Does anybody have any tips for soldering CCA that result in a good metallurgic bond?
I have some wires which have very fine strands of what appears to be CCA - copper coating, whitish inside, springy, light.
I know these can be soldered, since the Chinese factory that produced the cables were able to get good bonds. If I re-solder their joints, no problem. Are they maybe coating the CCA with something in advance?
I am using a WES51 station, 60/40 rosin-core solder, and all I can do is surround the wire with a blob of solder. It never sticks. If I use enough solder (rosin) and enough heat, I get a green powder which I assume is the copper coating getting eaten by the flux and maybe combining with aluminium oxides to create the powder.
I have a lot of these cables, and many of them were poorly assembled. I'd like to fix them, but I can't if I can't figure out how to solder them properly. Stranded wires, about 24 gauge, going into Neutrik-Ningbo XLR. The braid/pin1 is actually the worst.
Any tips?
Thanks,
Wes
I have some wires which have very fine strands of what appears to be CCA - copper coating, whitish inside, springy, light.
I know these can be soldered, since the Chinese factory that produced the cables were able to get good bonds. If I re-solder their joints, no problem. Are they maybe coating the CCA with something in advance?
I am using a WES51 station, 60/40 rosin-core solder, and all I can do is surround the wire with a blob of solder. It never sticks. If I use enough solder (rosin) and enough heat, I get a green powder which I assume is the copper coating getting eaten by the flux and maybe combining with aluminium oxides to create the powder.
I have a lot of these cables, and many of them were poorly assembled. I'd like to fix them, but I can't if I can't figure out how to solder them properly. Stranded wires, about 24 gauge, going into Neutrik-Ningbo XLR. The braid/pin1 is actually the worst.
Any tips?
Thanks,
Wes
This will do it, with plenty of heat!
291345 | Multicore 1.63mm Wire Lead solder, +178 → +270C Melting Point, 80% Lead, 18% Tin, 2% Silver, 500g | Multicore
291345 | Multicore 1.63mm Wire Lead solder, +178 → +270C Melting Point, 80% Lead, 18% Tin, 2% Silver, 500g | Multicore
I'd guess that the copper coating is only a few atoms thick, for economy, ease and especially if the strands are fine.
This would mean that this layer dissolves almost instantly in regular solder.
Part of the solution would be to use an already copper-saturated solder, like the good 'ol Savbit from Multicore.
As a complement, using a flux that leaves the underlying aluminum in its unoxidised state (which it had to be for electroplating to work) could also be helpful, in case the copper is eaten away
JonSnell -- interesting proposal. You're saying to ignore the copper (I have been trying to bond with it) and solder the aluminium directly. Unfortunately, "lots of heat" gets me in trouble with the connector, particularly the male pins, although I could use heat-sinks and speed to mitigate that. Do you know why the spec sheet says that solder is not for electrical use?
Elvee -- thanks for the idea to use copper-bearing solder. I found a roll of Radio Shack 97/3 tin/copper I bought by accident 20 years ago. This solder is sticking to the wires fine; it's a little blobbier than 60/40, but it works. I noticed my iron tip (Weller 1/16" iron-clad chisel) showed visible signs of wasting after doing 10 ends tonight, though. I guess I need to more careful about keeping them tinned using this stuff; or maybe it was the higher temperature. The tip was only a year or old.
Wes
Elvee -- thanks for the idea to use copper-bearing solder. I found a roll of Radio Shack 97/3 tin/copper I bought by accident 20 years ago. This solder is sticking to the wires fine; it's a little blobbier than 60/40, but it works. I noticed my iron tip (Weller 1/16" iron-clad chisel) showed visible signs of wasting after doing 10 ends tonight, though. I guess I need to more careful about keeping them tinned using this stuff; or maybe it was the higher temperature. The tip was only a year or old.
Wes
Crimp terminate the wires rather than attempt solder jointing.
You could crimp a 'bootlace' type lug onto braid and then effect solder joint to plug terminal.
The Cu. coating on Al. is for corrosion control when jointing dissimilar metals.
The Al. oxide is issue when jointing Al. to Cu. or Electro tinned Cu lugs and terminals.
You could crimp a 'bootlace' type lug onto braid and then effect solder joint to plug terminal.
The Cu. coating on Al. is for corrosion control when jointing dissimilar metals.
The Al. oxide is issue when jointing Al. to Cu. or Electro tinned Cu lugs and terminals.
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