# Best way to solder two wires together?



## Bosk

Just wondering, is there an especially good method used to solder two wires of different gauges together?

 By that I mean soldering wires directly to each other, not through a PCB or terminal.


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## Lil' Knight

One of good ways to solder 2 wires is tin to both wires first and then put them next together, melt the solder from one of them and they will stick together easily.


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## VncentValntine

you could hook them (well i guess it depends on the gauge), after tinning of course


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## NightOwl

The basic for any solder joint is to have a good mechanical/physical connection before soldering. If it's solid core wire I twist it together and solder. If it's stranded wire I tin it first then twist together because otherwise the heat from the iron will separate the strands of untinned wire and trap air inside the join. Soldering wires together is not great for an audio signal but not so bad for a power conductor as long as your thinner wire is a suitable gauge. Don't make your twist so tight that you're stressing the wire.


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## Uncle Erik

Tin stranded wire first, twist together and crimp them with pliers. Then solder them and put heatshrink over the joint.

 However, I make a point of never joining two wires this way in my work. Instead, I always use a tie point. Maybe a little overboard, but I don't like unsupported joints, no matter how cleanly made. Every solder joint should be supported by the chassis.


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## MoodySteve

I think you're better off crimping them together with a ferrule. That is a far stronger mechanical bond than any solder joint.


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## SiBurning

A NASA technical standard that has splicing on page 82 and on.
NASA Recommended Methods of Splicing

 There's a historically interesting debate between the Western Union splice and Bell Systems. Here's the best I could find about it:
Home telephone wiring - dslreports.com
 See the 5th post from Splitpair at 2008-10-21 18:41:17

 More stuff I found
Soldering Splices
Wire Splicing and Soldering

 And one just to show that splices are not created equal, and the wires you're splicing is an important consideration in choosing.
Splices for High Tensile Smooth Fencing Wire


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## Mr Incredible

I was taught to use the western union joint for soldering two wires together. Of course its for solid core wires, but its VERY strong.





 Twist them together according to the pic then add solder.


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## n_maher

I always try to create a mechanical joint in addition to the solder joint, similar to what is shown above.


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## Juaquin

+1 on the mechanical connection. Don't just place them together and solder. I learned by making each wire into a hook, hooking them together, then twisting the ends of the hook. Then solder.


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## compuryan

I use the method Mr Incredible posted. It creates really clean, strong connections.


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## TimmyMac

Creating a mechanical joint makes things much harder to desolder. I usually use the lap splice shown in the NASA thing. If your solder is wetted properly to all surfaces it's plenty strong.


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## Juaquin

Plenty strong, maybe (look at NASA's tests - the line did not break at the joint, yes, but the force at which it broke was quite a bit lower), but there's isn't a whole lot of contact area going on like in one of the more complicated joints. If it turns out you need to desolder it you can always just cut out the joint and start with fresh ends of the wire, assuming you left a bit of slack.


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## DKJones96

The fact that when they did break it didn't happen at the solder joint is good enough for me. But, I might be different, I don't put much of any real stress on my wires.

 Plus, all of the wires with joints failed lower than untouched wire and the difference between lap and even western union was only 3 pounds. In my opinion, if you're running the wires that close to the breaking point you should really take a look at how you're treating your wires.


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## olblueyez

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Mr Incredible* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I was taught to use the western union joint for soldering two wires together. Of course its for solid core wires, but its VERY strong.




 Twist them together according to the pic then add solder._

 

This method will look nice under some shrink tubing when your done, no need to tin the wires first.


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## hardnrg

I use the Western Union joint without having being taught it, nor even knowing about it, not even the name!

 It just makes complete sense, add heatshrink, job done


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## chum_2000_uk

why bother soldering.... just twist the wires together 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 peeeeow peeeeow! *holsters guns*


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## les_garten

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *MoodySteve* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_I think you're better off crimping them together with a ferrule. That is a far stronger mechanical bond than any solder joint._

 

Hi,
 Here's what a friend of mine showed me when I was doing some auto wiring. You take the ferrule and cut the plastic off, I use an air grinder, you just touch it a little along the side to split it open and peel the plastic off.

 Then Flux and tin your wires, stick them in the Ferrule, don't krimp, just solder the ferrule.

 This makes an incredible super strong, long lasting joint. 

 .


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## Billyk

Western Union Splice.


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## smeggy

twist them together unevenly and wrap in sticky tape at a funny angle always works best for me.


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## NightOwl

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *smeggy* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_twist them together unevenly and wrap in sticky tape at a funny angle always works best for me._

 

Don't bother with the tape. A wire nut is much easier.


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## EndlessGrowth

Quote: 





lil' knight said:


> One of good ways to solder 2 wires is tin to both wires first and then put them next together, melt the solder from one of them and they will stick together easily.


 


  yes. and i'll note that the lap with 63/37 is the only solder connection that is allowed for use in submarine nuclear power (high reliability, extreme duty/condition, high standards, etc). should be the same as NASA, since much of NASA was derived from the closest thing existing at the time of its creation: submarines.


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## mcct93

There are many useful advice from pros here, i will post my take on the topic anyway =)
   
  1) twist them tgt
  2) melt the solder so that some stays on your soldering iron
  3) coat them on the parts to be joined
  4) use a heat shrink to cover the exposed parts


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