How To Solder Wires Like A Pro

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For me the hardest part of wire soldering is to remember put shrink tube before soldering those two wires.

Always connect black and red wires. Can never go wrong.

I must not be the only one disturbed by a tutorial showing a red and black wire being soldered together

As a soldering pro I very much approve of this. Your method is pretty much foolproof. A tip: have some molten solder on the soldering iron tip to act as a heat conductor. That way you avoid the long heat up times like you had in your example.

for me as someone who has never done anything in life in terms of electronics this is a very important video for me to watch at 4 am instead of sleeping yes :)

I bought a soldering station last year. It changed my whole view on soldering. It never takes that long to heat up, and it is amazing how easy it is to solder now. Also, always use small solder. It heats up and melts faster and makes life easier. Great video as always.

The heat shrink on the alligator clamps is genius.

I appreciate how often you take a moment to say "thats always how grand dad did it" it reminds me of my own grandpa teaching me skills like this.

Don't forget to put the shrink tube on the wires before you solder if you can't slide them on whenever you're done soldering.

You “tin” the tip of your iron to help avoid corrosion when not in use.
You also tin the tip to improve heat conductivity. You’ll notice the difference when applying solder to a non-tinned tip vs a tinned one.
The joining of the wire in this video was perfect technique, which I’m totally stealing.
The reason it was taking so long for the flux to activate was that the wire was conducting away the heat from the solder gun.
The point where the two objects being soldered meet is called a “joint”.
You should apply heat to the joint, and apply solder to where the solder gun and the joint meet. This technique will help transfer heat to the joint faster, getting ahead of the heat dissipation the wires introduce.
Great video. Thank you for making it.

After 50+ years in electronics including ham radio I learned some valuable techniques....many thanks!

Heat from the bottom was the best bit I learned from this. Thanks for the pro tip

The dab on your iron helps to transfer heat and also cleans your iron a little with the rosin.
Double wall heat shrink will really seal it up.

I've had terrible luck soldering wires together, and after watching this video, I can see why I've failed !! Thank you very much for taking the time to make it. VERY informative and well done. Bob in Grand Rapids, MI

Its easy to twist wires when they are detached like that, its a different story when they are actually attached to something and in tight spot :D

Great tips! I couldn't tell you how many times I've forgotten to put the shrink tubing on first 😂

I like the reference to your grandfather. I’m out in the shop tonight soldering some wires and thought I’d just do a KRplus search to see what other guys are doing. I’m actually using my grandfather’s old Weller gun and I use the exact same method as you. Great video for those who are attempting to solder wires for the first time!

If you’re going to solder wires in a car or truck, just be sure it isn’t in a harness with any movement at all, since soldering makes the wire end more brittle right near the joint. You’ll notice almost all wire connections are crimped from the factory in an automobile because of vibration, for this reason.

Nice joint! And, thanks for suggesting the dielectric silicon grease.
It should be noted that quite often, the joint will be made between either two long pieces of wire or two wires that may already be joined to something at the other ends, so the shrink tubing can't be slipped on easily or at all, after the soldering is done.
There are two ways to address this:
One way is to put an appropriate length of shrink tubing onto one of the wires before soldering, but it should be slid well away from the site of the soldering or it will shrink and not slide over the joint.
The other way is to get some self-fusing electrical tape to wrap around the joint after the soldering is done. This may not always be the best method, but sometimes may be the method of choice... especially if one is simply soldering a wire to a connector of some sort, or "oops! I forgot to put the shrink tubing on before applying the solder.".
Best wishes.

If you want to solder faster use wet tip (wet with solder), it will eliminate micro gap and transfer the heat faster onto the wire. That way you wont melt the wire.

I used this technique for my Line 6 power chord and it worked beautifully thanks to your video! Thank you!

Learned more then I've ever learned from my electric class, in this 1 video, thank you so much really appreciate it, keep it up

Didn’t even realize it was a wranglestar video till he showed his face. Best videos on KRplus!

