Soldering DC Wires

A general consensus is that you should use crimps instead of soldering in vehicles, due to wire breakage at the edge of the solder flow due to vibration.

Otherwise, any general-purpose rosin-core electronic solder, like 60/40 or similar, should work well.
 
It depends on the quality and wattage of your iron... But both the 13463 and 13461 Alpha rosin core is really strong... I still crimp them though.
Fine solder. Any thicker solder will not take until you turn the wire black and blue.
.032 diam. Itll work fine for 18awg. Seems this crap wire they use, the hotter you get it the more brittle it gets...
 
I have to replace a connector and the new one comes with two wire leads and heat shrink, so I know they intend for you to solder it.
 
Little Bill said:
I have to replace a connector and the new one comes with two wire leads and heat shrink, so I know they intend for you to solder it.
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I would STILL solder,crimp and then heat shrink. Is it a fusebile link per chance? Whats it for? I ask because id get the heat/uv shrink, but that might be much.
 
Those part numbers soak in the strands the the best though. Then solder together..
Btw, ace has the best and cheapest Weller 30w..
40$? Big box sells them for twice that.
 
rambojoe said:
I would STILL solder,crimp and then heat shrink. Is it a fusebile link per chance? Whats it for? I ask because id get the heat/uv shrink, but that might be much.
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It's for an Evap purge control valve. The wires broke close to the connector with no room to solder/splice them. The new connector comes with the wire leads already attached to the connector. You just splice them onto the wires where they broke. The valve sits right on top of the engine.
 
Soldering is fine, but as mentioned before just make sure there isn't stress on the joint. If you are soldering and the heat shrink tubing is going to be subject to the elements or you otherwise want to make it more impervious, use dual-wall adhesive heat shrink tubing. It's similar to the buried splice stuff and has adhesive inside that will gush out and make it waterproof when it shrinks.
 
Little Bill said:
It's for an Evap purge control valve. The wires broke close to the connector with no room to solder/splice them. The new connector comes with the wire leads already attached to the connector. You just splice them onto the wires where they broke. The valve sits right on top of the engine.
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It goes w/o saying, consider one from the dealer then...
 
I put an electric cooling fan on my 77 Dodge pickup. It's connected using... Wire nuts. I put a dab of anti-ox in them. They have been going strong at 25 amps for over 10 years. Just sayin'.
 
CoolWill said:
I put an electric cooling fan on my 77 Dodge pickup. It's connected using... Wire nuts. I put a dab of anti-ox in them. They have been going strong at 25 amps for over 10 years. Just sayin'.
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The ram diesels had a bad habit of tearing that fan harness out when the serpentine let go. Nothing wrong with nuts, but now you said so....
First thing this morning, told the wife i dreamed that the a/c was blowing hot air. 2 this afternoon? A/c died.
 
rambojoe said:
It goes w/o saying, consider one from the dealer then...
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No! Many replacement parts on vehicles need a different connector (parts get superseded a lot), new pigtail supplied with part.

Crimp is good, IF you can crimp well. Same for solder and heat shrink, you have to do it well. Poor soldering or crimping makes a BAD joint, which will fail. I learned on small wires with .062 60/40 so I do it without turning the wires ANY color! It is practice over many many years. 30 Watt iron? Seems low to me. I use the old Weller 8200 gun. I make new tips from 12 AWG or 10 AWG (whatever I have on hand) solid. BTW, the new 8200 series is CRAP! You want the old one with "tip nuts", not set screws.

And match the crimping tool to the crimp terminal. Or at least use the old "non-insulated" terminal tool and put heat shrink over the whole thing since the indent should pierce the terminal insulation if using this incorrect tool.

I have yet to try the "solder sleeves" style (using a heat gun only), but I hear they work well. Solder and seal in one step, what's not to like?

Oh, you can make your own adhesive style heat shrink. Slice slivers of hot glue and slide them into the heat shrink then heat it up. Works amazingly well!;)
 
Frank DuVal said:
No! Many replacement parts on vehicles need a different connector (parts get superseded a lot), new pigtail supplied with part.

Crimp is good, IF you can crimp well. Same for solder and heat shrink, you have to do it well. Poor soldering or crimping makes a BAD joint, which will fail. I learned on small wires with .062 60/40 so I do it without turning the wires ANY color! It is practice over many many years. 30 Watt iron? Seems low to me. I use the old Weller 8200 gun. I make new tips from 12 AWG or 10 AWG (whatever I have on hand) solid. BTW, the new 8200 series is CRAP! You want the old one with "tip nuts", not set screws.

And match the crimping tool to the crimp terminal. Or at least use the old "non-insulated" terminal tool and put heat shrink over the whole thing since the indent should pierce the terminal insulation if using this incorrect tool.

I have yet to try the "solder sleeves" style (using a heat gun only), but I hear they work well. Solder and seal in one step, what's not to like?

Oh, you can make your own adhesive style heat shrink. Slice slivers of hot glue and slide them into the heat shrink then heat it up. Works amazingly well!;)
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Yes. Changing critical engine sensors with the usual azone and such never lasts. Especially with ceetain new cars.
But thx for your opnion, it just isnt relevant to my experience.
 
Little Bill said:
What type of solder should be used to solder automotive wiring under the hood of a vehicle? Probably around 18 -20 AWG.
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Little Bill said:
What type of solder should be used to solder automotive wiring under the hood of a vehicle? Probably around 18 -20 AWG.
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Sifting through everything here. Bottom line, electrical solder is tin lead. 63/37 ratio is actually the eutectic alloy, but 60/40 is generally accepted as close enough. The amount of wattage you need depends on many things. Mostly though the mass of the components you are soldering together. Much more than the size of the solder wire in my opinion. The real thing is the result. You want a shiny finish, with smooth flow and you should be able to still see the contours of the wire and the terminal or you have used too much solder. There is one secret toa good solder joint. CLEAN! Don't even straighten out the solder with your fingers it puts oil on the solder.
 
You haven't really soldered until you've done it in contorted positions, holding it in place and soldering at the same time, then have a ball of hot solder fall on your hand and you don't move so the joint doesn't get messed up while it cools :)
 
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