How to solder (56k warned)

[g6civcx]

Disclaimer: Zilvia and author not responsible for content or misuse.
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This information can be found everywhere. I put it here for reference. There should be no more excuses about why you don't know how to solder.
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http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder01.JPG
Tools:

* Controlled heat source (lighter)
* Wire stripper and cutter
* Soldering iron
* Scissors (for cutting tape)
* Vinyl electrical tape
* Solder (I recommend rosin core)
* Heat shrink tubing
* Wires (for demo purposes)
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WARNING: The soldering iron is extremely hot. Don't burn yourself or your house!

1. Find a nice, clean surface to work. Try to keep a fire extinguisher on hand if possible.

2. Before you begin, clean off the tip of the soldering iron with denatured alcohol if possible. Do this before the iron is hot.

3. Plug in the iron and wait for it to warm up.

4. While the iron is heating up, start by stripping the wires.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder02.JPG

5. Expose a short portion of bare wire like so. I like to fray the ends a little bit to help with the pigtail.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder03.JPG

6. Be sure to slide the heat shrink tubing on before you start the pigtail. Then do the pigtail like so. Try to keep it small and tidy so you don't have a big lump in the wire. Also shown is the rosin core solder. I recommend breaking off a piece of solder to make it easier to work with.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder04.JPG

7. This is the trickiest part. Put a little solder on the tip of the iron to slightly tint it, and to make sure that the iron is hot. Then gently apply the tip to the pigtail and apply solder sparingly. The solder should melt and start migrating towards the heat source. Try to use as little solder as necessary.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder05.JPG

8. Try to get something like this. Get the solder to coat the pigtail evenly. UNPLUG THE SOLDERING IRON!!!
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder06.JPG

9. Slide the heat shrink tubing over and apply heat. Try not to melt the tubing. Just apply enough to shrink it.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder07.JPG

10. Try to get something like this.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder08.JPG

11. Finally, apply electrical tape.
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder09.JPG


If you take your time and exercise a little patience, your wiring can look nice and clean like this. No more messy wiring. No more butt connectors. :hammer:

Good luck!
http://g6civcx.angryhosting.com/S13/Tech/Solder/Solder10.JPG

[TipStylez]

I learnd how to do this when i was 10...

And if your bored, you can try to melt the solder, and try to make as big of a solder ball as you can. haha

[g6civcx]

Make sure you breath in as much fumes as possible as well. It does a body good.

[s14slide]

I find that just touching the soldering iron to the heatshrink with the thick part of the ironing tip near the base of it works very well to shrink the tubing, reducing needed tools by one. I work with RC planes too, and having an open flame near some of the glues is just asking for a fire. Trust me, I found out the hard way. So when your head-in-footwell under the dash trying to solder a harness up, don't worry about catching your hair on fire and just use the iron.

[g6civcx]

That's a good tip. Ideally you would use the flame-free heating tool, but being how I didn't have any flammable around it was okay for me.

I prefer to do wiring out of the car for precisely the reason said above.

[ThatGuy]

A heat gun is the proper tool to use for heat shrink tubing.
You should invest in one anyway for rolling/pulling fenders. :bow:

[spdfreek0o]

you can also use adhesive lined heat shrink for watertight connections. Great stuff for engine bays and you won't have to deal with electrical tape ever again.

[TipStylez]

^Soo damn expensive tho...

[statik]

heat guns are awesome, mine has a "cook hotdog" setting, lets just say it gets extremely hot very fast

[Phlip]

My heat gun has a "turn a quarter red" setting, and I haven't the foggiest of ideas why.
On another note, G6, I didn't see mention that stripping maybe a little more of the covering from the wire, then hooking the now longer exposed wiresmakes them easier to keep together WHILE soldering and a stronger connection once soldered. They taught us that as the ONLY way in aircraft maintenence school.

[ThatGuy]

PHLIP is correct, as I have gone through a very similar Aircraft Wiring course. :bow:

[statik]

My heat gun has a "turn a quarter red" setting, and I haven't the foggiest of ideas why.
On another note, G6, I didn't see mention that stripping maybe a little more of the covering from the wire, then hooking the now longer exposed wiresmakes them easier to keep together WHILE soldering and a stronger connection once soldered. They taught us that as the ONLY way in aircraft maintenence school.

its especially important with thicker gauge wire, otherwise you will find the wire constantly falling apart while trying to solder

[JVD]

It's called tinning the iron, BTW. You want to make the strongest mechanical connection possible before soldering. You shouldn't need very much solder. I usually tin the iron, touch my tip to the wires to heat them, and then quickly touch the solder to the tip of the iron(still touching the wires as well). As soon as it starts to melt(instantly) flow the solder over the entire connection. Your joints should be shiny. Dull joints can=cold joints(non-working), although it's pretty hard to eff up on wires...

[Phlip]

Oh, and I also prefer not to molest the wires as I strip them, so I use an automatic/ratcheting wire stripper, like this:
http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2160702w345.jpg
... only like 15 bucks at radioshack

[NemeGuero]

Write-up king.

[Ritz S14]

All those wirestrippers suck. No offense, but I HATE using the one in the first post. It pisses me off every time I have nothing to use BUT that. The auto stripper is okay, but difficult to use if you're underneath a dash.

When I used to wire up a ton of shit, I'd have an ergonomical one. Works awesome, under a dash/hood/trunk whatever. They work great. I've probably gone through 3-4 within one year, cause I'm forgetful when it comes to taking tools out of cars. But since I hardly do anymore wiring, I just have a non-ergo wire stripper. It works cool, doesn't cramp up my hand, and it always stays sharp.

I'll post pics in a sec.

[g6civcx]

Thanks for all the feedback. Again, this is the bare minimum you have to do. There are better ways of doing it as brought up above.

