Solder Thick Gauge Wire

by FliteTest | January 23, 2013 | (37) Posted in Tips

 

Learn how to solder thick gauge wire properly with today's Fast Tip!  Whether you work with scratch build RC airplanes or you're just fixing up your RTF park flyer, this tip will come in handy!




All you need to do is smash the two thick gauge wires together.



With speaker wire (or similar) wrap the thick gauge to creating a strong joint.  This makes the connection very strong even before you solder.



You'll need a solder iron that can heat properly solder your joint.
In case you are wondering, we use a Weller WESD51 Digital Soldering Station.





The solder will pull through the wire and create a very strong electrical connection!




Did we mention this type of solder connection is strong!? Well, it is. We hope you enjoyed this Fast Tip! 
 
Let us know if you have a cool tip, or better yet post it here on the website!
 

 

 



- Find this article & others like it at www.FliteTest.com -

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COMMENTS

casehatter on January 23, 2013
Jose you need to stop picking up hitch hikers LOL

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lonewolf7717 on January 24, 2013
I have done the wire mesh thing a long time and they can on occasion fail especially if joint has a lot of "wear" and or vibration. The additional wire wrap....totally makes sense....lol my preferred method from here on out without even trying it yet.
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SeanJuan73 on January 23, 2013
Great article! I have always meshed my wires together, but the added step of wrapping it, was something I never thought of! Thanks for the tip!
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Good Kebo on January 23, 2013
You guys should do a soldering iron review. I know that sounds really exciting...... but inquiring minds need to know, "what is the best all around iron to get for rc work?"
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casehatter on January 23, 2013
Man I have two for what they just done I have a gun with 100 t0 140 amps.
Most of the time you can use the ones they use my second it adjust from 40 to 80amp depends but I like more heat than not enough so I use my weller gun for 35 bucks at Lowe's most of the time. To each his own ???
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lonewolf7717 on January 24, 2013
Hakko 936...although discontinued under Hakko brand name, exact same model can be found online under different labels. Personally have a Hakko fx-88 that replaced my Hakko 936 after 10+ years of service.
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Tregtronics on January 23, 2013
I love this tip. Thanks for all you do.
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LanMark on January 24, 2013
My problem isn't wire to wire its wire to connector.. which I seem to either heat up the connector too much and the plastic melts or something like that. I have a 5S battery just waiting for a connector.. but my two attempts I didn't like the result.
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lonewolf7717 on January 24, 2013
Based on your description I would assume you are using deans or XT60 type connectors. Since I can't speak from experience as I have never used either for the exact reason you are describing I will say you need "quick heat". Battery lead connectors are bulky things, simply takes more watts to heat quickly and throughout. With lower watt irons we have a tendency to hold in place too long in an effort to achieve proper heat....and even though using higher wattage and rosin-core I still use a small extra dab of flux on parts that i want fast clean "flow".....before other things start melting.
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JimCR120 on January 23, 2013
Can't forget the heat shrink.

That was nifty. Never seen that before. Excellent tip.

Thanks Dave.
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diyman on January 24, 2013
hey guys great tip but i think i would at least use same color wire most of the time you try to avoid a direct short's ie:red to black.
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liveyourdreamsRC on January 24, 2013
Is there a way to do this with soldering more than one wire? Like on a quad?
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ITCyoy543 on January 24, 2013
What happens when you have bad solder joints dave?
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Mirabile Visu on January 24, 2013
Great tip, thank you. I've struggled with this job many times, but no longer!
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eagle4 on January 24, 2013
I love David's belt buckle :)
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Cyberdactyl on January 26, 2013
I threw this on the forum as well. . .

I have used the technique described in the article for quite a while now. One thing I would add is to lightly dab each of the splayed wire ends with some flux paste before meshing them together. The flux adds some slippage or lubrication to work the wire together and, most importantly, it will then be mixed inside the entangled mini-strands. If you tightly wrap the wire bundle together, and don't add flux, you'll find the solder has a tougher time working its way throughout the entire core. With flux, the solder is able to work through with capillary action quite easily.
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Fishbonez on August 13, 2014
Works great I just tried it today and worked like a champ. Cyberdactyls comment really helped using the flux

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Solder Thick Gauge Wire