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soldering

Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2004
Posts
9,470
Location
Sunny Scotland
So never soldered anything in my life, i just soldered these two wires for a led strip together and it works just need to know if its a death trap or once I put some electrical tape on it if it's fine :p

Yes i need allot of practice.

20160327_151617.jpg
 
Offsetting the two cuts would have made any possible short more unlikely.

Just watch for sharp bits of wire that may pierce the insulation tape, but as above, heatshrink is a nicer solution.
 
I'd un-solder it and place some heatshrink over the wires, then re-solder. Try and steer clear of tape. It never lasts and looks messy imo.
 
if you dont want to unsolder then wrap the bugger out of it with insulation tape.
Just a tad less solder next time and itl look a lot neater.
 
Looks like you've had the soldering iron on the cable for too long, but depends on the equipment you were using. With a good soldering iron + solder you shouldn't really be melting the insulation.
 
Thank's guys the fact its passable for my first attempt is good to know. Next time I will of course put the heatshrink on first. As it's just for some led strips and will be hidden away I will wrap it proper in tape :)

my solder iron was a cheap Draper £10 from amazon so not brilliant.
 
A soldering question so I thought I would re-use this 2016 thread

For ever, have been using an old pot of paste flux originally intended for plumbing, for dipping wires before tinning, and dabbing on junction before joining.
This turns out to be pretty corrosive, and came back to some telephone wire connections yesterday, where the fine gauge copper wrire actually broke during inspection. (BT problem)

What is the goto flux to use ? or should I go for cored solder ? or should I be cleaning the joints with Acetone or other ? (alcohol/IPA does not work)
 
A soldering question so I thought I would re-use this 2016 thread

But why? Just make a new thread. 'Re-using' threads just creates confusion... People read the original post, then waste time reading the subsequent posts, then realise the thread is a year old, then look for the muppet who bumped the thread, then read the new question... Instead of just opening a thread and reading your question!
 
Use any old flux pen from RS, always clean it after finished soldering or it will corrode. IPA wipes usually will do the trick.

Thanks, I'll give IPA another try


But why? Just make a new thread. 'Re-using' threads just creates confusion... People read the original post, then waste time reading the subsequent posts, then realise the thread is a year old, then look for the muppet who bumped the thread, then read the new question... Instead of just opening a thread and reading your question!
Even with recently created threads ill disciplined folks just read original post and reply in duplicate - wasting time of others, or they reply out of context with direction thread has taken.
If you try and group the advice with existing correlated threads that's better - otherwise its groundhog day, the fish swimming round the bowl with no long term collective memory/evolution.
Should have a button on threads for people to score a reply by its usefullness/uselessness - maybe the trust button does the former, but nothing allows you to say the latter.
 
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