Need help to solder speaker cable

[Buzzy]

Hi, I want to change the internal speaker cable for my speakers. However i have never done soldering before and now i am having trouble soldering the 14 gauge wire to the tab of the binding post. The problem i have is that the solder does not melt ! First i tried to tin the wire, but after heating the wire long enough that the insulation melted the solder does not get sucked into the wire. This is what i did : i touched the soldering iron on the underside of the wire and touched solder to the top of the wire. Is this the right way ? Am i doing something wrong or the soldering iron not good enough ?

This is the generic 60W iron that i bought for $6. When tinning this iron the solder sticks to it like glue and not flow.

[454Casull]

Does your solder have flux in it? e.g. rosin core?

[MadMutt]

You say that when you try to 'tin' the iron, that the solder "sticks to it like glue, not flowing", that's indication that the iron is not hot enough.
Very typical for a cheap iron, very bad (no) temperature control.
My advise, if you can afford it buy a decent iron.
Hakko, Weller, can't remeber the others now.

Other option is not to solder but to use crimp connectors.
In theory a crimped joint is better than soldering.
This is because soldering heats the wire stands to a point where it creates a mechanical weak spot where the solder flow has stopped.

And although I have seen many instances of wires breaking at this point vs almost none that have been crimped.
For internal speaker connections I still preffer to solder.
Go figure

Maybe crimp a male spade to the cable and solder that to the terminals ?

[soongsc]

Depending on the size of the internal wire, you might need up to 120W. Thick cables dissipate heat faster than the temperature rises, so you need an iron that will give heat faster than it can be dissipated.

[v-bro]

Soldering should be done fast, you'll need a lot of power to do this with heavy gauge wire. That way stranded wire won't suck up the liquid solder too far (which indeed weakens the mechanical properties) as the wire will become stiff and function as a lever when the wire is pulled. The wire will break faster. Fast soldering will concentrate the heat on a smaller surface so the insulation won't have the chance to melt.

It is critical though that the solder melted entirely along the two surfaces that were bonded, so don't go too fast! (which will result in a 'cold' joint...) Timing is rather critical, if things won't go smoothly just let the surface cool down and try again using a different approach.

I like to use a 'microtorch' for the somewhat heavier work, they're cheap and incredibly effective.
http://www1.nl2.conrad.com/conrad_nl...refview=search
http://image01.conrad.com/s/4000_499..._01_FB.EPS.gif

A good way to heat the wire faster is to melt the solder to form a heat bridge, start at the tip of the wire and the solder should start to suck up very effectively.

If it still won't go than you have either a bad iron or bad solder...(as mentioned in previous posts...)

[OzMikeH]

The biggest 2 mistakes people make with soldering:

1: Spreading the solder around with the iron like butter with a knife. this never, ever works. Keep the iron still and let the solder travel with the heat flow.

2: cheap solder. But the most expensive 60/40 solder you can find. That is without silver and special metal additives, a little bit of copper doesn't hurt. Buy thin solder, you can use thin solder for big jobs by twisting a few strands together, you can't cut thick solder in half.
It is sold by weight anyway. Buy the solder form an electronics shop, not the corner hardware store.

[Glowbug]

I've found that I just burn up cheap irons like that one.

For big jobs, I bought a Weller ~100W gun and that gets it done a lot faster...no more waiting for the joint to heat up.

[Buzzy]

the solder i use has rosin core. By the way is right that i heat up the binding post connector and wire with the iron, and try to melt the solder by touching it on the wire and connector ? Because using this way the solder never melts ! So i heated the connector and wire with iron touching both and melting the solder on the tip of the iron and let them join. Is this the right way ?

[Aengus]

Buzy said:

Is this the right way ?

A quick google of "how to solder" turned up multiple sites, including this, which has illustrations and which answers the question.

Regards.

Aengus

[v-bro]

Originally posted by Buzzy
So i heated the connector and wire with iron touching both and melting the solder on the tip of the iron and let them join. Is this the right way ?

Originally posted by v-bro

A good way to heat the wire faster is to melt the solder to form a heat bridge...

The solder should indeed be melted on the tip creating the heat bridge that will trasfer the heat to the connector and wire. Best way is to pre-solder the wire and connector first. If you join them when still a bit warm it will go easier....but endeed allways add the solder by touching the tip first, when things are hot enough you can add the solder on other places...

Keep your fingers at a good distance from the heat and keep the wire still until the solder is hard again. Blowing at it helps to cool it down faster.