Can the bare wire be reattached to a Pace heater element? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mikkkejickles
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2025, 03:40:04 pm
content: I accidentally snapped the bare wire off of my Pace SX-70 heater element this morning.It looks tacked on and not soldered for obvious reasons, but I'm curious if anyone has ever successfully repaired one?https://www.tequipment.net/Pace/6010-0080-P1/Heating-Elements/?Source=googleshopping&gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=21102673400&gbraid=0AAAAA9brIDWBpwLT5sEXM7xAf2Fd3jlxp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjdTCBhCLARIsAEu8bpIuYd7aF7bZnfCoO2Nx6OLrpG5aU4O9JY-OA1Fs2IkTyJAv0LI1k0caAsn6EALw_wcB

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2025, 05:15:53 pm
content: I don't see any bare wire to snap off here. You mean the crimped terminals?

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2025, 10:39:20 pm
content: You can reattach by crimping or welding, you won't want to or won't be able to solder it. Its probably nichrome or similar.edit: I missed it was the brass wire, so it could be soldered on the crimp end but I still wouldn't do that.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2025, 11:26:13 pm
content: It is spot welded brass onto steel so a spot weld is recommended if you have a suitable spot welding unit. The other option is to drill a hole in the flange plate and place the brass wire and rivet through the hole before expanding the aluminium rivet. There are sometimes issues with using dissimilar metals, but I believe you will be OK in this case. A steel rivet would be better, if you have the rivets and a suitable gun to pull them.Fraser

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2025, 12:21:50 am
content: Brass wire? Really?

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2025, 12:18:26 pm
content: Benta,It is an earth connection and yes they used a thin brass strip, spot welded to the steel heater barrel.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2025, 01:00:55 pm
content: If you are good, you could silver braze it.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 21, 2025, 01:04:55 pm
content: Quote from: thm_w on June 20, 2025, 10:39:20 pmNichrome can be soldered. Also it's fine to do so, those connectors don't get even remotely hot enough for solder to melt.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2025, 05:49:25 pm
content: LOOK at my thread for silver solder dipping. If something is hard to solder you can melt 56% silver solder in a graphite crucible using a blow torch and dip small stuff in there to make it work with regular solder. It works on stainless.But if your target is big then you won't be able to do it with the tiny crucible and instead you need to work with with a high temp torch (oxygen bottle) or a rather specific induction heater or being clever with resistance heating, the only easy option is a oxy torchFor soldering nichrome directly with just solder, you need some special flux. If you silver it, then regular rosin works.I hate all special fluxes because they all seem to wreck the tip, be it aluminum soldering flux, steel soldering flux, etc. It seems if I get anything but rosin on my soldering iron I basically need to scrape the whole thing with abrasives and do many tinning dips in the cleaners. Even indium soldering flux... low temperature... wrecks my soldering iron tip.And there is the whack jobs or perhaps powerful mages that will tell you to copper plate the object to be soldered with electricity. It does work.. Though if you make your own plating solutions, I can tell you that it will definitely work if you do it in a beaker. If you try to get clever with those plating pencils that use the felt tip, good luck. I never tried a commercial solution, but trying to use the ones that work on beaker scale in a pencil is basically a waste of time. They must do something special to the formula for those.I bet this shit would work, but keep in mind you need a spare soldering iron tip because I am 99% sure the iron is going to get trashedhttps://www.ebay.com/itm/186743896382The rational behind fluxes grade is "activity"You have rosin, rosin mildly activated, rosin activated, and beyond that they get highly activated. The basis of activation is doing something like adding a acid to it, perhaps citric acid at first, and gradually moving on to chloric acids (ZnCl2 decomposes into HCl upon heating) and then phosphoric acid (navel jelly). I believe the most mild fluxes are active when hot, and when you need more and more activity they are basically highly corrosive when cold.Also I noticed that if you use RA flux (which comes after R and RMA), residues really conduct electricity and it will say spark between pads at 100V)