Soldering Tips

[Monjul]

I need to connect very low gauge Cardas wire (I'd guess 10-12ga.), to the tiny posts of a Seas tweeter. Previously the connection was soldered but it looks like a bear to redo as there's not much extra length on the wire connected to the crossover, which makes connecting the two more difficult.

Any recommendations to solder thi succesfully? Should I try to find crimp ons and go that route? Thanks!

 

[Conrad Hoffman]

That's just bad design. Change the rules of the game- solder 1-2 inches of decent smaller wire to the heavy stuff, then attach to the tweet as desired. And no tweako baloney about a couple inches of reasonable sized wire having any effect on the sound.

 

[infinia]

It's really bad idea to try to do that, it won't give any performance gains and you are surely risking destroying the tweeter. Use the same gauge as original or use slightly heavier gauge using more flexible wire like HQ test lead and an oversize iron.

 

[johnferrier]

Maybe a hot air gun or plumbing torch.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[aptquark]

If I may throw in my 1.5 cents (I'm on a budget)...NO!

Make yourself a wire...solder the large gauge to a smaller gauge suitable to fit the tweeter. You could get a few posts and do it that way.

 

[johnferrier]

With no success with a 350 watt soldering iron (on 32 mil sheet copper), I used silver impregnated epoxy (Tra-Duct 2924 Conductive Silver Epoxy Adhesive) for the following . . .

I've seen a silver-based solderless epoxy at Radio Shack.

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Keep in mind, the electrical properties, namely low resistance, of conductive epoxy are not as good a solder.


.

 

[tinitus]

No thick wire to tweeter, nope

But if you have to because thats what you have from crossover, then do as aptquark suggested above, wrap a thin wire around the end of thick one
I would prefer solid core wire, and 0.7mm will do

 

[Monjul]

Thanks for the replies. I found crimp on quick connects at RShack that will accomodate 10-12ga wire. How about using these with a little Stabilant 22 and heat shrink? I've read that some prefer crimped connectors over soldering including George Cardas. What's your take on crimped connectors?

 

[aptquark]

Thanks for the replies. I found crimp on quick connects at RShack that will accomodate 10-12ga wire. How about using these with a little Stabilant 22 and heat shrink? I've read that some prefer crimped connectors over soldering including George Cardas. What's your take on crimped connectors?

Well...crimping is not as good as soldering of course. Will it work...yes it will. As far as which is better, depends on what you are doing. In your case it wold be sufficient for a quick fix. If you were using a much smaller diameter wire, then the advantage is to solder the connection. The fear of using solder is that it is not the best conducting medium between the conductor and surface to be connected. BUT, making sure you have a direct contact with the surface FIRST, then soldering alleviates any worries. Make sure you make a sufficient crimp so as to not induce mechanical instability to the connection (moving around and such.)

 

[Cal Weldon]

I think Conrad said it best in post #2