How to tin bare wire

acmf74

I was to try to tin the some speaker wire. Do I need special solder or just use the plain electrical kind?

fishbones

Guys who do it often (soldering) usually recommend a silver content in the wire for a purer signal. I have used one that was recommended on here from Rat Shack. It was reasonably priced and worked well (I think it had a 2% content). Was there a sound improvement over regular solder? I'll never know.

IMM, if there is a possibility of a difference of one being better than another, and it's within reason, I'll usually go with what the experienced recommend to make sure I do it right the first time, just in case.

dorokusai

You may use regular solder if you like, it's just fine. I use a high quality solder because I believe there is worth in doing so. The Radio Shack recommendation or Parts Express product would also be a viable option.

BlueFox

Put the soldering iron under the wire. Touch the solder to the top of the wire. Let it flow into the strands. Quickly wet your thumb and fore finger, and pull the tinned wire between them to remove excess solder.

Fongolio

I use liquid rosin and silver solder for tinning using technique above.

TECHNOKID

Fongolio wrote: »

I use liquid rosin and silver solder for tinning using technique above.

you can buy 60/40 solder which doesn't need any external rosin as it is in the core of the solder. You have to be carefull of what you use, some stuff is no longer recommendable as breathing it is toxic.

As pointed out, you heat the bare wire, not the solder. With a clean tip and sufficient heat, while you apply the solder over the bare wire, the solder should melt and flow through the strand like butter in a pan.

You have to make sure the tinning doesn't get to close and/or inside the insulation as it creates a weak point which will eventually break.

Enjoy
TK

ShinAce

60/40 refers to the mix. It only means the solder is 60% tin and 40% lead.

The rosin built in to the solder is called, 'rosin core'. I use rosin core myself as most soldering is small stuff. Larger parts and hard to heat parts could benefit from seperately applying rosin, or flux paste.

It's best to clean the cooled solder with a toothbrush and some alcohol if using rosin core. The rosin will eat away at stuff if it sits there a long time, like a tinned speaker wire.

I say use rosin core, or plain old electronics solder.

TECHNOKID

ShinAce wrote: »

60/40 refers to the mix. It only means the solder is 60% tin and 40% lead.

The rosin built in to the solder is called, 'rosin core'. I use rosin core myself as most soldering is small stuff. Larger parts and hard to heat parts could benefit from seperately applying rosin, or flux paste.

It's best to clean the cooled solder with a toothbrush and some alcohol if using rosin core. The rosin will eat away at stuff if it sits there a long time, like a tinned speaker wire.

I say use rosin core, or plain old electronics solder.

Make sure not to reuse the toothbrush the next morning as you may find it somewhat sticky, will not clean your theeth either as it will rather make sure the debris actually bonds real well to your theeth
Yep, alcool or isopropanol is a great way to clean the xcess flux afterward.

Fongolio

But my breath smell so sweet after brushing with a rosin soaked brush!!

TECHNOKID

Fongolio wrote: »

But my breath smell so sweet after brushing with a rosin soaked brush!!

I would believe there is nothing to smell as the lips would sealed :eek:

faster100

MY opinion, get the flux paste.. a little go's a long way and you don't chance melting the outter wire covering with to much heat.specially if your new to soldering, I use silver solder nothing special, the real fine/thin stuff. have a wet sponge/rag to clean the tip as needed, also helps

george daniel

Cliff,,is that you?

F1nut

Writes and spells like Cliff.

Face

http://www.amazon.com/Hexacon-Electronics-MP-948-Mini-Solder/dp/B002X1E1JU/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1283381881&sr=8-13

jinjuku

Another trick is to put a small bead of solder on the tip of the iron, when the speaker cable wicks it up you are good to apply solder directly to the copper strand.

faster100

george daniel wrote: »

Cliff,,is that you?

Yes it is.