[mlvp]

I recently bought a small solder bath for tinning the the enamelled wire of my NOH kit.

Now I wonder what solder to use in it. I could use the solder that came with the kit (I don't need much), but that solder has a rosin core wich will burn and leave a lot of residue. I could also buy some regular core-less 60/40 solder, but this will have an effect on the chemical composition of the eventual solder joint. (The manual says it's Cardas solder, and Cardas seems very concerned about the chemical composition of their solder.)

What is the best way to go?

Michiel

[John Chapman]

Hello!

I tried to use a pot with the flux type solder and it did not take long to drive me out of the room! It is an evil smell. After that I have not used the pot - although maybe some no flux solder would do the trick.

I would not worry about the chemical composition - the joints should be in good shape if you tin wel then solder with the included solder as you attach to the switch. It is MUCH more important to tin the wire good than to worry about a bit of 'non exotic' but still decent solder.

Please report back how you make out with the solder pot - after my first try I filed it away but maybe it is worth trying it again!

Thanks!

John

[mgalusha]

I use solid core solder in my solder pot along with a container of rosin flux. I dip the wire into the flux prior to dunking it into the solder pot. This seems to work very well, especially on the enameled wire. The enamel burns off nicely, the flux keeps it clean and I am left with a nicely tinned wire. The only time there are flux fumes is when I'm actually holding the wire in the solder pot and they are no worse than when using regular rosin core solder.

As for the type of solder, I purchased a "terminating kit" from Cardas that included the pot, solder and flux. The Cardas site only states that this is "bar solder". My kit included a small amount of their normal rosin core solder as well as the solid core stuff. The solid core was not bar solder but normal round solder approximately 4mm in diameter. As John said, I think tinning the wire properly and getting a nice clean joint is more important than which type of solder is used.

Cardas Terminating Kit

mike

Edit - The Cardas website lists the bar solder seperately and mentions that it's tin/lead solder. Nothing fancy there.

[John Chapman]

Hello!

Thanks for the great info!


John

[Lost81]

As for the type of solder, I purchased a "terminating kit" from Cardas that included the pot, solder and flux ...

Hey, Mike,

Where did you purchase your kit from?
And how much did it cost you?

Thanks!


-Lost81

[mgalusha]

Lost,

I purchased my kit from a Cardas OEM but I am not at liberty to say who they are. Kevin at DIYCable.com carries them and is asking $90 for the kit. This is about what I paid and I have no regrets. I rewired my friend Jerry's Alphas with Cardas Litz wire and this would have been a nearly impossible task without the solder pot. The Cardas Litz has individually insulated wires and a solder pot is just about the only way to remove the insulation.

One thing to be aware of is that it takes about 45 minutes for the pot to get hot enough to do a good job of burning off the enamel.

John, You're welcome, glad I could be of assistance.

[mlvp]

Thanks for the responses. That Cardas kit looks very nice. The pot is a lot larger than mine though, I wouldn't want to fill that one with fluxed solder!

I tried to get some core-less solder at the best electronics shop in town, but no luck. So I settled for a bit of the included solder to try out. I melted the solder in the bath, but with John's remark in mind I did it outside. I was glad I did! It produced lot of smoke while the flux burned away, but then I could take it inside without a problem.

First results were mixed: the wire was often dirty when it came out of the solder, or the solder wouldn't hold. So I poured the solder into a cup of water (the solid droplets can be easily cleaned and look quite nice by the way) and cleaned the bath.

Tonight I tried again and got it working very nicely: a bit of flux on the wire, then a few second dip (until the foam/bubbles of boiling varnish could be seen at the surface). Take it out vertically and no dirt will cling to the wire (the surface is dirty with burned residue, but the boiling action pushes the dirt away). The wire end is covered with a nice, even layer of solder. Great!

Now all I need to do is to put in more solder (the bath is not deep enough yet). Glad to hear that regular solder will do, I have more than enough of that.

Michiel