Preferred Solder for Automotive Wiring

[SirRobyn0]

Never in my life would it occur to me to use the 12v cig lighter in my ashtray for electrical work.

It *IS* really funny when stoners come up to you parked at the Foster's Freeze or whatever and ask you for a light. One time I said, 'one sec', popped in the lighter element, then pulled it out all glowing and tried to hand it to this guy. He recoiled in horror. Said that his older brother used to torture him with one of those and it freaked him out.

Got rid of that a**hole, at least.

99% sure he was refering to a Bic lighter (flame) not a 12 volt car cigarette lighter, but now that you mention it I bet the glowing coil would work great for shrink wrap, just have to work fast. Good memories of Foster's freeze growing up in So Cal back in the 70's.

Yes that's right an open flame "bic" type lighter. Back in the day it was common place for guys to use them or even a match to shrink shrink wrap and you'd end up with the shrink wrap burned, or not shrinked enough or a little of both. I suppose it's better than leaving an open joint, but it's poor compared to heat gun.

@BRetty Off topic but, I was at Fred Meyer yesterday in the truck getting gas, almost a 90 gallons by the time I filled the truck and my cans and tanks for the farm. But here I am juggling the pump and the containers, trying to unlid and relid containers while holding the pumping gas. This kid probably late teens come along and wants to talk about my truck. "what engine" "what year" "she's a nice truck" kind of comments. I normally don't mind talking about the truck but the pumps were busy and I was trying not to hold up the line. So I told the kid if he pulls my cans out of the truck and takes lids off and on for me I'll talk about the truck until I'm done pumping. Without saying a word the kid turned the other way and booked it out of there. lol

 

[Ricko1966]

I built a tool out of a piece of plumbing solder an 2 alligator clips to hold wire while I solder. Also I have a soldering voltage controller to regulate heat. I've heard of people making them with a lamp dimmer ,but IDK because mine is a purchased unit.

 

[WP29P4A]

Totally unrelated to the original post, but back in the 70's the Bell system (Pac Bell) supplied their technicians with big heavy, solid fuel cell powered soldering irons for soldering up lead jacked cables and lead splice cases. They used a fuel cell the size of a "C" battery that was polished on the outside like chrome. we would unscrew the big copper cap on the tip of the iron, slip the fuel cell down into the heavy copper tube, screw the tip back on tight. The iron had a big bakolite handle with a plunger built into the end of it. You pull the spring loaded plunger back and let go. The plunger strikes the end of the fuel cell inside and ignites whatever is inside and it gets super hot, super fast. Then you have about 30 minutes of work time. I learned a scary lesson when I ignited one of the fuel cells outside the soldering iron, 4 times. LOL

 

[SirRobyn0]

Totally unrelated to the original post, but back in the 70's the Bell system (Pac Bell) supplied their technicians with big heavy, solid fuel cell powered soldering irons for soldering up lead jacked cables and lead splice cases. They used a fuel cell the size of a "C" battery that was polished on the outside like chrome. we would unscrew the big copper cap on the tip of the iron, slip the fuel cell down into the heavy copper tube, screw the tip back on tight. The iron had a big bakolite handle with a plunger built into the end of it. You pull the spring loaded plunger back and let go. The plunger strikes the end of the fuel cell inside and ignites whatever is inside and it gets super hot, super fast. Then you have about 30 minutes of work time. I learned a scary lesson when I ignited one of the fuel cells outside the soldering iron, 4 times. LOL

Unrelated, but somewhat related to your post. At the shop. We still have analog phones, and one of those analog phone boxes with about a million wires in it, and then that runs into some kind of a converter box so our antique phone system can talk digital I guess. So about a year or so ago we had a problem where we could call out on line two, but if someone rang in on line 2 it would drop. So we called the phone company and some guy can out who said it's not in the digital box and there is only one guy with the company in the area that does the analog phone trouble shooting and to call another # and make an appointment with him. 3 weeks later he came in and fixed it carrying all the equipment with him I'm use to seeing a phone guy carry.