I did tin and hook like you guys mentioned. I didn't mention it because I didn't think it was important, but if you know that much then there's no need to bring it up. This writeup was really for the regular person.

Also, I never really use the wire stripper. I use a razor to slice the protective coating longitudinally as to not slice off any wire. Then I make a final cut around the circumference.

Also, the best way is the heating tool with a heat deflector meant for melting heat shrink tubing. I used the lighter because I had it lying around.


Please keep the comments coming. There are always better ways to do something.

[Ritz S14]

I like to use very thin soilder, because it melts very fast, and goes on like butter
A cordless soildering iron, works everywhere convienently
http://vinylwurkz.com/how2wire/IMG_0581.jpg
Once the wires are stripped, join them together in an "X".
Wrap them around eachother
http://vinylwurkz.com/how2wire/IMG_0586.jpg
You can soilder them two ways.

Left: AS descibed above.
Right: It's a little more difficult to do yourself, but with two people
it works great when the room is very minimal. I've pulled them with
about 20lbs of force, it's not going anywhere.

http://vinylwurkz.com/how2wire/IMG_0587.jpg
Taping, is also important. You only need about 1.5" of tape. Do not use
CHEAP tape, cause they'll unravel with age and heat. I prefer 3M or
equivelent. It's really simple to rip off the tape cleanly if you have fingernails
Just dig you thumb in it and pull. It'll rip right off just like if you were to cut it.
http://vinylwurkz.com/how2wire/IMG_0589.jpg

It's always best to heat up the wire, and let the soilder flow. If it's dull, then it's a cold soilder, and will likely fall apart.

[95Blue240sx]

I hate cheap wire strippers. I go for a nice quality one. Everytime I've used a cheap one it just fucks up, it cuts excess wire or doesn't cut the insulation fully. Get a good one and you will face less stress.

I love to solder shit and have been since junior high. I was into electric RCs then went to gas, then got my car. I still solder very often and its fun to do IMHO. XBOX FTW :D

I think not mentioning the step about wrapping the wires together is essential. I know there is one way to wrap it but forgot the technical name of it and google hasnt helped haha.

EDIT: Damn you V.

The wrap I was talking about is the second pic posted by Ritz

[statik]

Only picture i have, but check the buttom right corner, just got em, its a combination cutter/stripper, it flips around

http://teamhpi.org/10-8-06/harness/100_0410.jpg

I used it to do my entire harness, its so damn handy and works great

[Ritz S14]

They look cool, but IMO too much of hassal to flip it around.

Wire strippers that have cutters on the bottom works wonders.

[statik]

They look cool, but IMO too much of hassal to flip it around.

Wire strippers that have cutters on the bottom works wonders.

Actually i've got it down pretty fast, its loose so you just flip it in your hand, only problem with those other strippers with the cutter is you can only cut things thats you can fit the entire stripper around this you can cut zip ties, into a harness casing etc. since its like a small pair of dykes, anyway everyone has personal preference =]

[Ritz S14]

Yeah.. forgot about cutting zipties, kinda sucks with the strippers I have. So +1 for your dykes strippers. haha

[Replicant_S14]

All those wirestrippers suck. No offense, but I HATE using the one in the first post. It pisses me off every time I have nothing to use BUT that. The auto stripper is okay, but difficult to use if you're underneath a dash.

Right on. I probably strip, solder and terminate more wires in a day than most people will in their life. I can get any tool I want, but even so I use:
http://www.dmctools.com/Images/Products/ideal-14.jpg
Although...to be fair I do go through a pair a month if I'm busy.

[theicecreamdan]

to really make sure that the electrical tape will stay, if you wrap it once around with the sticky side in, and then turn the tape around and wrap sticky side out. It will stay together for a long time.

[g6civcx]

Wrap them around eachother
http://vinylwurkz.com/how2wire/IMG_0586.jpg


This is one of the neatest wrap I've seen. Usually I don't have the patience to do this. +1

[NemeGuero]

yay circle jerking! haha

[kandyflip445]

Look up "western union splice" It's the best connection to solder 2 wired together. IIRC, you strip 1" of the jacket on each wire and you make a certain number of turns on each wire. You can also tin the wires to keep the strands from comming apart. Also, I don't know if it was mentioned, after tinning the iron do not touch the solder to it. Apply heat to one side of the wire and then apply the solder to the other side. If you are trying to solder 2 existing wires and they are kinda dirty you can buy flux that you brush on. Brushing this on and then heating the wires will clean them allowing a better connection.

[devonkyle77]

longitudinally


is that a word?
lol

[g6civcx]

lon·gi·tu·di·nal·ly adverb 1: placed or running lengthwise; 2 : of or relating to length or the lengthwise dimension

If you have taken anatomy you know what it means.

[NemeGuero]

My penis is longitudinally large. ;)

[kandyflip445]

Don't you mean vagina? Whore! :rofl:

Back to topic. When you have heatshrink on the wire keep it away from the connection while soldering. I've slipped and shrunk the crap while soldering. It sucks. lol

[Replicant_S14]

... oh and another thing:

Harbor Freight has a $10 heat gun. I have one and it works just fine. In fact, I have a nice Master Appliance gun here in the shop and I hardly ever use it since I got the HF one.

[upSLIDEdown]

To ellaborate on the solder not touching the iron after it's tinned... You should be heating the wires hot enough to melt the solder, not using the iron to melt it. That way the solder flows through all the strands and even into the middle, not just coats the outside. It is a much stronger joint and a MUCH better connection. This is also why I use the really thin solder, it melts faster than the thick stuff, so the wires don't have to be as hot. It also helps to let the joint/wires cool to a minute before you slide your heatshrink down. That way you don't risk shrinking it accidentally on the warm insulation/wires.