I need some help with soldering

[mxcobra]

Hey guys this may be the right place to look. I cant solder wires to save my life, Plumbing pipes no problem. Wires big problem. I have a hand held solder gun with the trigger and replaceable tips. I can barely get the solder to melt and when it does it dont stick and coat the wire like it should any ideas do I have the wrong solder.-wrong tip,-holding my tongue wrong./ Or what. I gotta do some wire revamping on the boat. So i really need to get this down:faint2:

 

[alldodge]

Hey guys this may be the right place to look. I cant solder wires to save my life, Plumbing pipes no problem. Wires big problem. I have a hand held solder gun with the trigger and replaceable tips. I can barely get the solder to melt and when it does it dont stick and coat the wire like it should any ideas do I have the wrong solder.-wrong tip,-holding my tongue wrong./ Or what. I gotta do some wire revamping on the boat. So i really need to get this down:faint2:

Need a higher wattage gun/iron. Like soldering pipes you need a lot of heat real fast, and also need the copper clean and use flux. You can use butane torch

https://www.amazon.com/Blazer-GT8000-Shot-Butane-Torch/dp/B000NCZU0A

I have my Dad's old one which is 200 watts like this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Be...n-pointed-tip-NEW-cord-and-plug-/172496028253

 

[bruceb58]

Buy a soldering iron like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-...s=Weller+WES51

Plenty powerful for any soldering you are likely to do even though it's only 50 watts.

If you can't get the solder to melt, your soldering tip is toast. You could conceivably sand it down but once the nickel plating on the tip is gone, it oxidizes so fast its forever worthless.

Solder already has plenty of flux in it. if your wire is slightly corroded, you will never be able to solder it. I only buy tinned wire so I never have that issue.

If you are just doing butt splices on wires, consider doing crimp splices with a good quality heat shrink crimp and a good crimper.

 

[gm280]

I've solder for pushing well over 50 years now. The one thing you have to do is have totally clean wires to solder. If you are trying to solder dark looking older wires, they will not solder until they are clean and shiny copper, or tinned colored wires. And if those wires are dark all the way down under the insulation, you can use a vinegar and salt solution to clean the wires (replacing that wire is a good idea as well). It takes mere seconds to clean older wire to good copper again. Then rinse them in a baking soda solution and water and they will solder with ease.

The second is a quality soldering equipment. I use a Weller WE51 station for a lot of reasons. But it has never left me down. It has the capabilities to change the heat ranges for different applications as well as different type tips. I usually go about 600 to 650 degrees and leave it there. It works with all types and diameters of solder I use.

Also, DO use soldering flux when soldering! The flux, when heated, cleans the wires as it heats up and will accept solder quicker then not using it. Regardless what solder you use (60/40, 63/37 etc.), even solder that is suppose to have a flex core, use a quality liquid flux. If you are experienced soldering copper pipe, you know what the flux does. It does the same for soldering wires as well. If it takes you more then 10 seconds to get the solder to melt and flow, there is something wrong. Most of the time, I can solder wires and/or circuit board connections in mere 2 to 3 seconds. So with the proper cleaning, flux, heat and temperature, you should be able to solder most anything you come across...except copper pipes. Also keep your soldering tip clean and shiny with solder on it at all times. I usually wipe the tip across a wet slotted sponge before each solder connection for two reasons. First it cleans off the corrosion that gets on the tip between soldering events. Yes it happens that quick. Secondly it makes the tip just a little cooler and therefore cycling the heating element on to allow the heat to build as you solder.

As you get ready to solder a connection, apply a little liquid flux to the connection first, then apply the tip of the soldering pencil tip to the wire and add the solder right at the tip where it meets the wire. That will help transfer the heat and melt the solder the quickest. And that IS how it is taught when taking NASA certification soldering courses.

Try these things and get back with us. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy and quick you can solder then. If you need more assistance, come back and let us know. JMHO

 

[lmuss53]

Clean, clean, clean, that is also a key word. Professional solder stations come with a pad for a small sponge that is dampened and used to clean the iron tip every few minutes.

I clean the tip on a wire wheel and then plug the gun in and let it get hot. I put flux on the wires to be joined and then wipe the tip off on the sponge and apply a little solder to the tip of the iron. Take the molten solder to the wire and just dip the wire about half way into the puddle of solder on the iron. It should flow right on to the wire and tin it up for you. I do this on both wires to be joined together and then hold the tinned wires together and touch them with the wet tip. The solder on both surfaces should melt and flow together in a smooth bright puddle. Slide the tip off and you should have wires properly soldered together.

To solder to a terminal I always keep the tip a little wet and bring a little molten solder to the fluxed wire and terminal. Touch the tip to the terminal and the solder should flow to the wire and give you that bright wet look. If it needs more run the solder wire into the middle of the molten solder on the connection until it is wet enough for you. Sweep the tip of the iron toward the end of the terminal to take it off the joint.

I used to supervise a board building operation at work and all we used was the Weller stations, either in a fixed heat or adjustable. The sponge, flux, and clean surfaces are the most important parts of the equasion. If that was all as it should be, you could solder with a torch and a sixteen penny nail. Today I use a wood burner looking iron from Harbor Freight. Learn to use the iron to take a little molten solder to the clean, flux treated surfaces and soldering becomes much easier.

I saw one of the techs at a Walmart distrubution center using a Snap-On butane soldering iron on a lift control panel, very nice little setup there, sort of on my wish list now.

