[ingwe]

Why is this recommended? Isn't it better to have bare metal wire against bare metal? Isn't standard tin/lead solder a poor conductor? I haven't earned an opinion in this area, so I'd appreciate some schooling.

 

[Punnisher]

I use this method to solder fresh leads onto drivers, it requires less time heating up the driver in order to get full penetration of the solder into the wire.

I'd say if solder were a poor conductor then we'd all be in serious trouble.

I always use silver solder for my projects, I just like the feel of it.

 

[Mazuki]

Well, you can always think about it in this way: what do you think is the composition of all those PCB board pads?

From my own experience, tinning stranded wire keeps it nice and tidy, preventing any annoying fraying.

 

[beerguy0]

It's much easier to solder a pre-tinned wire, so you don't need to apply as much heat. Less chance of melting the insulation. And as Mazuki mentioned, it keeps the wire from fraying.

 

[fordgtlover]

Soldering untinned wire is a PITA.

 

[headphonejunkie]

Tinning always help for a better connection. When you solder you are basically applying solder to the wire.Tinning applies solder to the wire beforehand so it is easier to solder.

 

[ingwe]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm thinking tight contact between the things to be soldered is the critical element.

 

[les_garten]

Hi,
No matter how you do it, you have two wires floating in a pool of solidified solder at the end of a solder job. It might make you feel better to mechanically twist things together, but it ain't much of a connection at the molecular level. Join two pieces of copper together, get out your soldering iron, get Tim the Tool-man to rewire your soldering iron so it puts out double the output, and let us know how long it takes to melt that copper together without solder. Then think how badly you damaged the structure of the copper trying to melt it together, like super-oxidation from prolonged heat, and uptake of impurites.

Got any idea of what the melting point of copper is?

1984.32 °F

Cheap soldering irons might go 700-800 degrees. So to make your electrically clean splice, you have to rely on a good solder connection. The mecahnical twisting you might be doing is just keeping the solder from penetrating well. Solder is your friend! Good solder is a good friend. More Silver in your Solder, the better the conductivity. The higher the Silver content, the harder the solder is to work with.

Hope this helps.

Ohh, you don't need to twist stuff together. You should be able to pick up things with your soldered wire once it's cooled. I always give mine a tug after they're done.

After all this I didn't answer your original question! Tinning does a lot of things. First the Flux flows from the solder and cleans the wire end. You should have mechanically cleaned it already, the rosin is a chemical etching of the surface. Then I tin the other end, if it's a surface pad on a PCB. Then make sure you have a tinned soldering iron tip, VERY IMPORTANT. So now you have three surfaces with solder on them already.

1) Soldering iron
2) Wire end
3) Other wire end, RCA Jack, PCB Pad, or whatever

So you touch the two wire end together, twist a little so they will hold together, not much though! Put iron to the joint, watch solder flow, and NOW bring in the solder. Once you get this down, you'll be surprised how fast it is, and how little heat you put into what is being soldered.

The prep work is where it all is in soldering. Mechanical cleaning, and tinning. Then the Solder job takes litterally 1-2 seconds of heat.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Did you notice you dig quite a few old threads today?

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you notice you dig quite a few old threads today?

My apologies! I was reading pages and I'm now in the fifties, wasn't paying attention much after 50 somethin' pages.

Of course I could do no searching and no reading and just ask questions

But I see what ya mean...

 

[ingwe]

No reason to apologize.