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why cant i solder correctly?

T2urtle

T2urtle

Diamond Member
Well i'm attempt to solder some LED in my car and i wanted to test out my soldering skills and get used to it before i do it on my car. So i had a busted headlight and i thought i should solder the wires together.

I go to solder the wires together, i place the iron on the wire to warm them up a little. applied the rosin core to the wire and place my tip right at it. It melted but the solder stuck to the tip instead of the wire what gives?

i'ved tried a couple other times and i got the same results and after a couple efforts i manage to get the solder to stick to the wire. but why doesn't it stay the first time.
 
You've got to heat everything that you're soldering together, not just the solder; you may just not be getting the wire hot enough for the solder to bind to. Remember, you're fusing the two metal items together. Solder isn't like glue that just sticks stuff together. Also, you can't solder steel and aluminum together, so know what you're trying to join.
 
that could be it. i didn't apply too much heat to the wire thinking i would melt/ burn up the wire.
 
if the wires are really thin then you may actually be overheating them. I know from plumbing that when you solder something you cant get the pipes too hot or the solder wont stick.
 
Does your soldering iron have a temp guage? Mine's digital...it helps when you want to make sure the temp is hot enough. Get the leads hot enough to melt the solder and you'll be set.

-Scar
 
Use some soldering paste. Apply liberally, but make sure you clean it off. It's worked for me almost every time.
 
Use flux.

I've done plenty of soldering and solder won't stick to a dirty joint, no matter what the temperature is.

Either get it perfectly clean, or just use flux.
 
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Use flux.

I've done plenty of soldering and solder won't stick to a dirty joint, no matter what the temperature is.

Either get it perfectly clean, or just use flux.
Click to expand...

You should purchase solder that's got a flux core that melts/spreads as you heat the solder 😛
 
Originally posted by: GuideBot
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Use flux.

I've done plenty of soldering and solder won't stick to a dirty joint, no matter what the temperature is.

Either get it perfectly clean, or just use flux.
Click to expand...

You should purchase solder that's got a flux core that melts/spreads as you heat the solder 😛
Click to expand...
OP mentioned that he's using rosin core.
 
Without knowing what exactly you are doing its hard to say but you want to evenly apply heat with the tip of your iron. Lay it flat against both wires at the same time (if its a small tip you might not have enough surface area to distribute heat to the wires). If I'm doing a lap solder with two wires, I usually apply a bit of solder to the tip, place it under the two parallel wires, then about a second later (but this depends on the wire gauge) I apply solder to the top of the wires (given its a thick enough wire say 18ga or larger, much smaller its pretty much the same point cause theres not much copper between the "top" and "bottom") where it should go right into reflow and in another second pull them away and your wires should be soldered. Also you'd probably want to tin the wires. Note something like a panavise sounds very useful here, its like a 3rd hand if the wires don't stay in place on their own.
 
well this was just a home experiment,

but i need to solder a connection to the rear defroster, it used to be soldered on there and i'm just reattaging the connection. I need tips on that the most.


as for my wireing. i do what i normally do when i butt connect wires. i wraped and twisted both wires. i warmed up my iron warmed up the wire a little then just place the solder directly on the wire and place the iron right over it, once it melted i lifted up on it and saw that the solder stuck to the iron instead of the wire. i just re did it and i guess i got it this time
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: GuideBot
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Use flux.

I've done plenty of soldering and solder won't stick to a dirty joint, no matter what the temperature is.

Either get it perfectly clean, or just use flux.
Click to expand...

You should purchase solder that's got a flux core that melts/spreads as you heat the solder 😛
Click to expand...
OP mentioned that he's using rosin core.
Click to expand...

I can't read.
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: GuideBot
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Use flux.

I've done plenty of soldering and solder won't stick to a dirty joint, no matter what the temperature is.

Either get it perfectly clean, or just use flux.
Click to expand...

You should purchase solder that's got a flux core that melts/spreads as you heat the solder 😛
Click to expand...
OP mentioned that he's using rosin core.
Click to expand...


I have rosin core solder that still does that. But the can of flux I have fixes the problem.
 
^ yea i realized that now. i saw people solder it before and i guess they never warmed it up too much or i just wasn't paying attention to that part. thanks guys.
 
I would get a new tip. Sometimes if you have a nasty old dull tip a new one will do wonders. Also, I recommend tinning it too, that usually helps. And there are specific ways to do proper soldering, i.e. instead of heating up the rosin core, heat up the other side of the wire and place the rosin core against that and it will get a much better connection. All depending though, you're working with wires, which is fine to do that with, not sensitive electronics though (usually).
 
Sounds like you are soldering with the tip too hot, that will cause the solder to bead up and not stick.
 
Hopefully your not using the pointy part of the end, but the flat part. To illustrate in ascii

_\______/_
__\____/__
___\__/___
*****\*/******
*********

You wanna use the part that I spaced with "_", not the tip of it.

That, and make sure you're heating what you're soldering from one side, then touching hte solder to the other side and the solder will "flow" towards the iron.

EDIT: Oh, and did you coat the tip of the iron with solder first to prevent oxidation?
 
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