hklinker Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 I picked up some 15.5 AWG Cardas chassis wire to wire my crossover components, using Cardas QE solder. I have a RS soldering station that works great with everything connector except the wire. I cannot seem to get the wire to draw in the solder, it just lays on top and looks sloppy, even though I get the wire very hot. Before I spend a hundred bucks for a Hakko or Weller station, I thought I'd throw it out on the forum. Has anyone had this experience with this wire? Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 add some flux maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Was there any mention of it being "Litz" wire? If so each strand is individually enameled. The wire has to have the enamel either scraped or burned off before it can be soldered. Here's a good explanation from Handmade Electronics: Updated: June 24, 2009 Litz is composed of very fine strands of wire insulated from each other then bundled to form a larger gauge wire. The varnish on each strand must be scrapped off before a good solder joint can be achieved. You can flatten the wire, then use a single edged razor blade held 85-90 degrees to "shave" the varnish off the wire. After removing most of the varnish, use a 40 watt solder iron and a bit of solder to burn off the rest. A scum will bubble up and harden after the wire cools off. A solder pot can also be used to burn the varnish off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 is a solder pot what i would need for magnet wire? i have spools of wire which are supposedly solderable, but even at the hottest temperature I can't burn the varnish off ..scraping gets old fast. edit** google is my friend and i just learned the proper technique ...looks like i need solder on the tip of the iron and then pass the wire through the melted solder (i've just been using a hot tip, expecting the varnish to vanish.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hklinker Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 Was there any mention of it being "Litz" wire? If so each strand is individually enameled. The wire has to have the enamel either scraped or burned off before it can be soldered. Here's a good explanation from Handmade Electronics: Updated: June 24, 2009 Litz is composed of very fine strands of wire insulated from each other then bundled to form a larger gauge wire. The varnish on each strand must be scrapped off before a good solder joint can be achieved. You can flatten the wire, then use a single edged razor blade held 85-90 degrees to "shave" the varnish off the wire. After removing most of the varnish, use a 40 watt solder iron and a bit of solder to burn off the rest. A scum will bubble up and harden after the wire cools off. A solder pot can also be used to burn the varnish off. Jeff, I think you might have something there. I have not checked the Cardas website to see if there is a coating on each strand, but it makes sense. I am curious also about the solder pot. Where do you find one?BTW: How is the squawker upgrade coming? I have heard of some using a JBL driver with GotHovers horns. I think he has a thread showing the adaptor that he got CNC'd for it. Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Enameled wire can be a royal PITA no matter what method you use. If you really want to tear out what little hair is left try Cardas Litz tone arm wire. It's 33AWG and the internal strands are finer than hair. They also break much easier than hair. I was glad I bought extra when I rewired my RB-300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hklinker Posted December 14, 2009 Author Share Posted December 14, 2009 Enameled wire can be a royal PITA no matter what method you use. If you really want to tear out what little hair is left try Cardas Litz tone arm wire. It's 33AWG and the internal strands are finer than hair. They also break much easier than hair. I was glad I bought extra when I rewired my RB-300. Here is the reply I got from Cardas. A royal PITA is an understatement!"Hi Herb, Each strand in our chassis wire is coated with an enamel material. Before use, you should tin the ends using solder and flux. In our shop, we dip the ends in flux, and then dip them into a pot of molten solder. This tins the ends, and allows them to soak up solder properly. If you don't have flux, any will suffice. If flux is unavailable then you should be able to accomplish this by heating the strands, and applying solder until the coating burns off. This will take longer, but does work. Thanks, Josh Meredith Cardas Audio" So now I'm off in search of flux and a solder pot! Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 BTW: How is the squawker upgrade coming? I have heard of some using a JBL driver with GotHovers horns. I think he has a thread showing the adaptor that he got CNC'd for it.Herb At the moment I have a pair of Selenium D250-X drivers mounted. They sound pretty good actually. They surprised me, I was really expecting a significant difference considering the difference in cost. Right now I'm trying to educate my ears on the differences so I can make a better educated assesment when I do strart trying different drivers. That said I'm "amplifier challenged" at the moment. The MK4s are in rebuild limbo waiting on parts and my Emotiva UPA-2 sold quicker than I expected it to. I just this morning pulled the trigger on a used Bob Latino VTA-120 and I'm waiting on it to arrive. Hopefully I'll have it running by the end of the week. In the mean time the La Scalas are hooked up to my Behringer EP/2500 Pro amp. Not what you'd call "stellar". It's a great amp for big subwoofers but as a "main" stereo amp it leaves much to be desired sonicly. Soon Jeff... Soon Jeff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 $36 total http://cgi.ebay.com/1-pc-Mini-Soldering-Pot-Solder-Melt-AC110-120V-150W_W0QQitemZ140334688617QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20ac996969 $44 http://cgi.ebay.com/4cm-Soldering-Pot-Solder-Melt-AC110V-150W-KC-Taiwan_W0QQitemZ130327142777QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e581a6179 MCM Electronics http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/TENMA-DR-7339NB-/21-3511 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hklinker Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 djk, Thanks, I am going to check these links out! Herb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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