bending a tinned wire? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 04:59:29 am
content: Does tinned wire become more likely to break if its bent, and remelted?Normally its not an issue to prebend, but with the very bendy wire (silicone, low voltage high strand count.. like battery wire) its difficult to work with. Maybe I will try to strip it extra long, bend on a former and cut it with sheers, otherwise I need some kind of microclamp or something. Its very frustrating.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 02:38:44 pm
content: Do you need to bend stranded wire? Let it follow a natural loop instead?

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 02:58:19 pm
content: the problem is tight holes inside of leafs (stampings). I am starting to hate holes punched in stuff (i.e. fuse holder, switch). They work really good for single strand wire so you can do a tiny hook

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 08, 2020, 03:23:11 pm
content: Its not a good idea to try to bend user-tinned fine stranded wire as the strands at the outside of the bend may well be stretched past their breaking point. Strip it too long and only tin the very end, then you can hold it tightly hooked through the terminal by a Haemostat on the tinned end, then cut off the excess end after soldering.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 08:47:37 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on April 08, 2020, 04:59:29 amBending tinned stranded wire is an established procedure in professional soldering.Watch the soldering tutorial series from Pace. The second video covers tinning and bending wires and then soldering to turrets, and then the 5th video shows how to solder to punched terminals like you’re using.https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926EC0F1F93C1837Despite their age, this video series is hands down the best soldering tutorial in existence. Even if you’re an experienced solderer it’s still worth watching the whole thing.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 08:54:01 pm
content: I thought the ultra fine strands might make it a special case. The wire they are using looks fairly beefy strand wise. If I had ordinary wire (like 15 strand count) I would probobly not think about it. This is something like 35 count (but I have seen something like 100 personally and I think they sell up to 1000)I ended up twisting it and just manicuring it back into shape after its inserted by stripping it extra long so I can pinch it (wasteful but oh well).It seriously just feels suspicious if you bend it after is tinned. I think if you try it you will think strange thoughts also (I saw those pace videos before, they are excellent, but I am telling you it feels suspicious).

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2020, 03:10:30 am
content: Typical electrical cord for up to 7A is 30 count, and 10A is 50 count. I never had problem tinning and bending. But for anything bigger than that, soldering won't be my method of attachment. Solder does not have much mechanical strength, and wires are stiff. I would tend to crimp and bolt on such big wires.If I pre-tin a wire and bend it, it does tend to separate a bit and gets weak at the point of bend. That's not a problem for me, as I will be soldering it with additional and fresh solder.