curious about soldering technique

Just wonddering what technic most people use to solder a wire to an existing wire.  I used scotch locks while I was figuring out wiring my starter but now I have to go back and solder.  Do you just use the heat of the soldering iron to strip the insulation as you solder the wire on or do you have to use a knife to removed a secion of it?  The wires are pretty delicate, 18 gauge or smaller, so I don't know if I want to have at it with a razor blade :)

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You need to remove the insulation from the wire you will be soldering to. If you do not, you will melt the plastic into the wire as well as the solder, if you even get the solder to go through at all.

Mikeshonda750 did a "How to solder" post a while back, give it a read here.

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Installer, IT support, and FFL. I need less hobbies.

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Get an automatic wire stripper and a good gun [my preferance] dual heat type. strip off 3/8 inch for the main wire, take the wire to be attached and fan out the strands [this helps in making the intital wrap nice and tight and also not too bulky] Put our gun to the connection pull he trigger, let it heat up and melt some solder onto it. Whenthe solder gets shiny and it will suck into the connection, your done. Tape it up and onto the next one...

Good luck!

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Tire Proz Stillwater Mn
High End Restyling and Comlete Repair

I've looked around but I can't find a wire stripper that does this, what does it look like?  Is a single fold of tape the proper way to do it rather than wraping around a number of times?

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Perhaps this? https://canadiantire.ca/browse/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672921&bmUID=1171554086267&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443292700&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true

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Mac, Snapon....they all have good strippers....(ha ha)

I use a Mac.

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Ya can get them at home depote, lowes, menards about 15 bucks.. As far as the tape goes, I use 3m super 33 and take about an inch and a half and just wrap it nice and tight so it wont unravel or there arent any strands pokeing through the tape... the tighter the better, It just makes for a nice clea install...

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Tire Proz Stillwater Mn
High End Restyling and Comlete Repair

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Well I checked out Home Depot, Cnd tire and Walmart, couldn't find a stripper that does this, can anyone post a link to one?

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If you plan on doing installs, I would suggest a better quality tool. Check out this one from Snapon. I do not use the automatic ones like what you have listed, I just use standard strippers and a razor blade.

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Installer, IT support, and FFL. I need less hobbies.

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Thats what they are meant for, but they do work really good for installs, sometimes ya still need to cut the insulation back but for the most par they work great. I think Great Bend tools makes them, in the home electrical sections generally.. a good old razor blade works just fine too, just tough on the digits...

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Tire Proz Stillwater Mn
High End Restyling and Comlete Repair

I use an ideal (brand) automatic wire stripper. They make electrician tools and all there stuff works great. What makes these types of strippers great is that you can use them 'in-line' to pull back enough of the insulation on the wire to give you a place to solder into. Just go on eBay and type in 'ideal wire stripper', or 'ideal stripmaster'. There are a few ones on there right now that are under $10 (at the moment). To give you an idea of what they look like, here's a quick link to one that's for sale in eBay stores:

https://cgi.ebay.com/IDEAL-Stripmaster-10-22-AWG-wire-stripper-45-092-L-4421_W0QQitemZ150090462894QQihZ005QQcategoryZ109566QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Alright. Link isn't working. The wire stripper that I was trying to link to AS A REFERENCE (you don't need to pay that much) is item# 150090462894

The reason I picked that particular auction is because it has great close-up pictures of the stripper. If you'd like to take a look, just type in the item number into the search box (over on eBay).     

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Yep. Correct. It grips on one end and it cuts and pushes (pulls, actually) the wire back on the other end. The key to using these kind of strippers is to insert the wire into the proper cutting head (hole on wire stripper). If the insulation doesn't cut through all the way then you've obviously selected the wrong cutting head (again, the hole on the stripper) for the wire size. same thing if you manage to cut through some of the wire along with the insulation....

Ok well then this stripper is at Home Depot for $24.95, might as well pick one up :)  Thanks for the help again guys.

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xtremej wrote:

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I use the standard stripper and a olfa knife to slice the insulation. Easy and no broken wires. Some newer cars are extremely difficult to get auto strippers in to use. just my .02.

Also use super 33 for its good adhesion.

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I completely agree with the statement about the wire stripper not working in all situations. Sometimes there's just no other way but to get out the ol' SHARP razor blade and go at it.

That Ideal unit is really nice but bulkey, I have a few of those type, but the one I like is automaticly sets for wire awg and is really narrow.. no dies.. fits in a lot of tight places.. and of course it's so beat up that it doesn't have a mfg label on it anymore.. Im pretty sure I got it at menards.. anyway Its kind of an odd looking device but works on the same principal as the ideal stripper...

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Tire Proz Stillwater Mn
High End Restyling and Comlete Repair

Hymer,

I actually have two different size Ideal strippers. Yes, the bigger one is a little hefty at 7" and almost a pound in weight (cuts wires 14 to 10 gauge in size) but, being that I pretty much only use it to tap into the ignition, power, starter, etc. wires that are right there in front of you (once you remove the column cover), the bulkiness isn't a problem. The smaller stripper (weighs just under 6oz., is a little under 6" in length, and quite thin) works great under the dash for the rest of the wires. That one is the stripmaster 'lite' model. By the way, neither one has any plastic anywhere on them, either. If you ever become interested in buying the two different sizes, the model numbers for mine are 45-2131-1 (smaller one -worth adding to your 'favorite searches' on eBay imo) and 45-1611-1 (bigger one). They may have been discontinued now though as mine have red handles on them and I've noticed that Ideal is using a light blue on their current stripmaster units. In any case, you can check out Ideal's site for current model numbers -if you're interested.

The strippers that 'automatically' set the wire size. What I don't like about those types of strippers is that they only cut through the insulation around the top and bottom of the wire as opposed to all sides like the ones with the dies do. As a result they don't always manage to pull the entire insulation back on the wire and you have to finish it off with a razor blade. If the one that you're using isn't like that though, I sure would like to know the model and manufacturer (too bad it's worn off on yours). Hey, it isn't like the one under item# 230090170296 , is it?     

-Jose

And like I said, the key to using the stripmaster type units is selecting the correct cutting head (hole) for the wire that you're stripping. Using the right cutter will result in a perfect strip every time with no wires being cut and no insulation being left around them. It will have a lot to do with the quality of the stripper and the cutting blades on it too, though....

By the way, the smaller Ideal unit that I have (45-2131-1) strips 24-16 gauge wires.