Hey y'all. I'm just getting into some electrical work such as adding extra lights and additional 12v sockets into my truck. I occasionally need to repair a cut cord on something. It's time for me to learn to solder. Question is what kit would you recommend for under $20? I see some on Amazon for as low as 10 bucks, but I'm not sure what really need vs junk I don't and I'm not sure what features I need to look for. Can y'all help?
What soldering tool would you recommend
- Thread starter GarageDan
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Stuart in MN
Well-known member
For that kind of soldering a Weller solder gun works well. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JEGEC0/?tag=atomicindus08-20
x2, but if you can get your hands on the older version they have abetter clamp arrangement for the tips( IMO)
can often be bought at yard sales for $5
can often be bought at yard sales for $5
ca90ss
Well-known member
Road Wrench
Well-known member
For the 12-14 gauge wire encountered with what your working on a 40 watt pencil type iron with a chisel tip works great.
DGersic
Well-known member
Get a quality crimper and good quality connectors. No solder.
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Ohmthis
Well-known member
I’ll have to disagree here. With vehicle wiring, most of it is in a corrosive environment. Yes crimp connectors and couplings can be used (I prefer the type with heat shrink built into the plastic), but they can corrode and cause problems. To me (electrician for over 20 years) a proper solder joint is less problematic and a overall better electrical connection.
Under $20 you're cutting it pretty tight on the budget, but since your tasks mentioned were general electrical rather than electronics work, I would put the money towards a quality name brand iron rather than a generic soldering station. Generic <$10 irons tend to be short lived, with crappy chinese rubber cords that fall apart (and becomes an electrical hazard) and tips that lose plating quick then get eaten away by the solder flux.
Something from Hakko or Weller would just fit in that budget, for example there's this kit that includes a couple extra tips, a stand, and some solder:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3SG7F0/?tag=atomicindus08-20
The iron alone is on sale for $12 right now and the tip it comes with is the better of the 3 for what you're wanting it for, but is too big for (most) electronics work:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3SG6UQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Solder is superior to crimping (if you are competent at it) with some exceptions. If you're putting in lighter outlets that are going to heat cigarette lighters, do use crimps in that case because they get quite hot. Similarly you'd want to crimp wires to an oven/coffee-pot/etc heating element.
You'd also want to crimp if you care more about getting a job done fast, but for typical one-off projects I'd rather spend a few more minutes to solder things.
Something from Hakko or Weller would just fit in that budget, for example there's this kit that includes a couple extra tips, a stand, and some solder:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3SG7F0/?tag=atomicindus08-20
The iron alone is on sale for $12 right now and the tip it comes with is the better of the 3 for what you're wanting it for, but is too big for (most) electronics work:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3SG6UQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Solder is superior to crimping (if you are competent at it) with some exceptions. If you're putting in lighter outlets that are going to heat cigarette lighters, do use crimps in that case because they get quite hot. Similarly you'd want to crimp wires to an oven/coffee-pot/etc heating element.
You'd also want to crimp if you care more about getting a job done fast, but for typical one-off projects I'd rather spend a few more minutes to solder things.
HenryAZ
MEMBER EMERITUS
Correct, for automotive work, due to the vibration in vehicles.. I use uninsulated connectors, crimped, with marine grade heat shrink tubing (the kind with glue inside, which forms a nice weatherproof connection).
wkndwarrior29
Well-known member
On that budget you'll generally get what you pay for. I'd recommend increasing the budget and getting a nice portosol torch with a soldering tip. You'll get more use out of it too.
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rlitman
Well-known member
This is wrong on many levels. FYI, standard copper (and brass) crimp connections are dangerous on heating elements. Most heating elements are welded to a wire, and that wire will have a steel based (nickel plated) connector crimped on.
This too is wrong.
First off, a properly crimped connection is not prone to corrosion. Neither is the soldered connection, but in both cases, neither the crimp nor the solder are responsible for protecting the wire from corrosion. A proper seal must still connect the wire insulation to the crimp barrel, without allowing the elements into the otherwise unprotected wire strands behind the crimp. Solder offers no additional benefits in this realm, but it does increase the resistance of the connection, which in turn makes the wire run hotter. That in turn greatly increases the rate of corrosion if bare copper wire was used (tin plated wires hold up better when hot). And FYI, I've seen plenty of copper wire used indoors burn up due to hot connections. You can't call conditioned indoor air a "corrosive environment", and yet it still eats up unprotected copper in the right conditions (heat here is the key).
Crimps have far more problems with vibrations. A correctly soldered joint is more immune to vibrations than the wire itself is. Crimping weakens the wire at the crimp, you'll tend to see the wire fail there (if anywhere) if you don't have extra stain relief to make up for it.
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Yes some are welded on, but many are not steel which also oxidizes at these temperatures and has higher resistance itself. It also sheds its plating easier.
It is as prone to corrosion as it gets because the wire is bare. If you want to only think in terms of a crimp that has a sealed sheath over it, okay then we're not just taking about crimps, but the crimp itself does nothing to seal out moisture and oxygen.
This is something that seldom happens with crimped wires. It is more unusual to see a sealed crimp than an unsealed.
It is the opposite, a crimp only makes a small % contact in most DIY applications. There is a small area of contact, subject to oxidation, and when a DIY crimp rather than factory tested and validated process, they often end up failing (at least to a higher resistance) in a single digit # of years unless the wire was plated, though a longer lifespan if barely passing any current.
