heating the wire in order to solder, it is sometimes helpful to have a small blob of molten solder on the end of your soldering iron you are touching to the wire. The liquid to wire transfers heat better than just the iron to wire.
 
I always do it like Bill just mentioned. I also put the wire in the flux to get a tiny bit of flux on the end of the wire. This makes the solder and heat flow better, even if using flux core solder. As soon as the solder sets up, but before it cools, wipe off any excess flux.
 
In a past life I used to build railway signalling systems. There is no room for bad connections in this work and the connections had to last for thirty plus years in hostile environments.

We used to always use soldered joints. If the device we were installing was set up for crimped joints, the crimps were soldered.

Our soldering techniques were as follows:

Strip wire(s) back to bright copper (discard any corroded wires).
Clean any terminals with fibreglass pencils.
Apply paste rosin flux to all wires, terminals, etc.
Make a solid mechanical connection by twisting wires, crimping or similar.
Apply solder to hot soldering iron and wipe or shake off surplus.
Press hot soldering iron to wiring joint.
Push solder against wiring joint NOT against the iron until the solder flows.

If the joint is dirty, the iron is not hot enough, or there is insufficient flux, the solder will not flow evenly around the joint. In this case, start over, you cannot be sure to recover a cold solder joint.


Ian
 
The Master Cylinder said:
That one of the biggest mistakes people make when soldering. The solder flows up the wire and makes it a solid wire with no flexibility, taking away the reason stranded wire is used in the first place.

Even the manufacturers (Painless, Ron Francis, etc.) of aftermarket wiring harnesses recommend against soldering for that reason.
Click to expand...

This is a common problem for those who are just starting to learn soldering. Too much heat for too long will cause the solder to work up the wire too far. Get in with the heat, let the solder flow into the joint, get out with the heat. Don't heat it any longer than it takes to flow into the joint.
 
And don't get the solder too hot or it gets weak and crumbly. Don't let the tip on the soldering gun get too hot or you shorten it's life. Keeping the tip clean and well tinned should make it last a lifetime for most people. As soon as I see the tip get old solder I'll wipe it while hot, then touch it to the flux and melt a thin layer of new solder onto it.
 
ian Simpson said:
In a past life I used to build railway signalling systems. There is no room for bad connections in this work and the connections had to last for thirty plus years in hostile environments.

We used to always use soldered joints. If the device we were installing was set up for crimped joints, the crimps were soldered.

Our soldering techniques were as follows:

Strip wire(s) back to bright copper (discard any corroded wires).
Clean any terminals with fibreglass pencils.
Apply paste rosin flux to all wires, terminals, etc.
Make a solid mechanical connection by twisting wires, crimping or similar.
Apply solder to hot soldering iron and wipe or shake off surplus.
Press hot soldering iron to wiring joint.
Push solder against wiring joint NOT against the iron until the solder flows.

If the joint is dirty, the iron is not hot enough, or there is insufficient flux, the solder will not flow evenly around the joint. In this case, start over, you cannot be sure to recover a cold solder joint.


Ian
Click to expand...
yup i agree with all of these techniques especially in harsh environments both climate and vibration (such as a model A or any car for that matter)
 
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