soldering on wiring harnesses

[hsv-001]

As a few of you know I have a V6 in a hot rodded 48 Vauxhall .When I modified the wiring harness 5 years ago it took me the best part of a week and I found the most difficult part was joining the many wires without making a large lump in the harness. The best way I found was to stagger the joins and shrink tube each individual wire . When twisting the wires together before soldering they can create a rather ugly lump or come untwisted in the middle of the solering process. Its like you need one more hand to steady the wire while the solder cools. So this morning when getting dressed I came up with a great solution .

 



Not the most complicated of jigs but it works well

[john253a]

Nice and simple
And something everyone has at home

I still straight line twist before I solder and it only makes the wire slightly larger then it is
And I always stager the joins unless there is only 1 or 2,

I found you 20-30w solders just don't cut it either you need a good 80watt or gas
To get it hot fast so you don't melt the cable

[NES304]

Bloody awesome idea!

[mickrat]

I am a seasoned auto sparky just over 40 years at the game what I do for a perfect solder joint is to bare both ends don't twist them but push them together intermingling the loose strands might take a few goes to get them sitting neat then twist them lightly between your finger tips and solder. No bulky lumpy bits that look like s#+!  Then heat shrink and stagger !!

[mickrat]

Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk

[FCV08]

Nice solder job.
Great soldering tool as well

[NES304]

I am a seasoned auto sparky just over 40 years at the game what I do for a perfect solder joint ......

My god that's tidy.
What solder do you use?
And when you coming to finish mine!!!

[Crumpsnr]

Great tips, thanks guys.  Martyn

[mickrat]

I use a gas operated iron readily available from any electronics outlet and resin speed solder. The secret is to get the tip hot. I feed the solder to the tip getting it hot before I approach the joint, keep feeding solder and place the tip under the joint about half way up the tip, keep feeding solder until you see the solder fully penetrate the joint then slowly draw the tip away and any excess solder will follow.  Thats it !   Happy soldering.   Or as they say in the good ole USA.  Happy Soddering !!!

[hsv-001]

When I was ringing in western Qld we would melt small amounts of solder and carry them with us along with cooking alfoil .Stripping the ends of wires to be joined, we would twist the wires together, place a drop of solder with the wires then roll the alfoil around the wire and heat the alfoil with a lighter to solder a broken wire . Handy thing to carry in a toolbox if you are travelling. Cheers Haydn