Really clear, to the point video , especially for beginners, greetings from Egypt

As a mechanic I really like that you are using information passed down to you from your granddad, it is really cool to know that this information is legit because of that

Have to agree with some of the comments below. Although Cody has done an excellent job connecting two wires, and one that, for most purposes, will be quite serviceable, there is no mechanical connection. I was a certified in the Air Force for high reliability soldering, and the first rule for soldering anything is to ensure a strong mechanical connection, since solder has very little physical strength to it. The linesman splice is preferable. Good job Cody!

Man I’ve seen your woodworking videos now I’m getting electrical advice. Thank you for your knowledge sir.

I've never used flux before, but recently when soldering wires together, the solder just wouldn't flow and stick, now i know why, great tips thanks.

me who uses teeth as a wire cutter/striper and fingers like a soldering iron: thats cute

I appreciate the silicone advice, will use that in the future.

Beautiful video! Genius use of the m3 silicon grease! Never thought of using it like that

I really like your method as it makes it much easier to have a flush joint. That's important when you are sliding the shrink tubing over the top. Thanks, my man!

If the other ends of the wires are permanently attached to devices, don't forget, step 1 is to thread the shrink tubing on first. If you have to cut apart your tediously soldered wiring harness once you won't likely forget again. The silicone is a great idea I wasn't aware of.

When soldering, I LIVE by the mantra "skrink tubing hides a lot of sins"

Great job, lots of patience in your explanations and the video was nice and clear. Basically, add the shrink tube prior to soldering and keep it far enough away so it doesn’t start to shrink from the work being done..then slide it into place later.

Your videos are all pretty good and I enjoy watching these. Very informative and detailed! I will say when using those ring terminals, I do the best I can to solder the connection point just so it helps reduce the chances of it getting loose over time, granted it can't be done every time. But it seems to work well for me when I'm able to

Thanks man... Found this useful... I'm hopeless at soldering.. Hopefully will help.... From Australia.

I about passed on this because I thought I knew how to solder. This is a really cool technique. Will definitely be using this!

U did a great job. I was unfamiliar with how to solder electrical wires for my headlight on my silverado. Your demonstration was very clear and precise. Thank u.

I do agree with you on how to heat shrink tube. I have very close friends of mine that are Master mechanics and they even have some sort of special certificate for automotive wiring. When a solder a connection and put a piece of shrink tube on all of them use a cigarette lighter. I tried that a few times and it never worked out well for me. Also you do the same thing that I do before shrinking a tube around it. We just use different brands of dielectric grease. I'm definitely going to pick up a bottle of what you were using. I have the shop size dielectric grease it comes in a tube. that brush that you have I buy them and big bags from harbor freight. I'm glad to see that you use the soldering iron that you did. I have the same sort of one as yours and really never figured out how to use it correctly. It was my father's and it's almost as old as I am and that's saying something. I never did ask him to show me how to use it. I always had a cheap one from radio shack. I enjoyed your video and look forward to watching other ones.

The reason you tin the iron before touching the connection is so the heat can transfer better to the wires that you are soldering. There’s the potential of way more hot surface area (to melt the solder on top of the wires) when the solder is on the iron as opposed to just having the solderless iron try and heat up the wires

I enjoyed this video a lot. I am 72 and 50 years ago I was rebuilding these small block engines. Its nice to see I was doing it right and you still are.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge to all of us, good idea and Grand Dad was self taught. Thank you for a great video! Your Soldering iron is huge but it does the job.

I've been doing this for years and never had a failure... Great trick!

Fantastic. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Tinning the tip? It's for improved heat transfer.

Thank you so much for showing me how to solder. I have always been skeptical of trying it, but now i feel confident.

I don’t use a fancy new gun, I have my grandfathers soldering iron kit, with the old stile wands that look like a wood burner. A fine tipped one and a bulky one. He was a master electrician and used them for decades, now I use them, both still work great.

What I do is I use shrink tubing with inner hot glue coating. With this, your wire connections will last till the end of time

SUUUUUPER important to put the shrink sleeve on the wire BEFORE soldering!! I've forgotten to do this too many times!

Nice video - one of the best soldering ones that I’ve seen. Thanks

I have to say, quite frankly, that was one of the most beautiful videos I have ever seen.