 

[sickchev]

I really like the Solder Seal butt connectors. They soder the wire and heat shrink all at once. I have pulled hard as hell testing them and they dont let go. https://a.co/d/0CyEoBH

 

[DoubleDingo]

Good stuff guys, thank you.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I really like the Solder Seal butt connectors. They soder the wire and heat shrink all at once. I have pulled hard as hell testing them and they dont let go. https://a.co/d/0CyEoBH

That's actually a really good comment. There was a guy at the shop that used those and his electrical work was very good. I used them a couple times just to see what they were like (and frankly to make sure they would up to snuff for our work) which they certainly are. I'm just use to regular soldering I suppose.

 

[captianworkbench]

Soldering, done well, with a good quality 60/40 rosin core solder will get the job done. A proper wattage soldering iron, or a gun of your choice will also work well. Just do some practice work first and learn to control the heat, much like in welding. For instance, if you linger too long, and apply too much heat you will wick the solder way too far up the wires (as you are aware of) and obviously melt the insulation on the wires.

Also, I will be the one voice that says NO the solder seal butt connectors. I chased an intermittent tail light connection in my 74 C10 due to the previous owner using those. Once I found the connection it was apparent that the residual flux left over from the "easy" fix corroded the wires inside the heat shrink.

(Personally my favorite butt terminals are the Molex Perma-Seal ones. They are an excellent high quality crimp with glue lined heat shrink)

This leads me to suggesting a proper solder. Use a solder with a "no clean" flux. This means that the flux does not leave any corrosive residues behind and you don't have to worry about it corroding anything. As others have said, do NOT use plumbing acid core solder and for the sake of your own sanity, do not use lead free solder.

Lastly, I know I am new compared to others around here, but I do know this topic well. I am an electrical engineer by trade and deal with wiring and circuit boards quite extensively. I have seen things eaten away because of the use of the wrong materials.

Good luck in your wiring adventures.

CWB

 

[BadHabit]

What wp29p4a said.
Thomas & Betts STA-KON model WT111M has been my go-to crimp tool for 40+ years.
Uninsulated butt connectors and ring terminals (don't cheap-out, buy good quality brand, brazed-seam if you can find them) followed by waterproof heat shrink tubing (has heat-activated glue/sealant inside)...you'll relegate your soldering iron to specialized bench-work.

 

[Camar068]

I've done tons of wiring soldering and honestly I have no preference or flux. The old 60/40 would be my preference as it use to be the gold standard so it's what I know, but with the modern solder anything that is meant for stranded wiring is fine for me.

@DoubleDingo you didn't ask for it, but I'd like to give you and anyone else some tips. Whatever solder you get find out if it requires flux, I actually will use flux even on solder that doesn't required it, but it's mostly because that's the method I'm use to. Next practice on some scrap wiring first to get the hang of it. There is a technique to getting the wiring hot enough to take the solder and not melting the insulation around it. I'd also really suggest purchasing a good quality soldering iron, some people like gas irons, because you can get one that will get hot fast, and has temp adjustments where as lower cost electrics will take a while to warm up, and only run at one temp, but you can still do some great soldering work with those too. I did for years, until about 6 years ago when I invested $500 in a really nice electric soldering station, at a time we were doing a lot of electrical work at the shop.

IMO, if a guy cannot get the hang of soldering, or needs to join wiring somewhere you can't get a soldering iron, the net best thing is to use uninsulated crimp connectors, since it's just a thin metal crimp connector those can be easily shrink wrapped over.

When shrinking shrink wrap use a heat gun (or even a hair drier) not a cigarette lighter, shrink wrap responds a lot better to the even heat of a heat gun than a lighter which will provide a much hotter more concentrated heat, which risks burning the heat shrink.

As far as the strength, solder vs crimp, if the soldering is done correctly and there is good penetration of the wiring (remember you want the solder into the wiring not just coating the outside), but if the solder is well done the wire will break before the solder will, but if a solder is done to cold, yea it'll pull apart, kind of like welding a cold weld won't have any strength but one just right will be very strong. But there is a learning curve to soldering for sure.

great info for those that don't know. The hardest part for some when soldering is knowing what to look for. If you're soldering components to a board, look for solder flowing like water and let off. Soldering wires, keep moving your tip in an attempt to get the solder to flow every where and let off when it looks consistent.

multiple ways to solder wires. Best way is to try a few techniques and you decide. Maybe even double or triple layer heat shrink if needed.