solder upside down 328 headlights

If you are soldering correctly upside down shouldnt be a problem Heat up the joint with the tip then feed in the solder. It should flow real nice even up hill. Use plenty of flux.

 

Agree, soldering does not follow gravity. Have a feeling it may be the solder you are using. You need good flowing solder, like that from Audio Note, or simply get Kimber Kable 'Wonder Solder.' i found that Radio Shack and other solders need LOTS OF HEAT to get working/flowing and this is not, IMHO, a good thing. Also, using a good quality soldering iron, like a temp contraolable Weller, is of great benefit.

Do not worry, there are (literally) books written about how to properly solder. The basics are:

proper soldering gun at proper working temp with tip tinned

Use good flowing solder (no need to add flux)

Tin the wire(s)

Then attach wire to other connecting bit

Re-tin the soldering gun's tip

Touch tip of soldering gun to one side of the connection, touch solder to the other. You want to heat the work (Read: not have the soldering gun's tip on the solder itself, the heat from the wire that is being heated from the soldering gun will mealt the solder to the now heated wire).

If you do it right, the solder will flow like water. As soon as you see flow and coverage, remove soldering iron's tip and the solder.

Let cool and you are done.

Hope this helps.

 

Steven,
What's the alloy blend of the solders you're recommending.

The std alloy for electronic solder is 60-40 & it hasn't changed in 50 years & works fine. It's the std solder alloy used by for most electronics manufacturers.

Altho there are special purpose low melting point alloys out there for such things as surface mount components, they don't produce as strong a joint.

I've been soldering with Kester rosin core electronic solder, available just about everywhere since 1960 or so. w/o any connection quality problems. It is important to use solder that hasn't set on the shelf for 10 or 15 years or so & gotten heavily oxidized tho.

NOW BACK TO SOLVING THE PROBLEM AT HAND:

A big part of the problem is the particular joint Dia is trying to solder. He's trying to solder the end of the wire onto a thin brass strip with one end rivited into a piece of plastic. A little too much heat & you've ruined the headlight stalk. It's further challenging because the joint is upside down.

The other problem is that there's no hole in the contact to hook the wire into. The wire tends to want to spring away from the contact.

Dia,
A 3rd hand is the only way I think you'll be successful.

SOLDERING 101:
Key to soldering is to have both connections cleaned until they shine. Then 'tin' both pieces individually: just heat them while holding the solder on the object being tinned until the solder melts, a thin film of solder should flow out into a very thin coat over most of the cleaned area. As soon as you see the solder start to melt, remove the solder & the iron. Otherwise you'll end up with a big drop of solder which you don't want.

BTW, a part of the soldering trick is that in the small quantities like you need here solder will flow towards heat & small gaps, even if it's up-hill! If it's dripping off, you've applied too much solder.

Then have someone hold the wire firmly against the contact using a pair of needle nose pliars while you do the following:
- touch the soldering iron tip to one side of the wire & contact,
-hold the tip of the solder against the other side
- As soon as you see the solder melt & flow around the wire, remove both the iron & the solder.
- Give the joint several seconds to cool before your helper releases the wire. It's important that the wire be held completely still against the contact until the joint has completely solidified.

If the wire gets jiggled even once the solder has flowed around it, the joint will crystalize & most likely fail. This is what is known as a 'cold solder' joint. Usually you can correct a cold joint by reheating it. However, you usually only get one try at reheating before the solder builds up enough oxidation so you have to clean it completely off & start over again.

 

Color me blushing as i have three different solders here(!) that i use depending on the work (and two Weller WCC100 temp controlled irons). Worked for Heathkit and as you know i am a high-end audio and DIY audio electronics geek. For car stuff that experiences little temps i use Audio Note silver content (NO LEAD) solder. For higher temps i go with Wonder Solder (by Kimber Kable or WBT, i forget but it is also lead free). For high temp stuff i use something from Radio Shack that i set the Weller to about 750F to really get going. The others only need the Weller set at about 650F. FULLY agree the wrong solder can melt itself off at high temps.

 

We stand on the shoulders of giants...............

Verell, I need your help on something....or rather, Lady Valeria does.........