"That's gonna be your best connection"
Lineman splice: "Bruh"

Putting a small amount on the iron helps the heat transfer (tinning)

Your grandfather would be proud. You did a professional high quality splice, good job!!

very helpful tutorial! thanks for taking the time to share!!

I spent a semester in MIL-spec soldering. You never untwist stranded wire. Tin both ends, bend a hook in each end, hook them on each other, flow some solder. Far stronger than this mess in the video. If you really want something awesome, get some 63/37 eutectic solder and you’ll be in heaven.

You can also use the side of the soldering iron (gun in your case) to shrink the tubing. That is what I use and it works just fine. Just rub it over the top of the tubing - yup, rub it.

Great advice and Video, the "tining" the iron part was valuable and heating from underneath as well

Very good video, I liked the connection and the fray trick. It looked well soldered and water tight and a very slim job. I'll be using this technique in the future. thanks.

That solder gun gets hot quick! A family member threw mine out, thinking it was broken. Lol but I have a nice new digital now=D

Something that most people don’t know is that there is massive in-depth technology on just soldering.
I found out just how much when I went through training in order to be Government certified to work on satellites.
No, I have never worked on satellites ... but I could. I just wanted the education for myself.
I’m kinda nerdy that way. :)

Very informative video. Thanks all the way from Barbados.

A 20+ yr Electronics Tech that solders 300 pin micro connectors for the F18 reviewed my solder job following your video and said "your solder joint looks d@#n good!". Thanks, it had been a couple decades since i tried last and so was hesitant. I bought a little helping hands with alligator hands and magnifier at #harborfreight for dirt cheap like 5$ i think. I ended up adding the shrink tube on the alligator clips after the 1st round because they do bite into the wire that was a great idea. Thank you to you and your granddad who took time to teach you things in life

This is the definition of breaking a butterfly on a wheel ^^

I think the soldering iron of e-Design is good. TS100 Soldering Iron (BC2 Tip) for electrical solder can speak for that

I never knew about flux not that silicone! Makes sense though, since I found out about flux when learning how to solder plumbing copper pipe.
Thanks for the tutorial!

What you just did will work perfectly fine for most applications.
But if you're interested in real strong splices, bare back the wires an inch or so, meet them, bend them 90 degrees, then twist them together in opposite directions. It's called a western union splice, the harder you pull on it the tighter it gets (until it breaks). Also the preferred spot to add solder is directly between the iron and the wire. And soldering wires together you don't really need paste flux as long as you use flux core (AKA rosin core) solder. And you don't want solder to flow into the insulation of the wire. But I was taught mil-spec soldering you don't need to get that fancy for general purpose stuff :)

That's a really great way to ensure joins won't break, but unfortunately it's a bit unrealistic in a lot of scenarios wherethe length of this solder joints is sometimes the whole wire length we have to work. In those cases what i do is try to peel the cables around the same length, make a cross, and twist them in opposite directions, which makes for a pretty solid joint as well in very tight spaces. I'd like to try and apply what was shown here though.

It's actually a good idea to touch the soldering iron tip so there is a thermal connection between the wire and the soldering iron. After there is a good thermal connection feed the solder into the wire and the solder will wick through the wire. For the rest it's a good video, I like the silicone trick

Awesome tutorial this video is a lifesaver being an automotive mechanic!

Great advice. Doing a project myself.

You can find heat shrink tubing that has glue on the inside. It oozes out and seals at the edge. Also I like to get a high shrink ratio so its more versatile, such as soldering two wires on one side to a single wire on the other. That way a larger tube can shrink around the single wire, yet be large enough to slide over the two wires.

You can also buy special heat shrink that have adhesive on the ends so there's no need for the silicone

Soldering is so satisfying.

I've been a subscriber from early on and you are a very good teacher of things,very good instruction, to the point, well spoken.very informative and helpful. Great job

ok, so to be clear, you don't put loctite on the wires to keep them from coming apart?

Boss: fix that wiring join them back together
Me: ok
10 minutes later
Boss: WHY IT TAKE 10 MINUTES

I’ve had those Channel Lock crimpers for 20 years. They still rock

For love nor money, there’s no way I could solder properly even with tin solder containing flux. This video is a godsend and I’m well on my way to finishing my new Corvette Head Unit connections. Thank you so very much!

