Techniques for soldering small ga. wire

[jakmagic]

Hey, I was wondering some of your guys techniques for soldering small ga. wire? Like 14ga - 20ga. Example: once the wire is striped do you spread the individual strands out, then interlock the two wire ends together, and then twist the the wire so the individual strands tighten up? What do you guys tend to do?

[philrab]

Depends.

If the wires may be under tension, I actually make the wires into hooks, and hook them together, then solder.

If mechanical tension isn't much of a concern, I lay then together and twist, then solder.

After soldering, heat shrink is preferable but I have gotten away with electrical tape for years before I knew better.

[alaskanzx5]

I would spread the strands out twist them together with a small piece of solder twisted in with them. Then add more solder if needed. Finished off with heat shrink.

I've also just twisted them together solder and heat shrink with no issue. When I first started doing it they came out strong but ugly. Fairly good at it now.

[jakmagic]

Thanks for the replies guys.

[SnowDrifter]

Twist and solder. No need to interlace strands as they will all be bonded together with solder anyway. Use rosin core, make sure you get good penetration. Try to avoid any solder wicking beyond your connection as this will make the wire brittle

[csshakka]

Strip a bit of insulation off both ends you want to solder. Then I like to make an X shape with the two stripped ends, and then like posts above said, twist them together. A good twist makes them pretty much stick together without solder. Heat up the wires with soldering iron first, then feed the solder in. Don't forget to slide your heatshrink on before soldering the wires.

[01 S-10]

I do mine exactly like csshakka does, x pattern, twist, solder, then heat shrink. Been doing it for years with no failed connections.

[AMI CUSTOMS]

I use crimp caps, been using them for years and not a failed connection and 1000 times faster.