Soldering tweeters.. how to do safely?

[GeneZ]

Is there a standard protocol to follow if you want to hard wire your tweeters? For example, any particular watt iron better than another?

Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

Thanks, Gene

[SY]

Don't undersize- a bigger iron will let you get in and out fast. Pre-tin everything. If you're worried about heat, use a eutectic solder like 63/37.

[chlorofille]

I use a 60W gun and touch the leads for less than a second. It melts like butter.
Solder used : 60/40 rosin flux

[GeneZ]

Originally Posted by SY

Don't undersize- a bigger iron will let you get in and out fast. Pre-tin everything. If you're worried about heat, use a eutectic solder like 63/37.

I was hoping to use silver solder...

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by GeneZ

I was hoping to use silver solder...

I often use silver solder, noting that it melts at a significantly higher temperature - however if you follow the guidelines suggested previously you should be fine.

[c2cthomas]

You might consider the use of a hemostat clamp as a heat sink - put it at the base of the terminal to block the heat from going up the tab.
6 1/2" Hemostat Clamp w/ vinyl grip

[SY]

Silver solder won't get you much, but if it makes you feel better to use it, definitely use a good size iron (40-60w iron or a 100w gun) and a 2 or 3% silver solder. Radio Shack actually carries an excellent silver solder that I use for soldering silver wire.

[AllenB]

A solder station with temperature recovery should substitute for a massive iron. Clean your terminals first... (I'll often flow stubborn woofer terminals by scraping the tip down the hole where the machining marks exist on the terminal, but this leaves the hole filled and complicates the process for tweeters), so if you fail in a second or so, simply pull back and wait. Use lighter gauge cabling. I don't think silver solder is necessary for this task, if you want a good connection simply hook your tinned cable end and gently pull on it as the solder flows.

[vacuphile]

In Europe we suffer from this RoHS which means that 63/37 gets more and more difficult to get. Except for: aviation, medical and other such critical applications. Because this is just the best stuff to reliably solder with. Don't bother with silver content, it only makes things worse for your kind of application. Silver does not have any magical audio qualities. It is only a marginally better electrical conductor than copper in it's pure state, in which you can not apply it to any practical application, because pure it is almost as soft as butter without being in an alloy with another metal.

[18Hurts]

This has worked well for me for the last 25 years

Use paste rosin flux on the connector and wire
Use a hemostat for a heat sink on the bottom of the connector
Pre-tin the connectors and wire with regular solder that has rosin core flux inside. (not ROHS)

If the wire is larger than the hole in the connector, solder the wire on the connector flat, don't wrap it. The less solder between the two things connected is the strongest and lowest resistance.

I use a 25 watt Weller pencil iron and heat sinks, just got done soldering 48 tweeters with extender leads on the tweeter connectors. I then soldered in the harness and checked with a multi-meter... 6 parallel lines all within +/- 0.1 ohm--all good. The 25 watt iron is generally used for electronics soldering (chips, leads, tiny wire etc)

Here is a youtube video that shows you the proper techniques, the hows and whys etc.

YouTube - ‪How and WHY to Solder Correctly‬‏

Good luck and I only use silver solder on silver wire (medical) or pipe.