how to soldering rant

[Rogers]

i see alot of guys stipping only enough insulation off their wire to go half way up the barrel of their ring terminals... then putting some solder in the terminal and heating it up so the wire wicks it up and then putting a large pool of solder on top of that and letting it cool.... this is not correct.... it in most cases will work but it is not the best for current flow...and in most cases is considered a cold solder joint... and basically a "dead" joint...

the "correct" way... you should strip enough insulation off the wire so that the wire goes the full length of the barrel, you want to preheat the area to be solderd.... once you got the terminal up to temp you can start pushing the solder in... make sure you get plenty in the terminal so that the wire wicks it up... the large pool of solder is not necessary! when finished you should still be able to see each individual strand of wire but of course with a coating of solder on it... THAT IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD!

i recommend using a small pocket torch... like the ones you find at walmart beside the heat shrink tubing... this helps to keep from catching your good insulation below the terminal on fire...

i too used to do the large pool of solder and use a giant map gas torch, untill my father stopped me one day and showed me the correct way to do it... he has been a quality manager at a tellicomunications(sp?) company for 30+ years and inspects solder joints for a living.... he said that a pool of solder would NEVER pass inspection...

anyways its not really that big of a deal if its just for your sound system... but it is critical in his line of work... i just thought i would share some knowlege with you guys for future reference... might as well do it right if you know what i mean... but everyone has their own technique so get soldering!

/rant

[uluahunta808]

i see alot of guys stipping only enough insulation off their wire to go half way up the barrel of their ring terminals... then putting some solder in the terminal and heating it up so the wire wicks it up and then putting a large pool of solder on top of that and letting it cool.... this is not correct.... it in most cases will work but it is not the best for current flow...and in most cases is considered a cold solder joint... and basically a "dead" joint...

the "correct" way... you should strip enough insulation off the wire so that the wire goes the full length of the barrel, you want to preheat the area to be solderd.... once you got the terminal up to temp you can start pushing the solder in... make sure you get plenty in the terminal so that the wire wicks it up... the large pool of solder is not necessary! when finished you should still be able to see each individual strand of wire but of course with a coating of solder on it... THAT IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD!

i recommend using a small pocket torch... like the ones you find at walmart beside the heat shrink tubing... this helps to keep from catching your good insulation below the terminal on fire...

i too used to do the large pool of solder and use a giant map gas torch, untill my father stopped me one day and showed me the correct way to do it... he has been a quality manager at a tellicomunications(sp?) company for 30+ years and inspects solder joints for a living.... he said that a pool of solder would NEVER pass inspection...

anyways its not really that big of a deal if its just for your sound system... but it is critical in his line of work... i just thought i would share some knowlege with you guys for future reference... might as well do it right if you know what i mean... but everyone has their own technique so get soldering!

/rant

pics of some nice ass joints

[meade916]

if your talking about how i do it, the wire DOES wick it up and the pool i put on top is just done AFTER it is already solid.... to make it look pretty. I think the individual strands still showing when its done, is UGLY. As long as its done properly, a nice smooth pool on the top is fine. There is enough solder wicked into my wire to where it feels solid 3" lower then the lug and is FAR from a cold solder joint. Nice rant but i dont know who your directing it at.....if its me, save it.

[Andrew2944r]

I strip mine just to where it sits flush to the top of the ring terminal opening, over shooting the strands out the top looks unprof., nice flush solder joint and once cooled I pull test them.

[Rogers]

if your talking about how i do it, the wire DOES wick it up and the pool i put on top is just done AFTER it is already solid.... to make it look pretty. I think the individual strands still showing when its done, is UGLY. As long as its done properly, a nice smooth pool on the top is fine. There is enough solder wicked into my wire to where it feels solid 3" lower then the lug and is FAR from a cold solder joint. Nice rant but i dont know who your directing it at.....if its me, save it.

no sir, i didnt mean any disrespect towards you or anyone else for that matter... and i agree it does look better... wasnt trying to take anything away from you.... i was just throwing another tip out there to our late night owls.... and thanks for dropping in and reading my useless post....lol

[chewie]

and actually i found that if you use a decent sized torch and not a small one you heat the joint quicker and it doesnt melt the insulations as much.. but then again i use channel locks held onto the insulation right below the terminal to stop the melting of the insulation.. then cover it with heatshrink or the plastic sleeves included.

i wait until i see solder wick out the bottom then add about another inch worth of solder. and let it heat soak for about ten seconds then take the flame off..

i also use rosin core solder.

p.s smaller torches are ok for smaller guage wire.. aka 4 guage and smaller.

Edited September 17, 2009 by cerwinvega

[meade916]

no sir, i didnt mean any disrespect towards you or anyone else for that matter... and i agree it does look better... wasnt trying to take anything away from you.... i was just throwing another tip out there to our late night owls.... and thanks for dropping in and reading my useless post....lol

your post isnt useless, wicking the solder is the most important thing you can do.......if you ONLY have the pool on top and no wicking of solder, you have a SHIT solder job. No question about that. Some people think thats all you have to do.

i can also see where in your dads profession, one of these wouldnt pass inspection......but ONLY because the inspector wouldnt be able to see the solder was wicked with the pool on top. I mean if you dont know what your doing, its easy to fake it and think your done with just the pretty little pool on top. My point is, if you do it proper and you dont have an inspector there to reject it based on what he cant see, its ok to make it look pretty as long as its proper before hand.

[lanman31337]

I've found with larger gauge wire that my tank that I use for doing soldering for plumbing works well. I also use MAP gas, which makes things much quicker. It's a hotter burning gas.

[Rogers]

your post isnt useless, wicking the solder is the most important thing you can do.......if you ONLY have the pool on top and no wicking of solder, you have a SHIT solder job. No question about that. Some people think thats all you have to do.

i can also see where in your dads profession, one of these wouldnt pass inspection......but ONLY because the inspector wouldnt be able to see the solder was wicked with the pool on top. I mean if you dont know what your doing, its easy to fake it and think your done with just the pretty little pool on top. My point is, if you do it proper and you dont have an inspector there to reject it based on what he cant see, its ok to make it look pretty as long as its proper before hand.

agreed!.... i guess i didnt stress the wicking point enough... no what spurred this post was a soldering job i saw that a local shop did.... one of the terminals had the pool over the top and drips down the side and the wire fealt like it didnt have any solder in it below the terminal..... and the other terminal that i saw had just a couple drops of solder laying on top of the wire... just enough to hold it in... which tells me that they didnt know what they were doing...

i was in no way trying to dog on you steve.... if you hadnt of done it right it proble wouldnt have supported 20,000+ watts.... thanks again for droppin in

[raytard]

to tell you the truth, this is kind of something my techs and I had a big discussion on one day, 3 of us said solder power lines, one guy crimped them (with a bolt cutter with a very well cut notch in it that crimped better than anything i've ever seen in my life honestly, and had notches for 0, 4, and 8g

basically the solder was the stronger connection, after much tugging on the terminals and seeing the crimped ones slide off "easier"

they also adopted the system of cutting the insulation back so the wire is basically flush, soldering it very well, and then clamping the terminal in a vice grip and smacking it on the bench grinder for a second to grind a nice smooth end onto it (that is also slightly curved, which makes things like getting a socket on 3/4 in nut much easier...think seat bolt ground)

so basically at the end of the day it was a few seconds extra work with a propane torch to ensure the best connection and easy installation, but most importantly the customer never coming back. you could tow a car with a well soldered terminal.