Topic: I need to learn how to solder

[Uncle Ernie]

What would you tell a 10yo kid about how to solder wires and such?
Seriously- I have no clue.

[Duke McDukiedook]

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[Bob Wessner]

Google "how to solder wire" you"ll find some good tips, even some videos.

[Raef]

everthing has to be very clean, clean everything till you think it looks good and clean some more.

[BobbyR]

Once it is clean you hat the work and not the solder, let it flow.

[GammaFlat]

This applies to soldering wires.... As a little boy I remember my father saying: "heat your work".  As a 5 year old I wasn't quite sure what he meant.  The translation is that you need to heat up the stuff you want the solder to stick to.  Heat up your "work" (the wires) and touch the solder to the wires and the solder will "suck into" your work.  If it doesn't melt and "suck in" your work is not hot enough.  You get too hot and the insulation on your wires will melt or if you're dealing with components like resistors, diodes, etc., you could over-cook your components.  Assuming the solder "sucks into your work", let it cool without moving it so you don't get a "cold solder joint" or bad connection.  

[BeSeeingYou]

I have worked in the commercial audio/visual installation biz and sound/lighting staging biz my whole life.  I am always surprised at the number of capable adults I worked with who could not solder worth a damn.  It's a basic skill but I guess some have it and some don't.   Don't cheap out and buy a $9.99 gun.  I think I spent $40-50 for mine.  A Weller 35 watt is a good one to start with.

[Duke McDukiedook]

+1, get a nice Weller variable unit with removable tips.

[Uncle Ernie]

OK- so what do I clean the bits I need to solder with?  Acetone?  Alcohol? 

Why do I need a gun with removeable tips?

Can I just get that solder with flux in the middle?  I think there are different kinds (mixture of various metals?) of solder- what should I get?

[kirkn]

For garden-variety wire soldering (like motorcycle wiring harness bits) all you need to do is scratch the wire to a reasonably clean copper.  None of that black- or green- corrosion should be there.  A simple scratching with a pocket knife usually does the job.

Removable tips?  Well, I dunno about that, but my ancient gun just has a piece of solid copper wire bent to fit and crimped at the tip to make a nice tip.  Works great.

I use flux-core solder, but I couldn't tell you the reasons why.  It's just what "dad taught me..."    The thinner the solder, the easier it seems to be.  Real heavy solder takes a ton of heat to melt, and usually that's bad for the wire's insulation anyway.  I also use a paste flux on wire joints.  It seems to do a good job cleaning right as it's being heated by the gun.  Plus, the bubbling hot paste seems to help uniformly heat up the wire joint a little better than a dry joint.

As for what to teach - heat up the wire to the point where the solder melts when it touches the wire, not when the solder touches the gun.  The solder will melt and 'suck into' the joint just as mentioned. 

Remove the gun and hold the joint steady.  As you watch, the solder will suddenly 'flash' cool from the shiny silver of molten metal to a dull silver.  When it's dull, the solder is solid and the joint is done.

If the solidified joint looks smooth, like water that solidified to ice, it's a good job.  If the solder starts to look lumpy like dribbling candle wax, then the solder probably didn't really stick but rather it's just 'lumped on there...'

Good luck.

Kirk

[Mdub]

Remove the gun and hold the joint steady.  As you watch, the solder will suddenly 'flash' cool from the shiny silver of molten metal to a dull silver.  When it's dull, the solder is solid and the joint is done.

Actually, a dull color indicates a cold joint. Usually caused by movement while still hot.
A properly soldered connection will remain shiny.
It also helps is you 'tin' the wire ends with solder before joining them together.
The solder on the wire from tinning helps conduct heat into it much faster greatly reducing the chance of melting insulation. A pair of hemostats clipped on the wire before the insulation also helps to prevent melted insulation.
Don't forget to put your heat shrink tube over the wires BEFORE soldering.

[BeSeeingYou]

The different tips are for different size wires and sometimes the small tips work great for getting into tight terminals and such.  In the audio/visual world the the different sizes were very useful.  On a bike not so much.  Like some one mentioned stick with the smaller solder.  I helped a friend patch up a harness for a KZ750 last weekend that had been hacked up.  He said he all the stuff he needed including the solder and a nice gun.  Stupidly I left my stuff at home and wound up using a cheap gun along with solder that must have been 1/8" thick.  Too big it just makes the job harder.  A little tub of paste flux works great to, you just stick the wires ends in to give them a coating and have at it.  Don't forget the shrink wrap.

