CBRRRT

A few of my mates have had some problems with soldering two wires together. They cant get the solder to stay on the iron, and make it stick to the wire.

The following method was shown to me by my Dad when I was a kid and I have used it ever since without any problems.

First you are going to need a few bits and bobs to get started.

1. Soldering iron
2. Solder
3. Electrical flux



If you have a new iron then you'll need to prep it before you start soldering, I've fitted a new tip in mine to show you how to prep your iron



To get the solder to pool onto the tip of your iron without rolling off you need to "Tin" the iron. This is really easy to do by dipping the hot tip of your iron into your tin of flux to clean the surface of the metal.



Now melt solder on both sides of the tip



Then wipe it off with some paper towel. Be careful though because its hot.



This will leave a permanant coat of lead on the iron tip that solder will stick to when ever you heat the iron and melt more solder onto it.

Now you are ready to start soldering.

Take your wires you want so solder together and remove about 1cm of the plastic coating





Once you have both ends exposed slip a small section of shrink tube down one wire



now lay the two exposed ends together end to end and twist them together rolling them in your finger tips to get them nicely round



Now apply electrical flux to the wires. This will do two things, 1. it will clean the wire when heated, helping the solder to stick. 2. help the solder to be drawn up into the wire between the strands, making a strong joint.



Now apply solder to the tip of your iron



then hold the iron on the under side of the joint, and you will see it draw up into the wires





Let the joint cool for a moment or two, then slip th heat shrink tube over the soldered joint.



Then with a heat gun apply heat to the shrink tube





And thats about it



If you are building a streetfighter then at some point you may need to make some changes to your loom. If you follow the method above you should'nt end up with any dry joints that will fall apart and drive you nuts trying to find the fault later.

Just remember you are using malten lead and if you get it on you it WILL burn your skin, so be very careful and watch what you are doing.

If you do burn your self then hold the burn under cold water for at least 15 minutes, as the heat will remain in your flesh for some time and will continue to burn if not treated right away.

Ok, I hope that was easy to follow, and of use to you no matter what level you are at.

If you want to know more then follow my blog at Aussie streetfighters.

CBRRRT.