Soldering guidelines?

[BASS-TREBLE]

As I like to do my own things to the bikes, soldering wires is a common event.

I get connections that last etc but they can be ugly.

Is it just a simple matter of me using too much solder?
What is recommended for cleaning wires to be soldered?

Hoping to for a list here to help myself and others that need it.

G'night everyone

[vindy500]

As I like to do my own things to the bikes, soldering wires is a common event.

I get connections that last etc but they can be ugly.

Is it just a simple matter of me using too much solder?
What is recommended for cleaning wires to be soldered?

Hoping to for a list here to help myself and others that need it.

G'night everyone

strip the wires before you solder, this displays clean wire.

dont twist the wire together before soldering, just hold the two wires next to each other, this looks tidier

use a small amount of electrical tape, or even better heatshrink

[Warr]

ugly
Yea can happen,

too much solder
Yea if you haven't cleaned joint properly

cleaning wires to be soldered
If your job is clean the solder will flow and shouldn't need too much
For wiring, just use a resin core solder.

Cleanliness. A new bit of wire, with insulation stripped back will be clean and the copper strands bright.
Tin (apply solder) to both ends to be joined and then hold together and heat. No extra solder should be required.
Slide some heat shrink over the join and seal it up.


If trying to solder and the wire strands are dull, this could be due to excessive current being applied to that peice of cable.
It wont 'Tin' easily. So grab a sharp knife (stanley knife) and scrape both sides of the wire. This should expose clean copper wire and the solder will flow over the area. If it wont cut back the wire and try again, or throw the wire away.
If soldering onto terminals, scrape these till you have a bright surface that the solder will flow over.

When soldering wiring, extending, replacing damaged sections, dont bother twisting the copper strands together. A straight joint of 3-4mm will give sufficient physical strength (and electrical conductivity).
If you are joining several wires together however, twisting is the best way to hold the bundle together while soldering.

[CookMySock]

Keep the overlap short - 5mm ish.

Cut the wire back until its bright.

Use a gas-powered iron, or a BIG mains one. Forget using a pissy little electronics one.

The tip must be tinned and shiny. If its not, it wont work.

Wipe the iron tip with a damp cloth, tin the iron tip, and then heat the wire, and lastly add the solder to the WIRE, NOT the IRON. Add solder until it tins correctly. If it wont completely tin, the iron is too cold.

If there is too much solder on the tinned wire ends to be joined, heat and tap it ALL off and reapply a smaller amount. Dont recycle solder. There should be a smooth coating, not a massive blob. It should be shiney and not dull.

Slide your heatshrink tube over, trim the tinned tips back to about 5mm, and hold them parallel, and with a hot iron heat them both together so they melt together. This should take about 2 seconds of heating time - no more. Any more and you have to tap all the solder off and start again, and then your wiring insulation will start to look shitty and burned.

Never use PVC insulation tape on anything.

IMO you are better off to spend 50 bux on a quality crimp tool and do it properly. You are going to spend double that on a proper soldering iron anyway.

Steve

[crazyhorse]

Interesting reading............... now to go buy the ingrediants and try it .....

[elevenhundred]

If you are referring to soldering on your 87 FZR then your soldering problems are probably caused by the wires not being clean.
Even though it has been wrapped in plastic, 20+ years of life on a motorcycle is hard on wiring. I have a bike from 86 and when I stripped back the wires they weren't all shiny but had a darkish tinge and the solder would just blob. Soldering is piss easy when you have clean connections.
No amount of flux cored solder is gonna make those joints stick properly either, that shit is just too dirty.
I sourced myself some liquid flux, suprisingly I couldn't get any from Dick Smiths or Jaycar but found some in an art supply shop (Gordon Harris).
Just dip the wires in and voila clean wires, just clean off flux then solder away.

Oh and don't fuck around with electrical tape, if you want tidy joins then use heat shrink to cover them then use the tape to re-wrap the loom.

