What type solder

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Brad225

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I am rebuilding the frames for my CLS's and may need to extend the wires to the panel. I have more of the braided wire from other panels so that should be no problem.
My question is this. What type of solder would you use for this connection? I have silver solder I have used for other projects and planed to use this.
I called ML today and spoke with Jeff as to whether there was any problem adding 6"-12" of wire to the panels he said that should not be a problem but in the past they had problems adding much more than that. I didn't ask what it was related to though.
I then asked if using the silver solder was OK. He said that was all they used there in the factory was a basic flux core solder you could buy anywhere.
The puzzling thing was he said he had never heard of silver solder and had no idea what I was talking about.

Do you see any reason not to use the silver on this wire connection?
 
I use WBT silver solder all the time, including in my ML's. Dammit, but I have to do so again as one wire has come undone at the panel again, and I just fixed it a couple of days ago.
 
No, it is not. This one is easy to access, but soldering onto a large metal surface (which acts as a heat sink) is difficult. I think I may have to use a higher-power iron.
 
Dave, I agree, more heat for a very short time is far better than lower heat and warming a large area.

I have looked at some of the butane units but hadn't heard any recommendations. Does it have a smaller tip than the one in the pic you attached? It does look great for firing up stogies but might be a problem for delicate areas.
I agree, more heat for a very short time is far better than lower heat and warming a large area.
 
What exactly are you soldering? Are you replacing the wire that is attached to the panel or soldering two ends of wire together?

Silver solder should be fine especially the WBT solder. Use flux applied with a brush but avoid acid flux as it is corrosive.

Use a heat sink clamp between the area you want to solder and the area you don't want to heat up too much. You only want to use just enough heat to melt the solder and to heat the metal just enough to make a weld. I don't think you want to use an open flame type soldering tool for this job. Practice on a similar part before you solder on the valued part.

Another option to consider is to avoid soldering altogether and instead use a mechanical connection to extend the wire length. Many high-end speaker wire and interconnect connectors use some type of clamp to avoid solder altogether. If you simply connect wire to wire then you can use a crimp sleeve by WBT-USA, coat it with DeOxit and then insulate it with heat shrink.
 
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