soldering 2 wires together

Hello,

I was wondering what methods people use to solder 2 wires together in a vehicle.

I am new to soldering, and am having great trouble holding the wires steady while soldering them. I usually end up burning the insulation. 

Please help.

Thanks

It depends how thick the wires are and also if you are soldering two ends together or if your soldering one end to the middle of a wire.

• Make sure that you have a solder IRON and not a soldering gun ! The difference is the iron heats up to a certain temperature but the gun is an electric piece of S*@T that takes forever to heat up.
• If your soldering two ends together ( small gauge ) strip back about 3/4" of the insulation and twist the wires together at about the half way mark on each one. Fold back the wires so they are straight again and solder the pieces together like that.
• On larger gauge wires I strip back the insulation about 1" each and I mash the ends together and squish the ends together so that they inter twine with each other. I then drip solder on the outer surface of the splice and then I apply the rest of the solder after the initial connection has been made.
• If you solder a wire end and the middle of the wire, strip back the middle of the wire about 3/4" and split the wire so there are two sides of the wire ( not cut the wire, but separate the signle wire into two halves down the middle ) and then you slip the wire end through the middle and twist the end around the opening, then solder.

Hope this helps and good luck. Another thing you can try is buying a third hand hobby soldering kit that holds your wires together. You can get this at any Radio Shack or Home Depot.