Can I solder this wire?

[Buck Parrish]

It is a wire that looks like a spring wrapped around nylon string.
It must be a heating element for a bird bath.
In this pic I stretched the outer wire.
Will it still heat if I solder it?

 

[Buck Parrish]

Maybe I should've put it under the general electric forum.

 

[ModbusMan]

... or Campfire? Kidding aside, we'd need to know what you intend to solder. That picture is really small, but if the problem is "The thing doesn't work, and I can see a break in the wire," then soldering the gap would likely return it to a functional state. If instead the question is "Can I run a solder line across the entire thing," then sure, but the odds of it giving birds a pleasantly toasty spa experience go way down because you'll have shorted out the heating element.

 

[hbiss]

How hot does it get where you want to solder it and what's the melting point of the solder that you will be using. All you need to know.

-Hal

 

[rambojoe]

Are they 2 different conductors insulated by fiber?
Of course it will heat.. question is, what is it and why?!

 

[Eddie702]

Most soft solder melts at around 500 deg give or take.

 

[herding_cats]

use a small split nut on that type of wire. wrap with thick mil-spec thick rubber tape. All can be had at home depot.

 

[Buck Parrish]

Are they 2 different conductors insulated by fiber?
Of course it will heat.. question is, what is it and why?!

It's a heated bird bath

 

[retirede]

Depending on the alloy, it may require special solder.