Despite some of the comments below I appreciate this video and learned some things. Thank you. Have a great day!.

Cody, in practice any application where there is a chance for wire movement it is better to use crimp connectors. In the marine and aircraft industry soldering wires is not allowed unless the wire is supported and not allowed to move.
There is no doubt that a solder connection provides the best connection. It come down to the movement of the wires.
Also if you are using core solder there is no need to use paste on the wires. Never use acid core solder on electrical connections either

Best HowTo Video ever. Thank you very much.

Great face for radio. Great voice for a faceless announcing.
What a great idea I never ever thought of the silicone inside after it soldered

Thank you for showing us.
But why don't you place the heat shrink tube over the wire first, then pulled to the one side of the cable, then solder the wire together?
Regards Gary Tangeman

I like the twist you made with the wires. Keeps it in line. But soldering takes to long. It needs to be faster 2-3 seconds. In and out.

very professional, clean looking solder job. better than 99.9% out there.

I do a let of electronic stuff. I also use heat shrinkable tubing a lot. The problem I have is that after shrinking the middle portion of the tubing becomes thinner and shows the wire joint there. I think using the silicone paste will solve this problem and look nicer.
Nice tip!! Thanks.

Not too shabby for an amateur.
Here are a few tips for beginners:
Since the other ends of the wires are likely connected to something, you may want to slip the heat shrink material down one wire before soldering. WS was lucky and had an open end to do this with.
Flux isn't always needed, but is helpful to promote good solder flow. Good quality solder is a plus.
Steer away from solder that has an acid base. That is a specialized type and not used for normal solder jobs.

quick, clean, and to the point. Thanks for the tutorial.

great - really straightforward and simple demo

Clear. As good as KRplus gets. Big thumbs up.

Hey Cody, while it can't hurt, the use of flux paste with rosin core solder in this type of soldering is redundant. Flux paste should be used when existing connections are re-exposed to heat, such as in the case of soldering adjacent connectors, etc.
Flux inhibits oxidation at the site of heating, which results in better connections.
Also, flux should be removed following soldering so as to minimize corrosion. A lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol are adequate for this application.
Dielectric grease is a corrosion inhibitor, so it's great for exposed electrical connections. Especially the mechanical type, such as a lug and bolt.
Properly applied, hear shrink tubing will seal connections, and it's also optional in this application.
It should be noted that solder and flux are available for specialized purposed, and that plumbing flux and solder should not be used to solder electrical connections.
Lastly, do not directly touch solder to the iron. This is the reason why it took so long to initially heat the conductors. Heat the leads, then touch the solder to the leads to "flow" solder across the connection. Wipe any flux and solder residue from the tip of the iron, and repeat.
Great video, as usual. Keep up the great work.

I worked as an electrician and this method is so time consuming and, in 99.9% of the jobs, unwarranted that titling it "Like a pro" is pretty funny. More like: "How to solder wires like a control freak".
I'd recommend a pen style soldering tool, they are easier to handle, lighter and less likely to break than a big solder gun, they are wireless too so you aren't limited by cable lengths. Also, shrink tubes are enough to insulate the wire most of the times, unless they are gonna be directly exposed and you live in an area really damp and with frequent winds that rattle the cable all day, and if you leave the wire in those conditions, that silicone won't do anything anyways. Also, we just used a plain old lighter to shrink them, no need to add yet another tool when you're trying to solder hundreds of wires, it just takes time and costs even more than just something you can put in your pocket.

Very grateful for your time and expertise. Fantastic video 👍

I've always twisted the wires together before soldering but not like this. The best tip ever. Thanks.

I was taught this as the birdcage long ago looks good but crimp and sealed wire hold up better to high vibration

Wow! Put ten people in a room and ask them to demonstrate their method of joining two wires and you'll probably get any number of variations covering from one end of the spectrum to the other. The only constant will be that each person is convinced that their way is the "right way". Sometimes, it boils down to simply making a repair with what you have and where you are at the time of needed repair and sometimes you are in your shop with the tools and time to make a better job of it. Cody simply showed you a decent way that works - be glad!

I normally tin both wires before making a connection. But this works too. Nice job!