Remove fine wire coating to solder - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 02:28:54 am
content: Ok silly question I know but its bugging me and I have to do it properly.Have a 3.5mm type connector (TRRRS) to repair for gaming Astro Game A40 headphones. Uses 3.5mm plug but is ring sectors use very very fine crap wire. You can get new cables but from USA and I'm in Arsetralia so costs too much. I have new connectors from Alibaba (which was an exercise in finding rocking horse poo itself) so am going to re-terminate...if I can get the coatings off.So i need to remove enamel or coating from the wires to solder and scraping them is not an option. I've tried acetone/heat... no go...so any suggestions would be helpful.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 02:35:25 am
content: if heat didn't work I'd say you didn't use enough

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 02:36:42 am
content: Just apply some heat from the soldering iron with a drop of solder on the tip. It will burn the enamel off and tin the wire at the same time. This is a pretty standard procedure for the enameled wire.

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 02:43:59 am
content: Yeah tried heat from iron..no go. Its really odd. I suspect its CCA copper coated Aluminum wire. I'm goinf to get some GP paint thinners and try that.

author: FriedMule
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 03:20:35 am
content: Try some acid and if that not help, try to heat the acid up, if that does not remove it, you have found a material NASA would pay you a lot fore:-)

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 03:28:30 am
content: hahahah you can bet they won't be effing around taking time soldering it at factory level...so it must be staring me in the face!

author: Teledog
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 04:42:03 am
content: I'll probably be flamed for this (pardon the pun),..but when in a pinch, I always have a disposable butane pocket lighter handy.Use it "sparingly"! Should probably flux the wire well after "the treatment"...good for quick & dirty heat shrink purposes also (try not to char)used to use a solder pot at the shop..but not exactly a benchtop tool..

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 11:32:38 am
content: They probably use a solder pot at the "factory " ( otherwise known as some small area in a corner) to do the enamel removal and tinning, so the easiest is just to use a disposable lighter to quickly flame the wire ends, which, while removing the enamel, will also tell you it is CCA or actual "mystery copper" that they used.there is also a lot that use tinsel wire, which is a copper strip that is wound around a polyamide core to make it flexible and strain resistant, and to solder to that you use the lighter thing or a solder pot.If you do not want to use the BIC method, a soldering iron set to 400C, rosin flux solder and a big blob ob the tip, while simultaneously putting the wire and fresh solder into the blob to provide flux works well. Takes around 5 seconds of holding the wire there, and having something underneath to catch the drops of molten metal that fall down.

author: wasyoungonce
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 12:10:47 pm
content: Thanks gents I’ll try it tomorrowOnce I start I’ll have to succeed also strain relief and glue it in its shell. I’ll have to invent good strain relief or it’ll just pull out again. They are very tight fittings.

author: chrisl
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2018, 09:38:19 pm
content: As many have said above, the molten solder blob on the tip is the way to.Put the wire though the solder blob for a few seconds then you should have nicely tinned wire.