Soldering for Noobs: Step by step with photos...

[WKderF]

So this is a quick how-to on soldering.
The idea behind soldering is to create a connection between 2 pieces of wire that is strong, conductive, and resistant to breakage. Crimp caps & butt connectors are a way to connect wires, however they can take up a lot of space if you are using many together, they can come apart quite easily, and in some cases, voltages can drop across the connector, and resistance can increase. Soldering is a STRONG but non permanent solution to splicing wire and is hands down the most preferable.

Step 1: Identify the wires you want to splice together - and make sure there is enough room on each end to perform your work. I always try to leave as much room as I can when i cut wires so I have enough room to splice an extension if necessary.



Step 2: Remove insulation on wire. as simple as this sounds, many people make some simple mistakes here. when removing the insulation, be careful not to cut any strands of the actual wire. I use a side-stripping tool which lets you remove the insulation of the wire without having to put the entire tool around it or thread the wire into the tool. it also makes by far the cleanest break of insulation and when used properly, will not cut any strands of the actual wire. when you remove the insulation, be sure you have enough bare wire to work with. also make sure that whenever possible, both wires that you are splicing together have the same amount of bare wire exposed.


Step 3: Twisting the wires together. this is what makes or breaks a splicing job. the best way to twist the wires together is in a fashion which is as small & tight as possible. the next pictures will show how this is best accomplished:



To do it the correct way, first make an X with the bare ends of the wires:



Then bend half of each bare portion of wire into a hook, so both sides are hooked to each other:



Now, twist the ends of the hooks you created, around the bare portion of the wire. the more you do this, the better you will become at gauging just how much insulation to remove, and where to cross the wires to begin wrapping.



Once you have twisted the wires, they should look something like this:

(notice that there are no points of the end of the wire sticking out, and all parts of the wire are neatly wrapped around eachother. THIS IS IMPORTANT!

now your wires are ready to SOLDER!


WARNING: Before we move on, I need to go over a common mistake... wrapping the wires like pictured below is incorrect. It puts unnecessary strain on the wires, and can leave sharp points after soldering which can pierce the insulation & short out the wire. After you wrap the wire in electrical tape, simply pulling the wire taught can knock the tape right off the wire. DONT DO IT.