soldering

vandito.cb

vandito.cb

Been Around the Block
how flexible should a soldered joint be inline?

is a lack of flexibility just an unfortunate byproduct of choosing solder over crimping?

i just bought an iron and started some practice joints on scrap 18g wire, but they keep coming out very stiff/brittle and i'm worried that won't fair well in the harness under any flex.

can i just linesman splice and add very little solder (so copper is still very much showing rather than a completely tin coated joint) as just to create a slight adhesion while still maintaining some flexibility in the wire?

also, how long should the joint with the solder be?
 
Solder doesn't like to bend when it's flowed into copper wire. That's just the way it is ;)


As far as, say, shortening / lengthening the wires for a switchblock goes, if you stagger the joins then you end up with a much neater looking result (and the loom doesn't look like a snake that's swallowed a golf ball).


As far as how long the joins should be? I do all mine around half an inch.


The key to getting good connections is to tin the individual ends FIRST, then solder them together with a bit more solder (overlapped / side by side). That way the solder has already flowed through the join on both sides.
 
hillsy said:
As far as how long the joins should be? I do all mine around half an inch.
Click to expand...

from insulation to insulation once they're joined or just the actual "braiding"?
 
I make my joints about 1/2" as well, from insulation to insulation. The smaller you can make your joint, the less rigid area you'll have, but you still want to have enough of the wire tinned to get a good joint.

My method it to slightly twist two freshly cut ends of wire together, heat with the iron from the bottom of the joint (solder always flows toward the heat) and apply solder to the top so it flows down toward the iron.

Staggering the joints is a great idea, especially if you're heat shrinking the harness.


Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
 
If you can find a RadioShack nearby, I use one of these and it makes soldering life easy.

68f0e482928fe951a5c6845e6c2a0592.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
 
adventurco said:
My method it to slightly twist two freshly cut ends of wire together, heat with the iron from the bottom of the joint (solder always flows toward the heat) and apply solder to the top so it flows down toward the iron.


Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
Click to expand...

i'm having trouble picturing this.
 
Basically I don't touch the solder to the iron, I hear the copper wire from underneath and let the wire melt the solder. Can post some pics later


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adventurco said:
Basically I don't touch the solder to the iron, I hear the copper wire from underneath and let the wire melt the solder. Can post some pics later


Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
Click to expand...

that's what i do. i meant when you said you slightly twist because i thought you were supposed to create a strong joint first.
 
About your concerns that the solder joins are too stiff and won't fair well in the harness - the only place a harness really needs to have any flex is where the loom / switch block wires go past the steering head. The rest of the harness is pretty much static and tied to the frame.


In these situations, it's ideal to not have any joins in the wires but if you need to, then stagger the joins and you will still retain some flexibility in the harness.


I've been extending / shortening switch block wiring for years by using the staggered join method and have never had a join break on me.
 
hillsy said:
the only place a harness really needs to have any flex is where the loom / switch block wires go past the steering head.
Click to expand...

precisely where it is too. i'm just going to see if i can get my hands on some step-down connectors locally since napa charges like $7 for them...fuck that.
 
vandito.cb said:
precisely where it is too. i'm just going to see if i can get my hands on some step-down connectors locally since napa charges like $7 for them...fuck that.
Click to expand...


Just use a longer piece of wire and solder it further down the loom where it doesn't flex. You don't want to be putting extra connectors in your loom if they aren't needed - that's just inviting the electrical gremlins in for a party later on down the track.
 
This is another great debate: To solder or not to solder.
I choose the former. Soldering gives rigid connections and are prone to cracking and breaking if not done sparingly.
(Ive had a nightmare diagnosing issue of a ground-wire terminal cracking and making a weak connection forcing me to spend a lot of time, money and stress just to solve.)

Ratcheting crimpers and heat-shrink is more durable and less time-consuming.
I use harbor-freight ratcheting crimper and spring-assisted wire stripper. However, if you want to be a pro, I was lead to this site cycleterminal.com/crimp-tools.html -those are some pretty connects!
 
I rarely solder when I can use crimped terminals.

I use solder to join wires where terminals aren't feasible.

Once in a great while, I will crimp and solder, but usually only if there is additional support provided to the wire, such as when a plastic terminal is involved and the wire gauge is non-standard.
 
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