[tramp]

clean with alcohol
use flux to help heat transfer and solder to flow
get a gun where you can control the temp of the tip
put a little solder on the tip of the gun and apply to area to solder
alot of solder is not a good thing
just enough to coat the area
reclean with alcohol and away you go
good luck

[Bob Wessner]

If you have some wire scraps around, practice with those first since this new to you.

[Jordan]

use aligator clips as heat sinks on each side of the work, HF has a handy dandy 2 clip thingy with a weighted base and magnifying glass for 2 bucks on sale. 8 bucks regular price. Great for holding all kinds of little stuff and you still have your hands free.

[Uncle Ernie]

Bob- way ahead of ya on THAT.  I have a good stash of various pieces ready to kill.

I don't know from good or cheap guns.  I had what looks like a wood burning tool laying around.  You know the outcome- or lack thereof.  Guess I'll hope somebody at Lowes knows.  (Isn't that their motto?)

Don't know what a heat sink is.  Maybe I'll find out the hard way.  I'm working on a very small area in my nacelle, so fancy clips and vices and such- no room. 
Anyway- it's just to fix a neutral light.  I know when I'm in neutral, but bells and whistles are fun.

Thanks all ~

[BlindJoe]

heat sink is another term for heat exchanger, like a radiator. They transfer the heat from the electrical components to the air as to minimize the risk of damaging them

[BeSeeingYou]

Get a Weller 35 watt for around $40, usually comes with three tips.  All you will ever need.  Maybe the variable one would be good for learning as you can turn it down and not overheat smaller stuff but with experience I find I have no need for anything under 35 but you just have to have a deft touch and the proper tip when doing sensitive parts or very small wires.

[Uncle Ernie]

Glen said to just borrow his.

Spliced in some good wire and fixed the connection.
The neutral light still doesn't work, and I melted the crap out of a bunch of wires in the casquette.  Maybe I needed a heat sink...

[SD750F]

One more tip that no one mentioned (That I saw in a quick review) was to use only distilled water with your cleaning sponge. This prevents hard deposits on the tip of your iron when you wipe clean the tip.

And a really good iron is worth every penny. I use a very expensive Metcal system at work. But a Weller is another good brand that the lower end ones have magnetic tips for temperature regulation. 600 degrees is good for most electronic soldering. And a 700 degree tip will be required for anything with mass or heaver gauge wire for electrical jobs.

Scott

[Don R]

Don't let the solder wick too far up the wire, it will cause a brittle spot and could break there.

[Blasbo]

I've had good luck with a cold heat gun, about $20 at Ace Hardware. I typically solder serial computer cables so nothing real heavy duty. The thing I like is it doesn't heat the whole wire, just a small spot, so it doesn't affect shrink tubing close by. Seems to heat quicker too. Replacement tips are expensive at $10 each.
Like everyone else says, heat the work, not the solder.

[gnarlycharlie4u]

honestly... just go for it. give him a roll of solder. bunch of wires or whatever and let him go to town. best way to learn is to try.

I was about 10 when I learned to solder. a/v wires for my Atari 2600 got all sorts of chewed up so I just cracked it open and soldered a coax cable right to the board's video output. Worked like a charm and still works today. You'll never know what you can do till you try.

[BeSeeingYou]

About 20 years ago the company I worked for had a large number of JVC 26 inch video monitors that were used in the rental part of the biz and they would get shipped around quite a bit.  The main circut board had a heavy transformer out on one corner poorly supported and if the monitor got a big enough jolt it would crack the circut board.  I took to jumpering small wires across the broken circut leads, sometimes 8 or 10 wires, and was fairly successful at it .  The monitors could never be subject to rough handling after that as the board would just keep cracking so they would be given to employees as I fixed them.  Still have mine as my main TV.

[Jinxracing]

It was mentioned in one of the posts above, but I think this deserves to be shouted from the rooftops when it come to soldering...flux is your friend! Flux-core solder or not, a separate flux makes soldering way, way easier.

I use a paste flux, which usually comes in a little tin or tub about the size of a can of shoe polish. I dip the end of the wire into the flux and also dab a little flux on the part it will be soldered to with a toothpick or something similar. Then I "tin" each with a bit of solder, and then solder them together. Melts fast, works every time, flows beautifully, and it limits the amount of time that the components are exposed to heat.

Don't forget to put heatshrink tubing over the wire before you solder the joint.