How’s My Soldering?

First off, I'd like to say "Hi." I've been lurking around trying to gather up all of the information I can on general wiring and such. I'm currently in the process of rewiring some of my old projects that I now see were done wrong...or not the best way.

The one thing I would like feedback on is soldering wires to terminals. I have done searches but have yet to really see any pictures. So I thought I'd try out some different techniques and see how they do.

Here's what I did...
* I used a MAPP gas torch for my heating (is this a bad thing?)
* Heated up the terminal until it was hot enough to melt the solder.
* Melted several inches of solder into the terminal.
* Inserted the stripped wire into the still hot terminal/solder
* Let cool.
* Protective heat shrink wasn't added because I was just testing connections.

Here are the pictures of the result:

(The stray strands are actually pieces of lint it picked up when I sat it down)




I'm thinking this will do the trick because I took some pliers and tried to make it fail by attempting to pull out the wire and this happened:



The wire failed before the soldered connection did. And if you look carefully, you'll see that the ring terminal was severly stretched/deformed.

I tested a conventional crimp connection which failed before the wire failed in the above test.

So whatcha'll think?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

i think you must get paid by the hour.

Why do you say that? This is for a personal project - running aftermarket accessories for my offroad vehicle.

You are trying to kill a fly with a sledge hammer.

What you should use is a terminal crimper for any ring terminal application. Solder it if you want extra reinforcement, personally it's a waste of time and effort as the marginal benefit that you gain from soldering does not justify the time you spend in do it. Get yourself a terminal crimper. The ring terminal work is done in less than a second. Save the solder work on loose wire. What I mean is that when you are trying to connect wires together without terminal and connector of any sort is when soldering is the most applicable. Nothing wrong with what you have done, but you can make better use of your time. Say maybe things like getting world peace.       


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Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.

uploaded some more pictures of different angles...

Ah, OK thepencil. That makes sence.

While I do understand and appreciate the advice, I think that I will end up soldering the connections. When I last inspected my wiring, I found a few loose connections that I crimped. The constant vibration and shock this thing sees offroad seems to like to shake everything loose (including teeth ;) )

I just wanted to get a second opinion on my soldering to make sure I was doing it correctly.

Thanks for the information so far!

Steve

What I do on those kinds of ring terminals is
1st - Crimp the connector
2nd - Insert the wire in to terminal
3rd - Heat up terminal and wire
4th - Stick solder into the top of the wire.

If your gonna go all out... Might as well go all out.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!

Ooooooooo, never thought of trying it like that. Might have to try that after work!

The wire should still be crimped in the terminal.

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Certified Security Specialist
Always check info with a digital multimeter.
I promise to be good.
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I've been sick lately, sorry I won't be on much.

the solder should be melted into the terminal and not have this repeled look. I think thats a cold solder. The other thing to keep in mind is not to let the flame touch the solder. Heat the terminal from the back side.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!

5150azn, yeah, the front does look funny. But that's how I heated/melted the solder. I'd hold the terminal over the torch, then quickly take it off of the flame and add the solder. I kept on getting the solder stuck to the terminal when it cooled off too much. The back side of the connection looks like there was better fusing between the solder and the terminal. I guess I just didn't heat the top part of the terminal enough.

But thanks for pointing that out! I hadn't realized that.

Steve

thepencil wrote:

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You are trying to kill a fly with a sledge hammer.

What you should use is a terminal crimper for any ring terminal application. Solder it if you want extra reinforcement, personally it's a waste of time and effort as the marginal benefit that you gain from soldering does not justify the time you spend in do it. Get yourself a terminal crimper. The ring terminal work is done in less than a second. Save the solder work on loose wire. What I mean is that when you are trying to connect wires together without terminal and connector of any sort is when soldering is the most applicable. Nothing wrong with what you have done, but you can make better use of your time. Say maybe things like getting world peace.       

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thats what i said.