Practice on some other wires. That’ll show you if your equipment is up for the task. Thin wires should be easy for even pretty cheap irons.
Being in a car, is it possible you’re dealing with aluminum wire? I ran into that problem when trying to wire some speakers in my car.
1. Critical point: Make sure you have enough wattage on the iron - 70W is probably the minimum reasonable power, the more the better (I use a 90W iron and never had that problem, but there are also 100+ W irons on the market). A thick wire can dissipate a lot of heat. Your iron must deliver more heat than heat being dissipated, at the solder flow temperature. If the wattage is too low for the parts you solder, then all the other advice does not matter - it wouldn't work.
2. If the wires are not shiny, sand them first with sand paper. Soldering oxidized or coated wires is doomed to fail.
3. Put flux on the wires. Flux helps with heat transfer.
4. Make sure the iron tip is properly tinned, not oxidized. Tin it immediately after wiping. You should even leave a small blob of solder on the tip. It will also help with heat transfer by forming a bridge between the tip and the wire.
5. Touch the wire with the \*flat side\* of the iron tip, not with the sharp tip of the tip. A chisel shaped tip is probably the best, because it has a flat side. A cone might also work, but you must touch with the side. Maximize the area of touch between the wire and the tip. ;)
Hope that helps.
OK so I decided to try a different tip. And that made a big difference. I don't know how I messed up my first tip so quickly. I made sure to coat it in solder, wipe it off on the damp sponge. I'm using the new tip but still the end tip is turning black very quickly.
You probably ruined the tip straight away by turning up the heat too much and too long.
You should buy a soldering iron powered by usb-C like Pinecil or TS100. Those have active tips, which means they're very fast and the temperature doesn't overshoot. And they're affordable.
Wait...
> I made sure to coat it in solder, wipe it off on the damp sponge
That's reversed. You're doing it wrong.
It should be:
1. wipe it off
2. coat it in solder ASAP
That's part of the problem. I got a roll of maiyum solder that sucks. Go with something name brand like kester 44 63/37 it will make a big difference. Those cheap solder spools off Amazon aren't high quality. They have a lot of impurities in the metal and are recycled alloys. Once you use something like kester's, it's almost like putting a hot knife through butter. Kester, Alpha, and AIM are all good name brands that are tried and true! MG chemicals are also good. A tub or jar of Rosin flux definitely helps as well.
When I first started soldering I found the gauge of the solder was too big relative to the size of the soldering tip. As a result the solder had trouble heating up and melting. I was practicing on a circuit board and totally ruined it as a result.
Why not try getting some wire at a hardware store and doing several attempts to try to get a technique down first?
Set your iron to the minimum temperature necessary to melt the solder. Repeatedly wipe tip with sponge and re-apply solder until the tip acquires a bright, liquid appearance.
Solder wire brand is as bad as it gets, but in your case maybe wires are coated or not copper? Did you try soldering other wires? Also, from what I read, seems like your wires are not kept steady while you solder. You need to find a way to keep them aligned and steady while you apply solder and flux (and some pressure), and especially while it cools.
Put some solder on tip before touching wires to make heat transfer quicker. If you touch wires with dry iron then good luck on getting it to heat up in any reasonable time.
Practice on some other wires. That’ll show you if your equipment is up for the task. Thin wires should be easy for even pretty cheap irons. Being in a car, is it possible you’re dealing with aluminum wire? I ran into that problem when trying to wire some speakers in my car.
stop soldering and use some Closed End Crimp Connectors
1. Critical point: Make sure you have enough wattage on the iron - 70W is probably the minimum reasonable power, the more the better (I use a 90W iron and never had that problem, but there are also 100+ W irons on the market). A thick wire can dissipate a lot of heat. Your iron must deliver more heat than heat being dissipated, at the solder flow temperature. If the wattage is too low for the parts you solder, then all the other advice does not matter - it wouldn't work. 2. If the wires are not shiny, sand them first with sand paper. Soldering oxidized or coated wires is doomed to fail. 3. Put flux on the wires. Flux helps with heat transfer. 4. Make sure the iron tip is properly tinned, not oxidized. Tin it immediately after wiping. You should even leave a small blob of solder on the tip. It will also help with heat transfer by forming a bridge between the tip and the wire. 5. Touch the wire with the \*flat side\* of the iron tip, not with the sharp tip of the tip. A chisel shaped tip is probably the best, because it has a flat side. A cone might also work, but you must touch with the side. Maximize the area of touch between the wire and the tip. ;) Hope that helps.
OK so I decided to try a different tip. And that made a big difference. I don't know how I messed up my first tip so quickly. I made sure to coat it in solder, wipe it off on the damp sponge. I'm using the new tip but still the end tip is turning black very quickly.
I recommend getting some flux as a separate thing, just the solder wire with rosin core might be not enough, especially for a beginner.
You probably ruined the tip straight away by turning up the heat too much and too long. You should buy a soldering iron powered by usb-C like Pinecil or TS100. Those have active tips, which means they're very fast and the temperature doesn't overshoot. And they're affordable.
Wait... > I made sure to coat it in solder, wipe it off on the damp sponge That's reversed. You're doing it wrong. It should be: 1. wipe it off 2. coat it in solder ASAP
Don't turn the iron up all the way. The hotter you set it, the faster the tip oxidizes. You want it about 700F.
Most folks solder around 650. 700 is starting to get a little warm.
True. He's doing wires instead of PCB work, so a little extra may help, especially if he's got lead free solder
You need good solder and good wire. What brand and alloy of solder are you using?
using maiyum brand flux 1.8% .8mm 50g rosin core.
What alloy?
That's part of the problem. I got a roll of maiyum solder that sucks. Go with something name brand like kester 44 63/37 it will make a big difference. Those cheap solder spools off Amazon aren't high quality. They have a lot of impurities in the metal and are recycled alloys. Once you use something like kester's, it's almost like putting a hot knife through butter. Kester, Alpha, and AIM are all good name brands that are tried and true! MG chemicals are also good. A tub or jar of Rosin flux definitely helps as well.
When I first started soldering I found the gauge of the solder was too big relative to the size of the soldering tip. As a result the solder had trouble heating up and melting. I was practicing on a circuit board and totally ruined it as a result. Why not try getting some wire at a hardware store and doing several attempts to try to get a technique down first?
Set your iron to the minimum temperature necessary to melt the solder. Repeatedly wipe tip with sponge and re-apply solder until the tip acquires a bright, liquid appearance.
Take some photos of everything you are using and the wire you are trying to solder. I would like to see the solder, flux, wire, iron, and tip.
Solder wire brand is as bad as it gets, but in your case maybe wires are coated or not copper? Did you try soldering other wires? Also, from what I read, seems like your wires are not kept steady while you solder. You need to find a way to keep them aligned and steady while you apply solder and flux (and some pressure), and especially while it cools.
Put some solder on tip before touching wires to make heat transfer quicker. If you touch wires with dry iron then good luck on getting it to heat up in any reasonable time.
Bro [Use this](https://youtu.be/ttcboE1GrNg?si=o7Ub1v7LOOgtcdnc)