How to Solder Wire Together

Solder provides a nice, neat and permanent bond to wires and other electronics you wish to splice together to create a connection that allows electricity to pass through. With the right soldering iron and rosin core wire, soldering items together is a wonderful alternative to simply twisting or taping electrical connections together.

Things You'll Need

• Soldering iron (40 watts recommended)
• Wire
• Wire strippers
• Clamp

Instructions

1. 

   Strip about ½ inch of the insulation off the ends of the wire with a wire stripper.

2. 

   Twist the ends of the wire slightly to prevent fraying.

3. 

   Loop the wire and intertwine the ends. It can as shown in the image; this is inline fusing. Or you twist-tie it, which is called pigtail.

4. 

   Plug in the soldering iron and place a small, even amount of the wire on the tip. This is known as tinning the tip. It helps greatly with heat transfer so that you get a quality solder. If there is excess solder on the tip, simply shake it off lightly onto a piece of paper or cardboard.

5. 

   Clamp the wire loop into something and heat the connection point with the iron.

6. 

   Apply the solder wire to the top of the splice while applying heat to the bottom of it. Once the solder begins to melt, move the wire around so you achieve an even cover. Never touch the soldering wire to the iron itself.

7. 

   Let the splice cool a bit before you handle it. What you are left with is an efficiently fused electrical connection.

Tips & Warnings

• Never let the rosin core wire come in contact with the tip of the iron while soldering. Heat the item, instead.

• Once a connection is soldered, it can then be taped, heat-shrinked or left alone if there is no danger of a short.

• The higher the wattage of the iron, the hotter it gets.

• Soldering irons are hot. Be careful when setting it down or handling it.

• Remember to unplug the iron after use.