How to solder thick gauge wire

[ambroseliao]

I saw this on the flitetest YouTube channel and thought it was a great tip.

http://youtu.be/7t9nT3Hn9b0
[youtube]7t9nT3Hn9b0[/youtube]

The tip basically has you mush two thick gauge wires together then smooth them into a compact wire. Then wrap a piece of copper wire around both wires. Once done, use a powerful iron to add solder to this very tough bundle.

The joint is immensely strong even without soldering!

Done! Of course, I would put some heat-shrink around it or at a minimum, some electrical tape to insulate it.

 

[dnmun]

yep, i do that to major conductors. you have to wrap the small wire around the bundle of interlocked strands so the strands don't stick up and puncture the shrink wrap. the trick is to have each end of the wire kinda massaged a little so when you flex it the strands kinda wiggle against and separate a little from each other.

the entire end section cannot be twisted, straight across. i can never get more than about 1/4" deep, and i only have done this to 10awg stranded. i have saved short pieces of fine wire from stranded to use. thin but strong enuff to pull on when you cinch the strands up in the noose as you tighten it.

 

[jonescg]

If I need to join two wires 12 AWG or bigger, I use a sleeve crimp.

 

[dogman dan]

I like crimp sleeves for joining 2-3 12 g wires when making paralell harnesses and such.

I use the kind found in the house wiring section of a hardware store. They don't have built in insulation, so I layer 2-3 layers of shrink on them when finished.
This pic shows some 10g wires on HK lipos joined paralell.


I just find crimping to be fast and effective for the bigger wires.

 

[etriker]

I like crimp sleeves for joining 2-3 12 g wires when making paralell harnesses and such.

I use the kind found in the house wiring section of a hardware store. They don't have built in insulation, so I layer 2-3 layers of shrink on them when finished.
This pic shows some 10g wires on HK lipos joined paralell.


I just find crimping to be fast and effective for the bigger wires.

Without the balance wires connected when one of the cells starts to puff and short and lose voltage the other pack in parallel will start overcharging the other cells in the pack with the shorting cell and send current through the shorting cell ?

 

[Ykick]

Looks like a variation of the "western union splice".

Their comment about "high power" soldering iron is somewhat misleading. It's not the power as much as the mass of the tip which correlates to quick and effective solder flow. 60W iron using a Hammerhead tip will flow cell tabs or heavy 8ga wire in 1-2 seconds. If you have to hold an iron on a part for longer than that, you're applying excessive heat (too small of tip) into areas that might not respond well to high heat.

 

[Ypedal]

:wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPwFcIcAxhs&list=UUJCgYcCXBAuxEgVT1bpMnyQ&index=9

[youtube]vPwFcIcAxhs[/youtube]

 

[Kingfish]

And now for the Devil's Advocate point of view... :wink:

For years my method was the "western union splice" for 12 AWG and lower (numbers/larger wire) until this past summer when I switched over to swaging which greatly simplified the process, made a stronger physical connection, and did not depreciate the conductivity – which is a small issue with solder. Icecube57 made pretty convincing argument for swaging and I’ve been pretty happy with the results.

Ref: Mechanical Crimping Large Gauge Wiring Harnesses

Funny how a few scant ohms of resistance can make a big difference on motor-controller performance, but upgrading my wiring harness from 10 AWG to 6 helped add about 5 mph to my top speed. Certainly the sag problems went away.

Generally the issue with soldering large wire is the heat stress applied to the insulation and nearby components, and the poorly constrained stiffing of the wire as solder wicks up inside. That said, I still solder (especially if it's just a 2-wire join)… just not the big stuff anymore.

Time and a place for everything
~KF

 

[Ypedal]

thick strand wire (stiff) is easier to twist and solder.... but fine strand noodle silicone wire is near impossible to twist together in large gauge so you have to band it..

 

[cmmx]

I've meshed two 10 gauge braided wires together for an RC speed control. The joint feels strong, but I cannot determine if the solder penetrated to the center wires. First, is this important? Second, if it is, what would be the best approach for ensuring it has? I should have applied flux first, but forgot. I'm also unsure about re-wiring because it's 3 inches from the speed control and I don't want too much heat getting back to it.

Thank you!

 

[amberwolf]

It may be important, depending on the way the conductors themselves are connected together. If they are already tightly connected without the solder, then they should have low enough resistance to not be a problem even without solder, as long as water cannot get in there to cause corrosion between strands. If they were loose (or not tight) fitting strand to strand, then there may be gaps between them that don't conduct anything, raising the resistance of the joint and decreasing it's effectiveness.

How specifically are they meshed together? Do you have any pictures of the process? (better than descriptions) Knowing this may help us figure out a non-destructive way you can tell.

Normally, to accurately determine penetration, one must cut the joint in half (lengthwise, along the wire) and examine it. This would usually be done in practice sessions with scrap wire of the same type, and similar lengths to be used (to duplicate heat conduction away from the joint being made), and vary the process of soldering until the results are what you want. Then use that process on the final joint and be "sure" it works as desired.

This isn't practical for most people, so often the best recommendation is to make sure you have a fat chisel-tip high-wattage iron. The fat tip (perhaps half the of an average pinky finger or better) holds enough heat to begin to feed the joint while the high wattage (60-80w) feeds the tip to keep it hot enough to finish.

Another option is to crimp the joint using copper (or tinned copper, or even steel) ferrules, and a quality crimper, either ratcheting or hydraulic. This may cost more than the soldering iron for the crimper and ferrule "kit" of different gauges, but can make more reliable connections (essentially coldwelding the conductors all together), and a crimped joint is more flexible (past the joint) than a soldered one (which has flowed solder up into the wire past the joint, and can be brittle there and may break under flexing / vibration).

I've meshed two 10 gauge braided wires together for an RC speed control. The joint feels strong, but I cannot determine if the solder penetrated to the center wires. First, is this important? Second, if it is, what would be the best approach for ensuring it has? I should have applied flux first, but forgot. I'm also unsure about re-wiring because it's 3 inches from the speed control and I don't want too much heat getting back to it.

 

[mickyd]

How specifically are they meshed together? Do you have any pictures of the process? (better than descriptions) Knowing this may help us figure out a non-destructive way you can tell.

Maybe, just maybe?? You'll get the concept in the first 12 seconds.

[youtube]EfElTOVz88M[/youtube]

 

[amberwolf]

If you're really replying to me, I already know the concepts and methods well from a few decades of practice. You can find quite a few posts from me on the topic, some with pictures of various methods, some with just process descriptions, tool suggestions, etc.

The part (and post) you were replying to was to another poster that had a question about how well the solder had penetrated, which you can only truly know by a destructive test.

I asked for pictures of what exactly they did because I could then guess, based on their process and equipment and my own experiences, whether or not it really did penetrate.

How specifically are they meshed together? Do you have any pictures of the process? (better than descriptions) Knowing this may help us figure out a non-destructive way you can tell.

Maybe, just maybe?? You'll get the concept in the first 12 seconds.

[youtube]EfElTOVz88M[/youtube]

 

[mickyd]

If you're really replying to me, I already know the concepts and methods well from a few decades of practice. You can find quite a few posts from me on the topic, some with pictures of various methods, some with just process descriptions, tool suggestions, etc.

That's funny! I really thought you were asking the question. Oh well, the video will help SOMEONE out. :lol: (Love the way the guy in the video used the KISS principle for his heat source.)