How To Solder - Intro/Joining Stranded Wires - Part 1

what's up YouTube today I'm going to be talking about soldering specifically how to solder the two stranded wires together now there are a few different ways to do this but I'm going to show you how I learned I don't do this by trade but being a home mechanic I quickly learned that soldering was a valuable skill and was essential in repairing or constructing virtually any type of electrical system soldering is going to be the strongest longest lasting most reliable way to join wires together from zero AWG all the way down to 40 the key is when it is done properly a poorly solder connection will result in poor performance let's talk about the solder when soldering electrical components it is essential that you use electrical grade solder meaning something acid-free don't just grab the stuff you use the side of that one-inch copper pipe last week acid core solder doesn't adversely affect the copper wire itself the problem is that over time the acid will eat through the wires coating and probably the heat shrink too exposing your connection and eventually leading to corrosion another thing to consider when talking about solder is flux flux basically oxygenates the metal you are trying to solder ensuring a good joint although why I may look smooth it's actually perforated and full of holes the flux ensures the solder adheres properly try soldering without flux and watch the solder just roll off to simplify this process I recommend using rosin core solder it is a tubular or hollow form of solder the inner space of the solder is filled with non corrosive rosin flux sort of like the lead in a pencil that way there is no need to externally brush out any flux rosin core solder also comes in different tinsel ed ratios resulting in different melting temperatures for general applications using medium to large gauge wire I'll use 6040 because that has a melting point of about 370 degrees now that you know the soldering flux works let's talk about soldering gun for general applications you have no problem using a gun that reaches a preset temperature these are available almost anywhere and usually run between 20 or 50 bucks you could even use a wood burner to solder although it might not be as efficient as a tool specifically designed for soldering if your soldering wires to a circuit board then you're going to want something that you can control the temperature on but those can be pretty expensive my only suggestion is you stay away from battery-operated guns you want some it's 115 volts that you can plug in they generally get hotter and are more reliable than battery-operated models also stick with something that has a small conical tip or an angled chisel tip these will allow you to do precision work so now you have your solder and soldering gun ready you're also going to need some heat shrink tubing a damp sponge a pair of wire stripping pliers and a pair of wire cutters you can use a razor blade to remove the coating on the wire but then you run the risk of severing one of the inner wire strands the first step is to use the wire strippers to remove about a half inch of coating on each wire now use the wire cutters to cut a piece of heat shrink tubing to about 1 inch long slide it down the wire as far away from the point of solder as possible this will prevent the heat shrink from activating prematurely from the heat produced by soldering again there are many methods to do this but for the next step I separate the wire strands and mesh them together I found this to be the most reliable method even when joining wires or different diameters some people use an X pattern and just twist the wires together it's just more of a preference I guess once the wires are meshed together use one hand to pinch one side of the wire together and use the other hand to twist the strands together on the opposite side now repeat the process on the side you had initially pinched now that the wire is twisted together let your iron heat up to its operating temperature this weather model lights up green when ready wipe the tip on a damp sponge to remove any previous buildup unroll yourself enough solder to work with comfortably and touch the solder to the tip of your iron this process is called tinning tinning will help prevent oxidation of your tip and will also help heat transfer more efficiently to the wire you are soldering the goal here is to just cover the tip in a very fine coating of solder now that your wire is prepped and your iron is ready to go touch the tip against the wire after about a second or so you're ready to make the initial contact between the solder and the wire the point of initial contact should always be with the tip of the soldering iron makes contact with the wire what this is doing is forming sort of a bridge of molten solder between the tip and wire essentially giving the tip a wider point of contact with the wire allowing the heat to transfer to the wire much quicker once you begin this process it happens in seconds begin by touching the solder to the initial point of contact and let the wire absorb the molten solder keep your soldering iron stationary and move the solder up and down the wire until your connection is completely covered be sure not to apply moisture than needed a connection when excess solder will increase resistance a good solder connection should be shiny you should still be able to see the original shape of the wire you how do you connection is cooled off slide your heat shrink over the connection making sure to overlap both ends of the insulation I prefer to use a cigarette lighter to activate the heat shrink tubing but you can use a heat gun or even to tip your soldering iron just hop it the tip over the tubing and move it around use the radiant heat to activate the to make sure you don't actually make contact with the tip because the tubing will melt very easily just heat up the tubing enough to melt it and form fit the wire but this process can be very time-consuming if done properly this connection will outlast the wire itself just to prove the strength of this connection I ran a little test I cut about eight inches of wire and sided the ends together once the connection cooled I tried to rip it apart five out of five times the wire never broke within one inch of either side of my soldered connection proving its strength the only things I can think of that will cause your solder connection to fail would be corrosion or in some situations if enough current is passed through the wire heating it up past the melting point of the solder well I hope you guys learn something new and if you have any questions I'm always read in the comments

Channel: AriesTheRedNose

Views: 1,155,060

Rating: 4.8452945 out of 5

Keywords: solder, how to, soldering, soldering iron, flux, acid, core, rosin core, weller, gun, splice, join, wire, wires, together, introduction, intro, stranded wire, joint, connection, electronics, electricity, current, insulation, strip, copper, oxidation, heat shrink, tubing, professionally, professional, silver, awg, gauge, diameter, mechanics, computer, circuit, trade, repair, fix, do it yourself, diy, prepper, mechanic, pipe, electrical, system, temperature, temp, resistance, wood burner, battery, 115v, chisel, tin, tinning, mesh, hd

Id: Q9G9gaokqvM

Length: 7min 32sec (452 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 23 2013

Reddit Comments

[u/nuffsaiddoe]

Using a lighter to shrink heatshrink. What a goddamn barbarian.