I purchased some signals from WEHONEST on eBay. Very satisfied with them but they use a wire I have never used before. It is very fine and has a Teflon coating (not enamel) per info from WEHONEST. He said to remove the Teflon coating with a small flame so you can solder it.
Has anyone here use this type of wire before? Did the flame method remove the coating so you could solder it? In lieu of the flame method, can you scrape it off with a hot solder iron? Can you just leave the coating on and apply solder and let the solder burn through to the wire?
I want to solder this very fine wire to some 22 awg wire then shrink wrap the joints. Will have several hundred of these type joints so I am looking for the easiest way to get a reliable solder connection.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
Paul,
There will undoubtedly be those who have questions before they wish to answer: can you estimate the guage of the teflon wire itself (without the insulation)? Solid or stranded? Can you measure the diameter of the teflon jacket?
I've heard of the burn-off method before but have never had occasion to try it. If the wire leads on the signals have sufficient length you may have enough excess to experiment on them before settling into a production mode. Just guessing that teflon may require a flame a bit hotter than can be provided by a match. I'd avoid burning it off with your soldering iron or contaminating any joint by hoping the solder iteslf will do the job.
John
I remove it with a hot soldering iron, as you suggest, I lay the piece of wire on a block of wood, and kind of scrape the coating off.
There is another member in here, who does a lot of this, and he just solders the wires with the coating on.
I also strip the wires on the decoders the same way, and with the tiny wires that come on the pico size LEDs that I use.
Mike.
My You Tube
Teflon emits a nasty gas when heated. So, I would use ventilation (fan) if you decide to use a soldering iron or heat source to remove the insulation. As an alternative, you could use an X-acto blade to mechanically remove (scrape) the insulation from the wire. And it's easier to do that before installing it in place.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I will bow to Mike (above) who has the experience, doubtless gained through boredom during nasty Great Lake winters.
It works for me, I'm still up right and breathing, just had a CT scan of my chest and abdomin, every thing good to go for my age, so I'll continue.
Evans Designs, where I get my prewired pico LEDs also says to just solder with the coating on.
And as far as the winters, boy this one started out slow, still had a few 50 degree days in Dec. Not so much now! Winter has caught up!.
And this is my model railroading time of the year. Getting lots done this winter!
Glad to hear that the "just stick it in the hot solder" approach works. I have used that in other situation and that is what I was hoping to hear. I have enough wire on the signals to experiment with it so I will try that first. Was not looking forward to stripping the coating via any method.
Just tried it. The "stick it in the solder" approach did not work. That coating was tougher than I expected and the solder would not burn it off. However, I could use the soldering iron to "wipe" it off. That worked well and I was able to tin the bare wire (stranded) and solder it just fine to a 22awg solid wire.
PEDPED wrote the following post 1 hours ago: Just tried it. The "stick it in the solder" approach did not work. That coating was tougher than I expected and the solder would not burn it off.
Mel said He used soldering paste and all the other soldering pastes I have ever used had flux added into the paste, whcih would make all the differance in the world in heating, while cleaning the joint. Why did You not follow the advice given to You by WeHonest? A cigarette lighter should have worked perfect for that. I do it all the time, in My umpteen yr's. experience with soldering. I have an old butane lighter with adjustable flame that works perfect for that and then use Silver bearing solder paste in all My soldering. On enamel coated magnet wire and soldron coated wire, there is no need to remove or scrape the wire.
Take Care!
Frank
I believe there is some confusion here between lacquer-coated magnet wire and actual PTFE "Teflon®" insulation.
I have quite a few signals I've built using Teflon PTFE insulated wire. It is specifically used where high temperatures may damage the wire. It is difficult to strip. I bought special strippers to use with the PTFE insulation and even with these you have to be very careful not to cut the strands of wire.
https://tinyurl.com/y5czkcn7
Magnet wire on the other hand can be stripped by heating/scraping and there is a particular type of enamel or epoxy insulation (not all of it, though) that will burn away with the heat of the solder.
http://www.alphawire.com/en/Company/Blog/2015/May/Hand%20Stripping%20of%20PTFE%20Insulated%20Wire
Teflon wire is expensive and probably not commonly used on inexpensive LED wiring.
