It also helps if you clean the tip often and then melt a little solder (tin) onto it. You should also be using 1/16 rosin core or smaller. An iron is nice because you do not have to always heat it up again after putting it down. David Teitelbaum --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Michael Griese <mike.griese@...> wrote: > > Andy - Those gun-style irons will be a challenge for what you are doing. If you > are ever near Rochester, I could loan you a soldering station I have that is > perfect for this type of work. I can also show you some techniques for making > the joints quickly and consistently. > > One thing that can help is to tin the wire (get solder to flow onto/into the > wire), then try heating the joint. > > > -- > Mike > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Nick Kemp <nkemp@...> > To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Sent: Mon, August 27, 2012 3:33:09 PM > Subject: Re: [DML] Fuse box replacement > > Andy, Soldering is part art and part science. It is always difficult to > solder "flying" wires because you can't get a solid contact between the > iron and the wire and thus you don't get good heat transfer. If you > could get something to put under the connection so that you can push > against it while heating up the connection it will heat up faster. Don't > use metal because it will soak up too much heat. Use something like wood > or fiberglass sheets (like circuit boards) > > Be careful melting the solder on the iron and not on the wire. It can > result in cold solders. A cold solder will be dull and does not show > good wicking. I find the best spot with problematic joints is that space > between the iron and the wire. The wire is often hot enough to take/wick > the solder for a good connection. > > Don't flow too much solder. It makes the wires rigid and the weak point > becomes the point where there is no solder (not the connection). This is > especially true for high vibration connections. [It is a problem > encountered by a few home built airplanes.] For that matter, many > believe that a good crimp connection without solder is better than a > good connection with solder. > > And ALWAYS use rosin core solder. Many have tried to use plain solder > (usually plumbing solder) and it will not take without using rosin with > it. This is true for wiring, circuit boards and plumbing. But I suspect > you already knew that. > > See you at the Orchard. > > Nick > > > soma576 wrote , ----On 8/27/2012 2:52 PM ---------------------------: > > > > Hey all, > > > > 11596 is getting a new fuse box. I've had a few of the critical fuses > > in jumpers for well over a decade. I always hated messing around in my > > electrical compartment for fear of knocking something loose and > > causing Bad Things. > > > > I got the new fuse box kit from DMCMW and a proper barrel crimper. Not > > only am I crimping everything perfectly but I'm also soldering the > > connections. Should be trouble-free for a long time. > > > > Anyway the kit is coming along nicely but as you can expect it takes a > > long time to do right. Took me about 4 hours just to do 7 fuses last > > night. After crimping and soldering I'm putting 3/4" of heat shrink > > tubing on the connection. > > > > One thing that baffles me is how long it can take to heat up the > > connection so the solder will flow. I'm using a 140 watt gun-style > > iron with flat blade tip. Once the tip is hot I can melt the solder on > > the tip in less than a second, but it often takes well over a minute > > to heat up the connector. It might have something to do with "tinning" > > the tip - once I flowed some solder onto the tip, shook it off, then > > went right for the connector which took solder in under 3 seconds. > > Other times it takes what seems like forever. > > > > Anyone have any great tips to make this go faster? > > > > Andy > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: > moderators@... > > For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com > > To search the archives or view files, log in at > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnewsYahoo! 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