Solder on the other, has no significant measurable difference 100 years later. Claims like "increase the resistance" can be tested by measurement. People do it all the time. Nobody is avoiding soldered joints because of increased resistance. The suggestion is ludicrous except in very unique applications.
First, no you haven't ever seen a single copper wire burnt up that wouldn't be worse if it were crimped instead, assuming that the solder joint was done correctly. Second, the majority of indoor wire that gets burnt up from hot connections was due to being crimped.
On the other hand I can and do call indoor air a corrosive environment because oxidation only requires oxygen. It needs no (relative increase in) heat at all, heat merely accelerates the process.
Unprotected copper is what the crimped joint is. Additionally you're talking about using a crimp that's dissimilar metal to the wire so you also have galvanic corrosion.
If your mistaken theories were correct, nothing would work, the world would come to a standstill because most powered equipment failed right away. Solder joints are used extensively in electronics, wherever it is not so inconvenient to do so that the cost or practicality overrides good electrical design. There are cases where something poorly designed might have a solder joint failure but this is a reduced problem rate compared to crimps.
Properly designed circuits, properly soldered, tend to never have any solder failures, ever. (Edit: I take that back, now with lead free solder there are tin whiskers possible in certain situations, primarily tight pitch ICs). Crimps on the other hand are a time bomb. Fortunately if done well, most crimps outlive the useful service life of the product but again this depends on proper product design.
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Brownsfan
Well-known member
He asked for a quality soldering iron not a solder vs crimp debate. Both have there place and will work if done properly. When tapping into a existing vehicle wire crimping is not always practical. So stripping it back and soldering the accessory wire to it is a good connection. Not many good irons for $20. I think home depot sells a butane iron/torch for like $30. I have it and its pretty decent for the money .
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bernzomatic-ST2200T-Butane-Micro-Torch-330194/100564678
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bernzomatic-ST2200T-Butane-Micro-Torch-330194/100564678
Buckaroo5
Well-known member
I used an old Weller soldering iron for years that I purchased for less than $20. It did what was needed but recently upgraded to this and am very happy......
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FNVQZ6/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Buckaroo
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FNVQZ6/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Buckaroo
matt_i
Well-known member
I have to recommend a butane soldering iron. I'm a fan of the Master Appliance version, which isn't cheap but has been on a lot of jobs. It has a little exhaust port which is perfect for shrinking the tubing back.
Many jobs are not within reach of a cord, or if they are, a complete pain to setup an extension cord and tool holder which is usually easily knocked over by any perturbations to the cord, then stand around while the iron gets hot.
Many jobs are not within reach of a cord, or if they are, a complete pain to setup an extension cord and tool holder which is usually easily knocked over by any perturbations to the cord, then stand around while the iron gets hot.
I second the opinion about butane for automotive work. Much easier to get it where you need to do the work. Not exactly in you budget but it doesn't have to break the bank either:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DIE9BO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
It even has the tip for doing heat shrink.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DIE9BO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
It even has the tip for doing heat shrink.
Yeah, you should avoid soldering to wires. Crimps are much more reliablle especially if there are vibrations like there are in vehicles. The solder proponents always make good points that sound perfectly reasonable but crimps still turn out to be more reliable. Mainly due to fatigue failures where the solder ends. At that junction the bending moments in the wire cannot be distributed since the copper is constrained in the solder. So small movements like those from vibrations cause high stress.
Fair warning: great many butane soldering gismoz are junk. Many of them are single use items so to speak. I have had great luck with Portasol, but unfortunately they cost more than $20. I bought mine in 1998 and it's still going strong after considerable use. It seems current offering from Portasol are very similar and hopefully still high quality.
Jazzman442
Well-known member
That is the correct one for 12 volt wiring. The guns get to hot. Plus this is adjustable. Weller make the same thing if Home Depot has them in stock.
For auto soldering, a weller gun is the most useful tool to have. You struggle to get enough heat into big wires with normal soldering irons, plus the guns heat up quickly and can be put down without resting the hot bit on anything. For soldering outside when it's freezing they are pretty hard to beat.
I also have a portasol gas iron. It's good for quick jobs outside, when it's not worth running an extension, or for when there's no power available. Otherwise I use the weller gun.
Obviously the gun type are useless for detail work like soldering components onto a board.
I also have a portasol gas iron. It's good for quick jobs outside, when it's not worth running an extension, or for when there's no power available. Otherwise I use the weller gun.
Obviously the gun type are useless for detail work like soldering components onto a board.
Hytekrednek
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I use a cordless Milwaukee soldering iron for these type jobs and love it
tonyprovo723
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I received one of these a couple years ago as a gift I asked for. Unfortunately, I've not had the opportunity to use it. However, I read the instructions and learned something on it. It has a duty cycle just like a welder. Forget what it is, but might be a usable piece of information for the OP.
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mbshop
Well-known member
Working on mbs I found crimped connectors. I have a Weller gun I bought in the early 70s and it still does just fine. Otherwise I normally crimped and used shrink tubes the self sealing 3m stuff is great also. In most cases you will never find a problem with either in your lifetime.
Thanks guys. I appreciate all the advice. I agree that there is a time for crimping and a time for soldering, IMO. Looks like I need to up my budget a little... I'd rather get something good. I bought a $5 from HF the other day and it wouldn't even heat up a small wire. I couldn't even tin a wire.