Discuss Solder Joints in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

The secret to good solder joints is to ensure they are well made mechanically first. When I was a first year apprentice we where taught the art of 'Whipping Joints' prior to soldering. View attachment 14018
I expect E54 and other members will also be familiar with this lost art.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
To solder 2.5 mm copper you need a 250W soldering Iron, melting insulation, dry joint, shaky hands, no, seriously I wouldn't do it.

Pure 100% bull:001_9898:

Methinks you really don't know how to solder ;)

- - - Updated - - -

The secret to good solder joints is to ensure they are well made mechanically first. When I was a first year apprentice we where taught the art of Whipping Joints first prior to soldering. View attachment 14018
I expect E54 and other members will also be familiar with this lost art.

Aye ..... I taught apprentices how to do that.
 
250 watt iron? what a crock... A decent 45 watt weller wil solder 10mm with NO problem at all.
Do you think all the intenal wiring in say a washing machine is crimped? Think again ... sodered joint in copper cables are absolutly fine as long as you know what you are doing..
Agree, but a washing machine is not 32A fused like a ring mains...
 
Pure 100% bull:001_9898:

Methinks you really don't know how to solder ;)

- - - Updated - - -



Aye ..... I taught apprentices how to do that.

You are righ, I don'know how to solder mains wiring because I don't and frankly never came across a soldered 2.5 mm solder joint on an installation.
 
Soldering sounds a lot more awkward, expensive and time consuming than just say, a few push in connectors? Don't forget your 110v transformer if you're doing this on 'proper' sites :lol:
 
Run a bead of solder onto each end first,let it cool a touch then slip heat shrink over.either rest the two joins next to each other(steadiness does help) or from memory there's a little clamping device like a bit of straight steel(thin) with two croc clips on each end that's fully adjustable to hold the wire in place while you then simply warm up the solder on each to let it flow,takes about 3 seconds then when your happy with the join,move the iron away and blow on it to cool it even quicker and your done.
It works for me.
Remember,crimps were made for convenience,not cos they were any better,just a lot easier.solderings still a skill we can use against the people that say being an electricians a dying art anyone can do,if were talking about shoving two 3pence pieces into a crimping tool and gripping as hard as you can until it clicks to say your ok then honestly,can you blame people for thinking the trades gone easy?
 
Most industries have stopped soldering joints on cables because they vary so much from joint to joint and person to person. I've seen plenty of soldered cables where to much heat has been used, or the cables moved whilst still setting, and you can easily pull them apart. Defiantly wouldn't want to see soldered joints becoming the norm on solid cable, I could see many a disaster happening.
 
Solder Joints {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net
 
It seems the "Sky" has "gorn orf". He/she seems to have wound up our spring and set us going. What does Sky think of the words of wisdom that we have provided him with?

I have a 1904 electricians pocket book with may words of wisdom on lots of things that are of only limited use to us today.

When in the merchant Navy we regularly used to joint the snapped flex on cluster lamps by knotting the flex( with a reef know of course). The bare wires were then insulated with vulcanising tape individually then over insulated with a fabric tape and then shellac varnish. They staid very flexible and I never had one fail. That's some thing else that you will never need to know.


Where are you "Sky"
 
Me Dad had a copper bolt filed to a wedge shape fixed to a length of steel rod with a wooden file handle stuck on the end ..... and a gas ring & tin of flux ........ worked perfectly every time.
and i know its a tad off topic but stained glass windows (the real ones not the fake stick onns)...stained glass windows are STILL made using irons like the one you have suggested here....
 
I've been doing some soldered joints on the wiring harness of the car I recently bought - it's a 22 year old Toyota MR2 & the harness has been bodged by various folk to fit alarms etc.

Dad taught me how to solder using his copper bolt heated on a gas ring home-made soldering iron & he taught me well as I haven't forgotten it. He also taught me how to turn on a centre lathe that he made from scratch when I was about 11. He was a real craftsman of the old school who taught me almost everything I know, but not everything that HE knew!! I didn't realise it until he had passed away though. :(
 
Crimping joints also varies from person to person seen some bloody awful crimps.
Most industries have stopped soldering joints on cables because they vary so much from joint to joint and person to person. I've seen plenty of soldered cables where to much heat has been used, or the cables moved whilst still setting, and you can easily pull them apart. Defiantly wouldn't want to see soldered joints becoming the norm on solid cable, I could see many a disaster happening.
 
We learned to solder with copper irons as well as electric ones but to do the copper iron ones we had to go down in the basement of the Charlie T college of Arts and Tech. Remember when i was working as a young apprentice for Redifussion having a warm off the gas ring things when doing some of the outside wiring.
I've been doing some soldered joints on the wiring harness of the car I recently bought - it's a 22 year old Toyota MR2 & the harness has been bodged by various folk to fit alarms etc.

Dad taught me how to solder using his copper bolt heated on a gas ring home-made soldering iron & he taught me well as I haven't forgotten it. He also taught me how to turn on a centre lathe that he made from scratch when I was about 11. He was a real craftsman of the old school who taught me almost everything I know, but not everything that HE knew!! I didn't realise it until he had passed away though. :(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It quite amuses me this crimp vs solder joint discussion, because I'm sure most of us wouldn't think twice about making a crimped termination. With a quality ratchet tool of course.
 
It quite amuses me this crimp vs solder joint discussion, because I'm sure most of us wouldn't think twice about making a crimped termination. With a quality ratchet tool of course.
a lot of it is prep though Archy with crimps...as with most things..
you can always bare off too much copper when prepping a cable end for crimping....so you cant get a purchase on the other cable your crimping to (when extending)....so basically it just pulls off....now i`v come across this one a few times when inspecting C/Us....should always perform a `tug test` on these whenever you find em when on an EICR....
 

Reply to Solder Joints in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock