JAC

Are there any benefits from doing this and is it worth it?

I have never soldered anything but the other day while I was at radio shack I saw an electrical soldering kit that costed 7$. I thought they were much more expensive than that. So it got me thinking about buying one to use it when I install my system, mainly to put speaker wires together instead of using butt conectors or crimping them.
Is it something that I could learn how to do by myself?

walight01

soldering is the best way to secure the wires together. find someone who knows how to solder and they can teach you in about 5 min. its extremely easy, alot easier than you think.

Dave Cameron

Anymore I am pretty divided in opinion about soldering. It is a point of pride to solder, and it does make a very secure connection.
However the best connections are ones that allow as much strand to strand contact. Electron flow occurs on the surface of wire- so the more surface area you have the better the flow of the electrons- aka current. The lug of solder is just that- a lug! One takes the surface area of all the strands and make it one fixed, smaller surface area. The solder then becomes the weakest link in the wire as far as the electrons moving, which what you want.
In competition cars all connections are avoided as much as posible just for these type of reasons, and aesthetic reasons- all solders or butt connectors will get points deducted. Judges look for long uninterrupted runs on wire.
For everyday use speaker installs I use butt connectors pretty much anymore, and take the time to interlace the strands in the middle of the connector. It is as much of a pain as soldering if one does it right.
I then shrink wrap the whole connector, that helps weather proof, stregthens the connection, and makes it look a touch better.
It is a matter of personal preference though- let us know what you decide.
Soldering is a fun skill to know if nothing else, probably worth seven dollars.

weimerrj

Soldering is like playing chess. The rules are easy to learn, but it takes lots of practice to master. It takes a light touch and the proper heat to get a good solder joint. Do one wrong, called a cold solder, and you'll tear your hair out wondering why your speakers are cutting out. The joint will look fine, but until you reflow it, it'll never work right.

That said, soldering is light years better than crimping. They won't suffer from vibration if done right, and they are great for the low voltage applications for auto audio. but do it right, invest in a 20 - 30 watt soldering iron with a pencil tip, flux(very important - it helps the solder bond), and good 60/40 or 63/37 rosin core (NOT acid core) solder, the smaller the size the better. Also get an assortment of heat shrink tubing, that'll insulate your joint and look real good. For the heat shrink, a heat gun is best, but you can use a hair dryer turned up hot to shrink the tubing.

Here's a link to a book I'm familiar with. It contains good info on both crimping and soldering.

https://www.advancement.cnet.navy.mi.../14176_ch2.pdf

Good luck!!!

JAC

Thanks for the replys guys, I've decided to stick to the butt conectors for now, if later on I get the chance to learn how to solder then Ill re do the conections.

Since we are alredy on the subject, do you guys know if I could use a butt conector to splice a 10g fused line coming from the battery to the 12g wire that goes into the HU?

thanks.

UCSBgeek

On this topic, what's the easiest way to put on a new RCA connector? The wire is SUPER thin, and I'm just not good enough to solder that, I think. I tried with a radio shack solder type, I had no idea WTF to do. Are the crimp kinds any easier?

Dave Cameron

I would check around for either a step down converter, a plug for the end of the 10 guage that then will fit into a 12 connector- or a small distribution block that will do the same, but with additional ports to add more offshoot wiring in the future. A useful option for the future.

Dave Cameron

This is an instance where solder might be the best way
RCA plugs get a lot of stress and strain on them from tension the wires alone.
You are right, those are amazingly small little wires when one looks at the huge size of most RCA lines eh?

I know the screw on RCAs you are mentioning, the wires of a car audio RCA cable appear to be way too small for a crimp connection IMHO.

What is meditating recapping an RCA? Cables in and of themselves can be had pretty cheap, most set ups don't really "need" expensive RCA cables.

UCSBgeek

Oh, the cable got yanked on or something, one of the plugs is loose, and only works intermittently when you jiggle it... and it's already all running under the carpet I suppose I can try running another by / under the door sills...

demoninvictus

soldering, basically letting the damn thing heat up and hold rosin core solder to the tip and let it melt into your splice/connection. personally, running an extension cord to my car is a pain in the ***, the solder gets everywhere and keeping hold of a 750 degree metal melting tool isn't my idea of fun, however i do it almost every week on home projects and everything. only major danger i would see doing soldering in a car is the confined space. fumes from soldering are toxic... not very good o be breathing in.
peace