How to solder two wires with a soldering iron?

Every man has wondered how to solder two wires. Performing such actions is required when repairing household and computer equipment, electronic devices and machines. Before getting an answer to the question posed, you need to familiarize yourself with the tools and materials needed for the work.

What you need to solder

Before you start soldering wires, you need to prepare:

1. A soldering iron. This is the main tool for working with metal products. With it, solder is melted, which is used to connect the elements of the chip. Devices have different wattages. The higher this value, the faster the soldering iron heats up. It is recommended to choose a tool with a power greater than 60 watts. The soldering iron works from 220 V mains.
2. Solder. This term refers to an alloy based on tin, used to join metals with a high melting point. Solder is a long wire, less often tin is sold in small pieces.
3. Rosin (flux). It is used for tinning microcircuit components. Rosin gives a reliable bonding of metals with other materials.

What rosin and fluxes to choose

The choice of flux or rosin depends on what materials will be soldered:

1. Tin-plated parts. In this case, liquid rosin is used. You can replace it with flux paste, which does not dry out and does not require removal of residues. The rosin gel has a gel-like structure, the product is easily rinsed off with water.
2. Working with small radio components. Activated rosin fluxes, such as LTI-120, are suitable for this purpose. Glycerin hydrazine paste also has positive qualities. However, after using this agent, parts should be degreased.
3. Soldering of iron, brass and copper parts of small sizes. Liquid rosin Lux does a good job.
4. Joining of solid galvanized parts. In such cases acid fluxes are used (orthophosphoric or solder acid, Fim). Acid compositions work quickly, so the metal does not need to be heated for long periods of time.
5. Soldering aluminum parts. To solder these types of wires, it used to be common to treat the tip of the soldering iron with rosin. But now to work with aluminum and copper use flux F-64, which provides a good adhesion of the metals. The product contains poisonous chemicals, so it is recommended to work in a ventilated room. Safer is considered flux F-34, which has less activity.

Additional materials

Additional materials that simplify the work with the soldering iron include:

1. Stand. Provides convenience and safety of work. It is made of a thin sheet of metal.
2. Braid to remove excess solder. Consists of flux-treated thin copper strands.
3. Fixture with clamps and magnifying glass. Provides easy handling of small parts and soldering iron.
4. Clamps, tweezers, pliers. Makes it easier to work with heated parts.

Soldering process with the electric soldering iron

How to solder wires, what you need to do:

1. Sharpen the soldering iron. To sharpen the sting, you need to use sandpaper, which work until you get a smooth shiny surface. After that, the heated sting is immersed in rosin and solder. The tip is attached to a wooden board. Manipulation is repeated until the sting of the soldering iron turns a silver color.
2. Tin the wires. They are cleaned from the braid and covered with rosin, over which the tip of the soldering iron is put. After the flux is melted, the wire is removed.
3. Solder the tinned parts. The sting of the device is treated with solder, the soldering point is heated to the desired temperature. After covering the wires with tin, unnecessary movements are avoided. A fan is used to cool quickly.

Features of soldering with flux

Soldering parts using flux has the following features:

1. The melting temperature for rosin must be lower than for solder. This condition is considered mandatory for a strong bonding of parts.
2. Flux must not come into contact with molten tin. Each product forms a separate coating to ensure that the parts are securely joined.
3. The rosin should be evenly distributed on the surfaces.
4. Liquid flux should wet all the parts to be soldered and have high fluidity.
5. It is necessary to choose the means which dissolves and removes films of nonmetallic materials which appear on surfaces.
6. You must use flux that does not react with the materials being joined. This helps to preserve the performance characteristics of the elements.

Soldering multicore wires

Many people are interested in how to solder these wires with a soldering iron. The connection is made as follows:

• the wires are cleaned from the insulation;
• bare wires are stripped to a metallic sheen;
• the joints are processed with solder;
• the parts are fastened by twisting;
• the soldering place is cleaned with emery paper (no burrs that break the strength of attachment should remain);
• the connection is covered with molten solder;
• the bonding place is wrapped with electrical tape.

Can copper wire be soldered to aluminum wire?

Aluminum and copper conductors can be soldered. In this case, a special solder for aluminum is used. Copper wire should be quality tinned. This is enough to prevent chemical reactions between copper wires and aluminum wires.

Related articles: