To solder or not to solder

[LabTechBrooke]

That is the question, right?

I am talking about hook-up wires with either banana plugs or alligator clips. Is it worth spending the time to solder them?

[Labbie]

Yes it is, Our industrial dept, use to solder them, for us once a year, when year 7 first started. Ask around at your school.

[Prima]

I have never soldered anything and asked our Science/Robotics teacher what he thought. In his opinion, it's fiddly, the solder has to be at a high temperature and you have to work quickly. We have therefore decided that we'll continue screwing the leads into the alligator/banana clips. It also means that we can repair and re-use the clips, because we can still use the screws. Our ancient clips (still have bits of solder on them) are now going into the bin/metal waste.

[Pm706Narrogin]

We had the old screw-type ones. They're not perfect either - over time they degrade, students can pull the plugs off and it's fiddly to connect them back up. Plus when you're busy it's a task that falls by the wayside so often it hardly ever gets done.

We recently purchased a bunch of these leads from Haines. The plugs are robust so we're hoping these withstand more punishment than the old screw-in ones.

[Matt_Coffs]

A few years ago I wired some new alligator clips and added heat shrink tubing over the wire & screw. Not one has come off. Defiantly worth the effort.

IMG_2749 Medium.jpeg

[Labbie]

Great idea, well done you

[bigmack]

I like that too Matt. Reducing the wiggle .Love Glue heatshrink , it really supports the wire , but man it’s expensive .
Will be giving this a try .

[RosalieL]

I worked out that purchasing the wires ready-made from wiltronics worked out better than doing it myself. A set of 10 is $8.80 and it would take me a lot more than $8.80 worth of my time to make 10 leads (20 alligator clips!). They also seem to hold together better than any of the ones I have done, and so it's also cutting down on repair time.

[Prima]

A few years ago I wired some new alligator clips and added heat shrink tubing over the wire & screw. Not one has come off. Defiantly worth the effort.
IMG_2749 Medium.jpeg

Wow - looks so professional! Great job!

[mtg]

I just checked online and saw cheap ones, same as mine on ebay. Has anyone tried them? under $6 for 20.

[Labbie]

Where do you purchase the Heat shrink tubing from? heat over a bunson????

[bigmack]

Where do you purchase the Heat shrink tubing from? heat over a bunson????

Heat shrink is available at any place that sells electrical stuff .Jaycar , BCF ,Road Tech Marine , every electrical wholesalers etc

The quality does vary though . some is very thin and doesn't always shrink evenly .
The best stuff now has glue ( like hot melt glue ) inside it so when you heat it , it both shrinks onto the cable and the glue melts and bonds the cable .This both waterproofs the connection and provides extra physical strength so that the cable is less likely to break when wiggling happens near the connection . The stuff with glue is much dearer .It will usually be labelled as having adhesive . Or you can squeeze the ends of the tube ( even when its sealed in a packet in the shop ) If it makes a sticking click/pop sound , you are pretty guaranteed its got glue in it .

You can wave it over a Bunsen or use a portable gas lighter but it tends to leave sooty smoke on it . An electric heatgun ( like a paint stripper ) works very well but you have to be careful .

[Labbie]

Thank you Bigmack.

[Matt_Coffs]

Where do you purchase the Heat shrink tubing from? heat over a bunson????

Bunnings sells 1m lengths of heat shrink and an electrical heat gun is great.

[Labbie]

Thank you Matt_Coffs