need a soldering lesson
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Forum Name: Miscellaneous - Off Topic
Forum Discription: Topics that just don't fit anywhere else.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=99698
Printed Date: April 29, 2024 at 10:11 AM
Topic: need a soldering lesson
Posted By: KarTuneMan
Subject: need a soldering lesson
Date Posted: December 05, 2007 at 7:55 PM
I, in my years, have never soldered anything but some wire in a car. I did a 2000 Caravan today. Went to the relays in the fuse panal. (cool trick....never knew) I "attempted to solder on to the relay legs....with ZERO luck. Will someone teach my how to do it? All I managed to do was burn up some solder, and get a relay REAL hot. I could not get the solder to "stick" to the relay. Even scratched it up a bit. I'm ready for anything anyone has to say about my lack of skill.... so fire away. But in rippin me a new one, please give me the pointers I need for next time. Thank you gentlemen. -------------
Replies:
Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: December 05, 2007 at 9:23 PM
Solder absorbs best when HOT. I use a Weller cordless solder iron that I have it on HIGH pretty much for the entire time I'm working on a vehicle. What I usually do for hard to solder areas like what your doing is to heat up the wire strands first and then I melt the solder onto the tip of the iron. As the solder melts it attaches itself to the strands of wires and also onto the legs of the relay.
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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA
Posted By: KarTuneMan
Date Posted: December 05, 2007 at 9:31 PM
I had NO trouble with the strands of wire......but gettin that to stay put on the leg of the relay. It was all nice and hot, I even had my clips holding the wire secure to the relays. It would cool, and pop right off? Another thing.....when doing this, how much solder can a guy apply? That relay can't get built up too much, it's got to fit back into the socket. Maybe I'll just fire one up tomorrow (since I'll have some free time on my hands now (see my sig.) and practice. -------------
Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: December 05, 2007 at 10:05 PM
As long as the leg gets hot enough it will melt and stick to the solder. The KEY is to make sure that the head of the iron is hot enough to transfer the heat to the leg of the relay in a short enough time that it doesn't melt the internals of the relay.
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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA
Posted By: techman93
Date Posted: December 05, 2007 at 10:10 PM
When I solder I will use a torch. It heats quickly and solder just gets sucked into the joint. The way you know it is a good solder joint is when that solder blob disappears into wire strands. On primary wires that are 12 awg in the ignition harness I strip away about 1 inch to bare wire and I do this with a razor knife. I take knife and insert through wire strands in middle and twist from side to side to make it like eye of a needle. Insert wire you are attaching and then twist around. I will then solder as described above. I do that on thicker primary connections, thinner wire isn't easy to do that so I will twist around and solder. On delicate connections I use a solder iron that plugs into electrical outlet.
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The wire I'm test'n isn't doin' what it's supposed to be doin'... I am so glad I printed that tech sheet, with the wrong info.
Do it right the first time... or I might have to fix it for ya
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: December 06, 2007 at 3:22 AM
KarTunMan get a small file and scuff up the area you are to solder too. This will remove the oxidation from the contact and make it much easier for the solder to adhere to the contact. https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=23856&PN=1
Posted By: KarTuneMan
Date Posted: December 06, 2007 at 11:44 AM
I think that scuffing the leg better might have helped my cause. THANK YOU guys.
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Posted By: jrod83
Date Posted: December 12, 2007 at 1:32 AM
i personally like using a torch..its a lot faster...heat the bottom side of the wire then feed the solder on the top.....
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MECP Certified
I am the loudest and proudest member of the Fighting Aggies Class of '11 WHOOP!
SAW 'EM OFF!
Posted By: strassehase3
Date Posted: December 16, 2007 at 2:46 AM
solder flux (electrical flux ... NOT THE CRAP FOR COPPER TUBING!!!) .... take a small screwdriver and apply a small portion of this paste to the terminal and to the wire where you plan to join the two pieces. take your "prefered" iron and pre-solder the tip to remove any old solder then knock the solder off (wear safety glasses!!), rub the tip on a wet sponge to clean off burned up resin. reapply solder to the iron and just touch the terminal and your wire where you applied the flux. the flux will help keep out impurities and make for a better and quicker weld. now attach your wire to the presoldered terminal in the same manner that you did before with knocking the tip, cleaning it on a wet sponge and solder the tip of the iron. the flux will give you professional looking solder points and keep the contact times down so you don't cook any parts .. ie, circuit boards, relays, wire sheathing. ------------- brad
Posted By: tedmond
Date Posted: December 25, 2007 at 11:53 PM
make sure u tinn your solder tip. it just prevents solder buildup and it heats the wires more quickly. I use a weller solder iron as well, and its good. even a crappy 20dollar one will do. I dont use torch because its 1) dangerous, 2) can burn a hole in the floor carpet if i accidently drop it. my tip is rough up the area u are soldering. People usaully use 60/40 solder. i like using kester 66/44. it melts at low heat, and easy to work with. when soldering wires, place a small dap of solder on the tip (heats it up quickly) apply a little to the wire tip to allow it to heat up, place solder iron underneath of whatever you are soldering. Heat rises, so that will heat up the wires in a short ammount of time. Apply solder to the wire or wherever. DO NOT try to put solder next to the tip, it will just ball up and not SEEP into the wires.
Posted By: rbrd08
Date Posted: February 06, 2008 at 1:19 AM
IF you already completed your job then thats all good but heres my tip ...I use a crappy 25dollar 30 watt soldering iron from dse. and a good 60/40 1.0mm solder. Once the soldering iron is heated, then test the tip with the solder to see if it melts off instantly... If it does, apply a small amount of solder on to the relay legs. Also apply solder to the wires or whatever you will be soldering. this will make it easier and quicker for the solder to make contact when you apply the heat from the soldering iron, saves having to overheat the relay or maybe an expensive component.
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Thank You for your best.....
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