The following information will aid you in learning basic soldering skills. It should enable you to solder wires to electrical connectors, splices, and terminal lugs that we have discussed earlier in the chapter. Special skills and schooling are required for the soldering techniques used in printed circuit boards and microminiature component repair.

SOLDERING PROCESS

Cleanliness is essential for efficient, effective soldering. Solder will not adhere to dirty, greasy, or oxidized surfaces. Heated metals tend to oxidize rapidly. This is the reason the oxides, scale, and dirt must be removed by chemical or mechanical means. Grease or oil films can be removed with a suitable solvent. Connections to be soldered should be cleaned just prior to the actual soldering operation.

Items to be soldered should normally be "tinned" before making a mechanical connection. Tinning is the coating of the material to be soldered with a light coat of solder. When the surface has been properly cleaned, a thin, even coating of flux should be placed over the surface to be tinned. This will prevent oxidation while the part is being heated to soldering temperature. Rosin-core solder is usually preferred in electrical work. However, a separate rosin flux may be used instead. Separate rosin flux is frequently used when wires in cable fabrication are tinned.

Q.21 Why must items to be soldered be cleaned just prior to the soldering process?

TINNING COPPER WIRE AND CABLE

Wires to be soldered to connectors should be stripped so that when the wire is placed in the barrel, there will be a gap of approximately 1/32 inch between the end of the barrel and the end of the insulation. This is done to prevent burning the insulation during the soldering process and to allow the wire to flex easier at a stress point. Before copper wires are soldered to connectors, the ends exposed by stripping are tinned to hold the strands solidly together. The tinning operation is satisfactory when the ends and sides of the wire strands are fused together with a coat of solder. Do not tin wires that are to be crimped to solderless terminals or splices.

Copper wires are usually tinned by dipping them into flux (view A of figure 2-25) and then into a solder bath (pot) (view B of the figure). In the field, copper wires can be tinned with a soldering iron and rosin-core solder. Tin the conductor for about half its exposed length. Tinning or solder on the wire above the barrel causes the wire to be stiff at the point where flexing takes place. This will result in the wire breaking.

Figure 2-25. - Dip-tinning In a solder pot.

The flux used in tinning copper wire is a mixture of denatured alcohol and freshly ground rosin. This type of flux may be mixed just prior to use. A premixed paste flux may also be used. The solder used for terminal lugs, splices, and connectors is a mixture of 60-percent tin and 40-percent lead. Maintain the temperature of the solder bath (pot) between 450 and 500°F. This keeps the solder in a liquid state. Skim the surface of the solder pot, as necessary, with a metal spoon or blade. This keeps the solder clean and free from oxides, dirt, and so forth.

Dip-tin wires smaller than No. 8 in groups of 8 or 10. Dip-tin wires size No. 8 and larger individually. The procedure for dip-tinning is as follows:

Do not shake off excess solder. It can cause serious burns if it contacts your skin. It can also cause short circuits in exposed electrical equipment that may be in the immediate area of the tinning operation.

Use only rosin flux or rosin-core solder for tinning copper wires to be used in electrical and electronics systems. Corrosive flux will cause damage. During the tinning operation, do not melt, scorch, or burn the insulation.

Q.22 What does "tinning" mean in relationship to soldering?
Q.23 Why should wire be stripped 1/32 inch longer than the depth of the solder barrel?
Q.24 How much of the stripped length of a conductor should be tinned?