I have also salvaged a little 50/50 solder form my board building days, if you don't have that soldering with the new low lead solders is a giant PITA. Restrictions on lead in solder is one reason the board building at my former employer is now done in China. I would not try to solder electronic components without 50/50 or even 70/30 solder.

I never saw a trigger like gun used in any board building or repair process.

 

[lmuss53]

GM280, we posted together, but your post is right on the money. You can tell you soldered for a living and I supervised.

 

[GA_Boater]

When I was young, an older civilian military aviation instructor taught us the key to a good solder job is a strong mechanical joint before soldering wires.

So as an old timer myself, I say tin wires as recommended above and for joining two wires, bend each tinned wire into a hook, connect the hooks and squeeze the connection with needlenose pliers, then gently tug. If the joint stays together, hit it with the gun and solder. I use the same hook method for solder lugs on switches, lights, etc.

 

[gm280]

When I was young, an older civilian military aviation instructor taught us the key to a good solder job is a strong mechanical joint before soldering wires.

So as an old timer myself, I say tin wires as recommended above and for joining two wires, bend each tinned wire into a hook, connect the hooks and squeeze the connection with needlenose pliers, then gently tug. If the joint stays together, hit it with the gun and solder. I use the same hook method for solder lugs on switches, lights, etc.

GA_Boater, funny you mention that. When I was still working, I had to recertify every year or two. And even before I retired, the solder recertification tests still included bifurcated terminals like shown below.

There are Mil SPECs, even for those terminals, to follow...yet! SMH

You had to solder two tinned wires (you tinned them) along side each other on the terminal. BUT, you also had to be able to see each strand of wire and not a large solder blob covering them both. And the tinning could not be wicked up under that insulation, so you had to use anti-wicking tweezers. The wires had to be 180 degree bends and the insulation could be no further away from the terminal then 1 to 2 times the insulation diameter. And any wire you cut off had to have solder covering the end cut...no dissimilar metals could be showing. Of course the test also included DIP chip connections and SMD soldering. And if you failed, two more weeks training all over. I was lucky to never fail.

 

[lmuss53]

That's funny, because the electronics tech's, who were all former navy guys (and gal) did that on repairs, but the engineers insisted we did not have time on thru holes on production boards.

 

[tpenfield]

Not having read all of the other responses, but a common issue is not getting the wire (or terminal) hot enough.. If you are using the soldering iron to melt the solder, then what you are trying to solder may not be hot enough. Sometimes a bead of solder melted against the iron tip and held to the wire/terminal can transfer enough heat to get the solder to 'wet'

Sounds like what you are making is 'cold' solder joints, based on your description. time to make 'hot' ones. :thumb:

 

[wrench 3]

All good advice so far.
If you're not getting proper heat from your gun there may be poor connections between the replaceable tip and the gun itself. Try backing off the nuts or screws that hold the tip and re-tighten them.

 

[jimbo_jwc]

All good advice so far.
If you're not getting proper heat from your gun there may be poor connections between the replaceable tip and the gun itself. Try backing off the nuts or screws that hold the tip and re-tighten them.

Make sure the tips have a sharp 90 degree bend under the nuts and retighten and some tips would corrode to thin buy the tip and the secondary would be open or have high resistance and not make enough heat to even melt there .

 

[mxcobra]

Thank for all the help guys, Im thinking I can get her done from here

 

[Grandad]

All good advice so far.
If you're not getting proper heat from your gun there may be poor connections between the replaceable tip and the gun itself. Try backing off the nuts or screws that hold the tip and re-tighten them.

Exactly wrench. That was my first thought. Unless you use a small wrench to thoroughly tighten the square wire pegs in the round holes of my Weller solder gun, I get very little heat. I've found it best to heat a solder point quickly, flow the solder and then get out again quickly to avoid damaging the insulation. A cool solder gun or pencil will heat a greater length of wire because of the extended contact time to get solder up to melting point. - Grandad

 

[Strangeleak]

At risk of being flamed for non-traditional soldering practices.........

Depending on how much rewiring your doing you can use these.

Heat shrink tube and a ring of solder in the middle(might even contain some flux). I use them quite often and have been very happy with them. They are a alittle pricey but I find them well worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-Sleeve-Crimpless-Connectors/dp/B00IEFOCUM?th=1&psc=1

 

[mxcobra]

At risk of being flamed for non-traditional soldering practices.........

Depending on how much rewiring your doing you can use these.

Heat shrink tube and a ring of solder in the middle(might even contain some flux). I use them quite often and have been very happy with them. They are a alittle pricey but I find them well worth it.

https://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-Sleeve-Crimpless-Connectors/dp/B00IEFOCUM?th=1&psc=1

I have never seen those before, they look like they would work great.

 

[alldodge]

I have never seen those before, they look like they would work great.

They do work great, use them on Naval gun systems for many years. Just need to make sure your wire is tinned prior to using for good flow

 

[gm280]

Only time we've used them were to connected a wire to a shielded braid on a coaxial wire. And they did that nicely. But any place we could use regular solder joints, we used either lap joint or something like that.

 

[lmuss53]

You know, someone comes up with something new all the time. That might not provide the technically proper connection, but I just bought 25 of each of the yellow and blue. If the solder will flow with a heat gun only I think they could work for boat and or trailer stuff.

They will sure work better than the crimp types.

 

[alldodge]

They will melt with melt with a heat gun, use a half wrap shield to keep the heat concentrated around it