Soldering Tips:

[Stick]

Soldering takes a few things:

1) Pieces have to be CLEAN. Ever try to solder plumbing? The copper fittings, even though they look new, need to be scotch-brited shiney. This removes any oxide layers. Wiring is usually inherently cleaner (when it's first stripped), but if it's oil soaked...you got more work to do.

~30 to 50W solder gun will be needed (20W or less for electronics boards)

2) The joint needs to be mechanically tight. In other words, it's best to wind one wire tightly around the other, or take 2 or 3 wires and twist the ends together firmly.

3) Make sure the joint can cool WITHOUT any motion. You'll get a cold solder joint if it's jostled when you remove the heat.

4) Use flux-core solder. Put a dab of solder onto the iron tip. feed a small amount at the tip/wire area. This does a couple of things...it gets a bit of flux into the area, and it dramatically increases the amount of heat transferred into the joint because of the molten-small blob surface area, and the way it sits against the wire. Continue heating. Then, add a touch more solder to the interface area. At some point, this added solder will wick into the joint. All this time heat is applied. Continue feeding solder (by now, you can move the application point to the wire itself) until the joint/splice fills with solder. Then remove the tip from the joint and allow it to cool.

Pratice first on a few pieces of scrap wire, 'till you get the hang of it. Even make a loose one and add motion to "see" what a cold solder joint looks like. Good solder joints look shiny; cold ones have a dull, sometimes globby look.