Ed
Not sure if this will help.
https://www.ngineering.com/wiring_tips.htm
They also have a page on soldering those teeny tiny LEDs.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Looks like he's accomplished the mission, by doing what the seller, WE HONEST told him, and the method Frank uses, by simply using a lighter and burning it off.
Works for me! I usually scrape it off with the hot iron. I'll use the lighter next time.
Although I found that both methods (fire and hot iron) work, I prefered the hot iron because I had better control on amount of covering I removed.
I wonder if it is really teflon. Teflon takes a lot of heat to melt. Teflon wire is used as network cable in plenum and riser spaces in buildings to prevent a structure fire from usign the cable as a 'fuse' to spread to other parts of the building. The regular plastic insualted stuff used for patch cables would just guide the fire all over inside the walls.
The enamel insulated wire - that is easily 'stripped' with the heat of soldering.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It is definetly not an enamel. When you wipe it off with a hot iron, it gets soft and smears off. Seller said it was Teflon so I assume he knows. Whatever it is, dipping it in hot solder does not work like other coatings which will pull back when they hit the solder. Have not tried scraping it with an exacto knife. Wipeing it with a hot iron works well so I am sticking with that method.
i often use 30g wire wrap wire. I use a wire wrap tool to strip the insulation.
i also have a pair of wire strippers that can be used for 30g wire.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
PEDHave not tried scraping it with an exacto knife. Wipeing it with a hot iron works well so I am sticking with that method.
I have tried that, and you usually end up ripping a few wires loose. Same way with using your finger nails. It's very easy to break wires loose.
That's why I started using the soldering iron. After which, I have held a piece of fine emery paper between my fingers, and pulled the stripped end through, just to get rid of any visable bits of insulation, making sure the wire is clean.
As I mentioned above, this stripper works for me.
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/jonard-tools/ST-450/K545-ND/1990301
No burning, teeth, finger nails, scraping with a soldering iron. It works for me.
Getting all that crud on your soldering tip isn't going to improve your soldering joint too well.
zstripe PED PED wrote the following post 1 hours ago: Just tried it. The "stick it in the solder" approach did not work. That coating was tougher than I expected and the solder would not burn it off. Mel said He used soldering paste and all the other soldering pastes I have ever used had flux added into the paste, whcih would make all the differance in the world in heating, while cleaning the joint. Why did You not follow the advice given to You by WeHonest? A cigarette lighter should have worked perfect for that. I do it all the time, in My umpteen yr's. experience with soldering. I have an old butane lighter with adjustable flame that works perfect for that and then use Silver bearing solder paste in all My soldering. On enamel coated magnet wire and soldron coated wire, there is no need to remove or scrape the wire. Take Care! Frank
PED PED wrote the following post 1 hours ago: Just tried it. The "stick it in the solder" approach did not work. That coating was tougher than I expected and the solder would not burn it off.
Rich
Alton Junction
gmpullman As I mentioned above, this stripper works for me. https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/jonard-tools/ST-450/K545-ND/1990301 No burning, teeth, finger nails, scraping with a soldering iron. It works for me. Getting all that crud on your soldering tip isn't going to improve your soldering joint too well. Ed
Ed,
I have one of those but mine only goes down to 30 ga and this wire is smaller than that. A 36ga like you suggested might work. When I originally purchased it, I never expected to use any wire smaller than 30ga.
Concerning getting my solder iron messy, I have two fired up - older cheap one to strip the wire and my good one to solder with.
PEDConcerning getting my solder iron messy, I have two fired up - older cheap one to strip the wire and my good one to solder with.
That's smart! Now I know why I have several soldering irons.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
That's the nice thing about my soldering station. If I turn it down to the lwoest settings, it's not hot enough to melt standard tin/lead solder, but it's also not hot enough to turn shrink tube into a gooey mess all over the iron, so I can shrink it and not worry about an accidental touch making a mess of things. Even the 'small' nozzel on one of those hair dryer type heat guns is really too much around a plastic loco shell. A hot air pencil in an SMD rework station would be a good option but I don;t have one of those.