you are so right on the rosin core flux. what the heck was i thinking?

 

Soldering is fine for a bike. I work in aviation and we still use solder connections all over the aircraft. We also use environmental crimp splices. I would recommend using an environmental type splice, but soldering is also fine so long as it is a good solder joint. Use plenty of flux and make sure you don't have a cold solder joint. As for the environmental splices, the type we use at work is M81824/1-1, -2, or -3 depending on wire size. These really work great and do not really bulk up the wire run. Crimped properly these splices last forever.

 

Good point on the "cold solder joints".One of the biggest causes of amp failures I see.Even from supposedly "trained" factory workers.It comes from the elements not being heated sufficiently for the solder to "flow" and adhere properly to both elements in a given joint,or from one or more of them moving,even slightly,before the solder sets.It is easilly id'd by a dull color to the solder after setting,or an uneven look to the clump of solder.Flux core solder is good enough,in over 30 years doing amp and guitar work,I've never even owned any sort of seperate flux.

 

Just a heads up, most of the solder being sold now is lead free. Tin/lead is being phased out for "enviromental" reasons. The lead free is crap. It doesn't flow near as well and seems to have a higher melting point. The finished joints don't "shine" as well as 60/40 used too. If you can find it you want 60/40 rosin core.

 

I use a weller probably like the one at your home depot . I like it a lot , has lasted for years ( got it at our rural king ) buy a couple good replacement tips for it and your golden .
never had a solder joint break , or the wires close to it ....I extended my own wires in my apes just as you are planning .

 

One of the biggest mistakes people make when soldering is using a soldering iron or gun with a wattage that's too high. More often than not when you do, you'll end up overheating the wire and screwing up the insulation on the wire.

Most times the reason that folks end up going to higher wattage soldering irons or guns is because they believe they aren't getting enough heat. However, it's often just a simple case of not getting/keeping the tip of the soldering iron clean prior to soldering. You can get by with a 15 Watt soldering iron in most cases if you keep the tip clean. Go to Radio Shack and get some Tip Tinning/Cleaning Paste (about $8). You should tin/clean the tip of the soldering iron prior to each use and at the end of the day when you put the soldering iron up. And keep a wire brush around for cleaning the tip as well.

For soldering wires, you should never need more than a 25-30 Watt soldering iron. The only reason you would need a higher wattage would be if you were tinning the ends of a large diameter cable.

And, the only reason to spend a lot of money on a soldering station is if you need variable temperature control for a wide variety of soldering applications (i.e. for soldering anything from delicate circuit boards to silver soldering jewelry).

Hope this helps.

 

Never use a wire brush or any kind of abrasive on a weller or most modern tips.They have a coating over a copper core.A brush will expose the copper and render it useless.All you need do is as I described in an earlier post.