March 15th Meeting

[TY Guy]

Greetings -
There's been some discussion about how to keep the gang engaged in VME gatherings and postings.
I know a little about soldering and will share next meeting. I hope it inspires our many talented members to share shop skills they possess and so improve all of our shop time and project results.
Plan -- Show the solder heat bridge, an extra hand, things that prevent a good solder connection.
Goal -- Improve understanding in hand solder of electrical connections and trade shop tips and tricks.
@ The Corner House -- In 10 or so minutes should do it;
* tools and equipment
* soldering wires to terminals and the "Western Union" wire splice.
* No plan to actually solder. I can do a soldering demo in April if there's interest.
Note; I think this is useful info and might even help with a "garage guy's" electrical soldering tasks some day.
Hope to see you the 3rd Thursday - March 15th.
Jon
Here's what I plan to use + links to material and workmanship docs;
Hand soldering electrical connections

Select good solder -
SN 60 or SN 63 Solder (eutectic) if it’s old wipe it clean with alcohol b4 use.
SN63WRMAP* = Sn63 solder, wire, RMA flux, * = % of flux in core

Set Soldering Iron Temp
361 degrees F - Melting Point for SN63 solder.
Good irons recover temp quickly so they work better.
A cool breeze is not good while soldering.

Tip size -
Needs to fit the work. I’ve used a 3/8” chisel point for years. Splices, fuse holders etc.
Too small can't support the heat needs - Too big the working time goes down to zero & the heat can damage.

Clean and Tin beforehand.
Soldering iron tip - tip is plated so avoid sand paper. To clean and maintain
Heat, wipe clean w/paper towel or moist sponge, “tin” with new solder and repeat until tip is shiny and smooth. Not “shiny and smooth” is a problem. Replace tip if needed.
Remember to melt solder on the iron tip to preserve it after each use.

Clean work with alcohol / acid brush beforehand to remove contamination and after to remove acidic flux residue. The older the parts the more important the pre-cleaning. Scrape old wire with a knife is one way to remove the oxidation. Solder will not flow on oxidation covered wire or components. It's referred to as poor wetting and good soldering requires "good wetting of the molten solder throughout the connection"

Prepare Wires -
Strip wire - don't damage/cut individual stands of the wire
Restore the wire lay as needed (avoid bird cage).
Wire should be tight against target with max area - snug it up.
Pre-Tin - “Extra Hand” Solder Lug if needed. See Sample
Heat Shrink Sleeve?

Create a Heat Bridge — best tip.
Any time the iron goes to the connection it “splashes” through new solder. In larger connections “Feed the heat bridge” additional solder as the joint takes it in - iron

When tip and settings are correct a solder joint takes 5 seconds max to complete.

Remove iron and solder together - come off together (iron and solder) in a “V” - prevents icicles or barbs from forming.

Tin/stow the iron and look at the work - bright smooth concave fillet of solder with enough to cover with a continuous coating with the outline of wires and such still discernible.

Workmanship pics/examples link -
http://www.ese.com.hk/?action=admin_cms ... ew&id=2340 see Section 5, or page 50 or so.

Reference; Melting point for various lead based solder types,
https://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Docume ... 0Chart.pdf

[ATinkerer]

Sounds interesting.
Always can learn something new.

Gordon

[John H]

Soldering control cables is always a good discussion. Also silver soldering.

[Dragonknee]

Sounds good for sure. Look forward to it