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Tinned wire make a difference?

1K views 15 replies 12 participants last post by  Sidecar Bob 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,



I'm putting on some marker lights and an integrated rear brake light that's mounted

on my rear trunk extender on my GL500I and would like some opinions from members on

whether I'd be better served using marine tinned wire or using regular copper wire or

does it matter? Planning on using 18awg primary wire for the wiring.

Any thoughts?



Thanks,

Ranger
 
#2 ·
Based on my humble experiance. Tinning stranded wire is a good practice. The most important keys to success are to use the proper flux and no acid core solder.



Tinning helps reduce corrosion on the Cu and gives a more solid crimp connection.



It only takes a few seconds to tin. Repairing/finding a bad connection is very time consuming. I see this as a pay me now or pay me more later type of situation.
 
#3 ·
I agree with knute as teh standard of practice is to tin stranded wire, this also prevents having to apply too much heat while attempting to solder anything. But to be honest, I'm not certain of the properties of pre-tinned wire, ie... if there is more resistance or what. I'd imagine you'd be find going either route. The tinned wire is probably just easier to solder out of the box.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the answers,

I was kind of leaning toward the marine tinned only because of the corrosion factor.

I used it for my boat so I figured it would be good to use on the bike. The thing

I was wondering was the same thing as roflcopter as to the properties and resistance.

The tinned marine wire is a little more expensive than standard copper but as Knute

put it pay now or pay more later.

What is the best solder for this type of application....soldering wires to male/female spade connectors.

Tin lead solder w/rosin core

or

silvaloy
 
#5 ·
FWIW, I wouldn't go the extra expense of marine wire. The basic automotive stranded copper tinned with lead solder with rosin core and use a flux without acid.



Be done.



Frankly, I seriously doubt that any resistance increase would be significant. Prolly in the micro-ohm range.
 
#6 ·
The rosin core is my choice for electrical work as it doesn't corrode like a acid flux will. I'm not familiar with silvaloy, but generally the silver solders require about 900 degrees to flow. The insulation on the wire may be compromised at that temp.
 
#11 ·
I say use it, use the best wire, the best solder, the best heatshrink and then your bike should last another 100 years.



Unless we start using fiber optic or superconductive pathways. I work on boats as well and I won't use most automotive grade wire on the boat, the bike demands better wiring and connections than a car so its a very good idea to use marine or even aircraft grade techniques.



And poo poo to those who still use butt crimps and primary wire.
 
#12 ·
Yeah....what he said.....Poo Poo from the Roo...


Sometimes what you have on hand IS the cheapest way to go. Having just wired your boat with superior quality wire, any excess is a plus for your bike building. Good on ya.
 
#15 ·
I like to use a 63-37 solder. Also known as eutectic solder, it is widely used in electronics. The advantage being in an almost no-existent "plastic" state as the solder reaches meltng temperature. Standard 60-40 has a "plastic" state of 10-20 degrees as the solder changes from a solid to a liquid, depending on the solder. The 63-37 almost instantly goes from a solid to liquid state, thereby reducing the chance of cold solder joints.
 
#16 ·
If you are going to crimp a connector onto the end of a wire it is best not to tin the wire first. Unless you have a powered tool for crimping the connector, the solder can,over time, deform within the crimp from normal vibration/movement, resulting in a loose crimp. Also, heating the wire to tin it can result in embrittlement of the copper next to where it has been heated - have you ever noticed that wires that have been tinned tend to break just past the tinned part?



I don't think that marine grade tinned wire would have those problems because the layer of solder on the individual strands would be too thin to deform significantly and the copper is heated uniformly so that it shouldn't become brittle.



Use the best crimping tool you can afford (never use pliers or vise grips). Put a squirt of silicone into the crimp before you insert the wire to seal out any moisture and prevent corrosion.



Always check that the insulation on the crimp is not damaged by the crimping process. I recently found a crimped butt joint that looked perfect but was corroded and causing problems even though it was full of silicone. There was a small hole in the insulation on the side I couldn't see until I cut it out that had allowed moisture to get at the barrel of the joiner between where it was crimped to the wires. I have started adding an extra layer of heat shrink to any crimps that I have any doubts about.
 
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