[CookMySock]

I sourced myself some liquid flux... Just dip the wires in and voila clean wires, just clean off flux then solder away.

Yeah, but six months down the track your wiring rots away.

In this situation, you have to crimp.

Steve

[vifferman]

A stronger joint than twisting the wires together is made if you lightly twist the wires, then use a "hook'n'loop" join before soldering. It's lumpier, but strong. Even if the solder starts to fail, the wires will stay connected.
If you do use insulation tape, make sure it's loom tape - the same stuff that's used on your bike to tape the wiring loom up. It's less sticky, and the adhesive is heat-resistant, so it won't lose its grip like ornery insulting tape does.

If it's some substantial wiring like in the charging system, use that split plastic loom tubing. You don't even need to thread the wires through, as you can just poke them in the side. It will also protect the wires from heat and abrasion.

For soldering fatter (heavier gauge) wires, or something that sucks away heat quickly, you'll need something with more grunt than an electronics soldering iron. I've got three irons - an electronics one with a fine tip for delicate jobs, a pistol-grip one with a quick heat button to add some extra watts, and a stained glass one, which isn't hugely grunty, but holds the heat very well just because it has a larger tip.

While Steve's right about corrosion eating your wires away, it need not be that way. It's the galvanic corrosion between the copper and lead/tin solder that causes it, so the more reactive copper turns to copper oxide. However, this only occurs in the presence of water and oxygen, so you can reduce this happening by applying something to the soldered joint to keep air and moisture out. Either dielectric grease or liquid insulation will help with this.

[Coldrider]

I use 'Duzzal' brand flux, only used when needed, and an unfluxed solder.
There are heaps of different solder made from different compounds to choose from.
And never inhale the fumes, ventilate the area.

[Pixie]

I use 'Duzzal' brand flux, only used when needed, and an unfluxed solder.
There are heaps of different solder made from different compounds to choose from.
And never inhale the fumes, ventilate the area.

Acid fluxes will wick down the conductors into the insulation and cause corrosion and,eventually,failure.

Most important! - apply the solder to the joint not the iron's bit.

[nallac]

Acid fluxes will wick down the conductors into the insulation and cause corrosion and,eventually,failure.

Most important! - apply the solder to the joint not the iron's bit.

ya learn something new everday...so thats why my soldering looks like crap.

[KiwiGs]

If I have to solder a joint. This is what I do.
Strip the wires back so that they are nice and shiny then "tin" the ends of the wires.
Then it is a just a matter of putting the wires side by side, or hook and loop if you prefer, and touching the soldering bolt to the wires when the solder starts to run add a small amount of solder and hold the joint still until it is cooled.
When the joint is good it should be nice and shiny.
Remember to keep the soldering bolt tip nice and clean, and dont forget the heat shrink.

[CookMySock]

Look guys, you shouldn't really be solding shit on bikes. Get an industrial/commercial crimp tool (same price as a good gas soldering iron) and some terminals, and do it properly. Soldering on automotive stuff is never really gunna work out.

Steve

[Coldrider]

Acid fluxes will wick down the conductors into the insulation and cause corrosion and,eventually,failure.

Most important! - apply the solder to the joint not the iron's bit.

Repairing microprocessor cards was part of my job as a techy many years ago. Some joints will not take if they are contaminated.
Just because other people have problems soldering doesn't mean others do.

[Warr]

Look guys, you shouldn't really be solding shit on bikes. Get an industrial/commercial crimp tool (same price as a good gas soldering iron) and some terminals, and do it properly. Soldering on automotive stuff is never really gunna work out.

Steve

I'll have to press you for some more justification on that score.
Soldering on bike is all I do, and from previous posts - so long as the joint is watertight there should be no corrosion issues. If I felt corrosion was to be an issue I'd clean the joint with kero and then meths.

Crimping in my mind doesnt quite do it for me. But perhaps thats cause I have never bought a commercial crimp tool. Do you have a pic of what you are suggesting.