Soldering iron kit ? cheap and cheerful or anything to know about ?

[Mr. Dazzle]

I'd say the automotive industry primarily uses crimping cause its way cheaper, quicker and easier to do than soldering. It's simpler to stick a wire in a tool and cycle and clampy tool innit? Soldering requires a more skilled operator and some sort of down stream verification process.

Lead solder FTW by the way! Can't buy it any more though

We (automotive EV motor manufacturer) use bolting, crimping, soldering and welding to make various electrical connections. Everything from PCB assembly up to the main power connections in drive motors. Horses for courses innit.

But yeah....I'd crimp that bad boy if it were me.

[Count Steer]

Lead solder FTW by the way! Can't buy it any more though

Managed to buy some when doing the project that required all the wires to be soldered to the little contact dots on the ends of several hundred LED strips (we'd found the clip on terminals to be too iffy to be reliable). So, I have 'stock'.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I've got loads in the garage, rescued from my FiLs garage (he rescued it from RAF Binbrook when it closed down...which was in 1987 IIRC).

I don't even own a soldering iron, but I'm good for lead solder for a while

[Silly Car]

I prefer the non insulated terminals and crimpers like this https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk ... mping-tool

Soldering has its place but, for me, that's either guitars or bodgery.

For every job, there are a set of crimpers:

Bootlace - stranded wire into screw terminals
Insulated - for the red / blue / yellow automotive style
Terminal - for uninsulated pins in modular plugs
Uninsulated - predominately for ring connectors for batteries / earth bonding etc


All of them ratcheted so they apply the correct force to secure the connection before releasing. Yes, the wife is probably right about my tool obsession…

[DefTrap]

I really hate the pre insulated terminals.
Must come from very early days of Halfords blister packs and trying to crimp them with a set of old pliers.

[Mr. Dazzle]

If you're doing automotive hackery I'd agree your money is better spent on proper crimps and terminals than on soldering.

I'm with Deftrap, the Halfords blue/red/yellow ones are shite in comparison to the ones with the "fold over" bits that your crimp.

[wull]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned the solder connections but I’ve been using them for a while and they work a treat, using them alongside shrink wrap it leaves a very neat job.

Depends on what the job is and what’s required but if you can use these then I’d recommend using them.

[Count Steer]

Just watched a Youtube of that. What sort of temperature do heat guns get to? V odd watching the solder melt but not the plastic.

[MrLongbeard]

Bodgery of the highest order (IMHO)
If you have to use them at least give the wires a linesman splice before melting the solder

[Count Steer]

Bodgery of the highest order (IMHO)
If you have to use them at least give the wires a linesman splice before melting the solder

They do make a sort of join in the vid. More of a 'two frayed ends pushed together and twiddled a bit'.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but it all looks a bit wrong to me. I'd rather do a join, test it then heat shrink it.

[MrLongbeard]

Bodgery of the highest order (IMHO)
If you have to use them at least give the wires a linesman splice before melting the solder

They do make a sort of join in the vid. More of a 'two frayed ends pushed together and twiddled a bit'.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but it all looks a bit wrong to me. I'd rather do a join, test it then heat shrink it.

Mashing them together in a butt joint isn't going to offer any mechanical hold at all, and you can't tell if you've got decent wetting and good penetration with them things.

[Count Steer]

Bodgery of the highest order (IMHO)
If you have to use them at least give the wires a linesman splice before melting the solder

They do make a sort of join in the vid. More of a 'two frayed ends pushed together and twiddled a bit'.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but it all looks a bit wrong to me. I'd rather do a join, test it then heat shrink it.

Mashing them together in a butt joint isn't going to offer any mechanical hold at all, and you can't tell if you've got decent wetting and good penetration with them things.

Agreed, but it's soldering with a heat gun that freaks me out! Will a heat gun melt ordinary solder? (I've never even thought of trying to find out).

Hey ho, if Wull has a good success rate with 'em, fair enuff.

Hmmm...wonder if I can make a join with a bootlace ferrule and crimper? Probably do a reasonable 'get-you-home' type fix with it.

[wull]

Can’t remember what temps my heat gun get to but it has both a high and low setting. Iirc I tend to use it on the high setting for using these connectors.

I’ve been using them for a while now and they work. I have every method at my disposal and this method seems to work just fine.

At work I prefer to solder and finish off with shrink wrap but at times these are easier to use and work just as well. I use a shrink wrap with these as well.

Trust me, purchase some and try it, try pulling them apart, use the multimeter and you will see the connection is perfectly good.

[Count Steer]

Can’t remember what temps my heat gun get to but it has both a high and low setting. Iirc I tend to use it on the high setting for using these connectors.

I’ve been using them for a while now and they work. I have every method at my disposal and this method seems to work just fine.

At work I prefer to solder and finish off with shrink wrap but at times these are easier to use and work just as well. I use a shrink wrap with these as well.

Trust me, purchase some and try it, try pulling them apart, use the multimeter and you will see the connection is perfectly good.

It's the melting solder (and not the plastic) with a heat gun that seems so odd. (I know that there are high temperature plastics available but wonder if it's low temp solder). In the spirit of scientific enquiry next time you have the heat gun in hand, will you see if it will melt ordinary solder? (Haven't got a working heat gun any more or I'd have been out there clutching gun and solder when you first posted ).
Q? They appear to shrink wrap, why do you double wrap them?

[wull]

Just for added protection and having everything looking equally neat, I put silicone paste underneath the shrink wrap as well. When I do my normal soldering I apply silicon paste to the solder after it’s done before putting the shrink wrap in place.

Iirc it’s meant to be low heat solder connections so I’m presuming it’s able to melt at a lower heat, next time I’ll make sure it’s on low heat to see what happens, I might go out later and try it in the garage just to see.

[Count Steer]

Ahah! As Alan Partridge would say:

For a true low melting point, lead-free solder wire, then tin-bismuth eutectic is the alloy to use. A Tin 42% Bismuth 58%, this alloy melts at 138°C and has been used for low-temperature soldering applications for many years.

I suppose, after years of using lead based solder and the non-lead replacement, it just feels odd iyswim. Must be some reason why the low temp stuff isn't more widely used. (Have had to use a heat sink to protect components when soldering before so I guess it would be v useful in those situations too).

[Kneerly Down]

I really like those. Have been using them for quite a few years on the Landie in particular, and no failures.
What is particularly nice is they produce a properly watertight join, which is especially important when using them in the wheel arch of a LR!

[Mr. Dazzle]

138°C is probably too close for comfort on a lot of under bonnet applications. 100-120°C is a typical target operational temperature, hotter near exhausts.

Could also just be more expensive.