Hobby Electronics Basics soldering to nichrome wire

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Subject Author Date
soldering to nichrome wire Joe 11-09-06
Posted by Rich Grise on November 10, 2006, 2:17 pm
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On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:11:03 +0000, Kurt Krueger wrote:

> john jardine wrote:
>
>> Nichrome, steel, piano wire, plated washers, bowden cabling etc, (i.e just
>> about anything except Aluminium) is easy to solder using an 'active' flux.
>> In UK it's bought as 'Bakers fluid' or 'killed spirits'.Basically
>> Hydrochloric acid that has spent itself while corroding zinc. Cheap and
>> effective but acidic, so needs a good washing off after use.
>> john
>
> In the states it's just called Zinc-Chloride. Usually sold in a paste
> form.

Is that the same stuff in sunscreen? And/or Desenex? ;-)

Thanks!
Rich



Posted by John Fields on November 10, 2006, 3:57 pm
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wrote:

>On Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:11:03 +0000, Kurt Krueger wrote:
>
>> john jardine wrote:
>>
>>> Nichrome, steel, piano wire, plated washers, bowden cabling etc, (i.e just
>>> about anything except Aluminium) is easy to solder using an 'active' flux.
>>> In UK it's bought as 'Bakers fluid' or 'killed spirits'.Basically
>>> Hydrochloric acid that has spent itself while corroding zinc. Cheap and
>>> effective but acidic, so needs a good washing off after use.
>>> john
>>
>> In the states it's just called Zinc-Chloride. Usually sold in a paste
>> form.
>
>Is that the same stuff in sunscreen? And/or Desenex? ;-)

---
Nope, That's zinc oxide.

--
JF

Posted by Arlet on November 11, 2006, 1:37 am
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Joe wrote:

> I am trying to solder copper wire (tinned) to nichrome ribbon (more like
> wire, but wider), which I took from an old toaster. The nichrome ribbon
> doesn't seem to like the solder. Is there a trick to this? Or should I be
> doing something to the nichrome before I try to solder it? On the toaster I
> dismantled, I noticed it was soldered to some thick copper conductors, so I
> didn't think it would be a problem. I even crimped the ends of both, hooked
> them together, and soldered them. After a time I picked up the connection
> and it fell apart. Any advice or help is appreciated.

Multicore has a couple of types of solder wire with aggressive fluxes,
also available through Farnell. Their "Arax acid" is claimed to be
suitable for brass, bronze, iron, spring steel and resistance wire.
They also have an "AluSol" product for aluminium, but they say it
solders virtually all metals, including stainless steel.

Make sure you clean the flux residue really well.


Posted by kell on November 12, 2006, 6:31 pm
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Joe wrote:
> I am trying to solder copper wire (tinned) to nichrome ribbon (more like
> wire, but wider), which I took from an old toaster. The nichrome ribbon
> doesn't seem to like the solder. Is there a trick to this? Or should I be
> doing something to the nichrome before I try to solder it? On the toaster I
> dismantled, I noticed it was soldered to some thick copper conductors, so I
> didn't think it would be a problem. I even crimped the ends of both, hooked
> them together, and soldered them. After a time I picked up the connection
> and it fell apart. Any advice or help is appreciated.
>
> TIA,
> Joe

http://www.firefox-fx.com/misc.htm

"RUBY FLUID SOLDERING FLUX - ZINC CHLORIDE SOLUTION

"Easy to use zinc chloride solution flux for any soldering job;
plumbing, electronics,
brazing, etc. Absolutely necessary when soldering nichrome wire - paste
flux
won't do the job!"

Disclaimer -- I've never used this stuff.


Posted by Michael A. Terrell on November 12, 2006, 8:02 pm
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kell wrote:
>
> Joe wrote:
> > I am trying to solder copper wire (tinned) to nichrome ribbon (more like
> > wire, but wider), which I took from an old toaster. The nichrome ribbon
> > doesn't seem to like the solder. Is there a trick to this? Or should I be
> > doing something to the nichrome before I try to solder it? On the toaster I
> > dismantled, I noticed it was soldered to some thick copper conductors, so I
> > didn't think it would be a problem. I even crimped the ends of both, hooked
> > them together, and soldered them. After a time I picked up the connection
> > and it fell apart. Any advice or help is appreciated.
> >
> > TIA,
> > Joe
>
> http://www.firefox-fx.com/misc.htm
>
> "RUBY FLUID SOLDERING FLUX - ZINC CHLORIDE SOLUTION
>
> "Easy to use zinc chloride solution flux for any soldering job;
> plumbing, electronics,
> brazing, etc. Absolutely necessary when soldering nichrome wire - paste
> flux
> won't do the job!"
>
> Disclaimer -- I've never used this stuff.


Very corrosive, and hard to remove from the joint when you are
finished. It was used to solder copper gutters and pipe together.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

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