How would you fix this.

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Ok so I have a tweeter and one of the wires is almost totally broken off...I know how to solder wires together but I don't want to heat up the tweeter to much...I do have a set of identical "practice" tweeters that I can try different techniques with...these are jl vr series if you are familiar with them, they have what looks like tiny tabs covered in solder that bend over the wire. I thought about getting some kind of solder remover kit or something.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

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[Ruffy 10+ year member]

it has to be soldered. just get a low powered iron(15w) and dont hold it there long. It had to be soldered at a factory it can survive another go.

Strip the wire and tin it with some solder before you touch the tweeter. With a good iron and a pretinned wire you would touch the solderblob for only 2-5 seconds. Jam the wire in and hold it till it drys

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

should I try and remove all the old solder first?

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

You could heat up the existing solder and re-connect. But I would recommend removing the old and putting new in. Bit more work, but I think a better result.

 

[kross 10+ year member]

Solder has a much higher resistance than copper. If the copper wire doesn't make direct contact with the metal tab, but is only embedded in the solder that's already on there, that won't be the most efficient connection.

Just get some solder removal copper braid, only costs a couple bucks at the rat shack, and take the old solder off. Then try to make as good a connection with the wire as you can on the metal tab. Then add solder to hold it all together. Of course, make sure the solder "flows". No cold solder joints, please! And be quick about it, don't melt anything inside!

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

Dont mean to interupt but when should silver solder be used? It is lower resistance right?

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Dont mean to interupt but when should silver solder be used? It is lower resistance right?

I think the solder I have is silver bearing...

 

[12VoltInstaller 10+ year member]

All Suggestions are great...I have some suggestions as well....

Your suggestion of the cool soldering iron is, in thought, a good idea...but the slow motion of the heat will allow the whole rig to heat up slowly instead of liquefying the solder quickly.

The resistance of the connection is of very low importance when the tweeter doesn't even work at this point for the guy.

His question about heating up the tweeter is a good one for someone that is asking this type of question.

Use your meter to measure the impedance of the tweeter before you solder... then after it has cooled measure again.... if the solder flows...you'll be golden regardless of the coper touching the tweeter tab or not.

Using the solder wick could pose a much messier event for this guy than he is looking for.

The solder they use on their tweeters is up to their standards...why not yours if you'd be willing to use them? And its not about impurities on top of the solder...clean off the top with a wire brush.

Heres what you do:

Get yourself a butane torch...they get nice and warm

Get some rosin core solder... its for electronics repair

Tin your wire as previously suggested

Use a small amount of paste rosin flux and smear it on the tweeters solder blob you want to connect to.

Acid core or acid paste flux is for plumbing fixtures. Not the junk in yo trunk!

Rest your tinned wire right in the middle of the flux and solder blob checking your clearances for overhang.... but not too close to the insulation...you may burn it a bit.

Touch the tip of your hot iron to the middle of the wire...the wire will be hot and slice through the solder blob like a hot knife in butter. It will all happen very quickly....using the rosin will make it flow that much quicker and not require you to add any extra solder.

Once the blob has flowed and your wire is right where you want it....remove heat and let cool...maybe even blow on it a bit.

Slightly tug on your wire to check your connection... and slide the insulation closer to the connection...the wire will be warm enough to heat it up to slide the insulation closer.

Viola!

Enjoy your tweeter again!

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Heres what you do:

Get yourself a butane torch...they get nice and warm

Touch the tip of your hot iron to the middle of the wire...the wire will be hot and slice through the solder blob like a hot knife in butter. It will all happen very quickly....using the rosin will make it flow that much quicker and not require you to add any extra solder.

by iron do you mean torch?....I think I will try it both ways...I think the solder might have to be removed in order to bend the tabs up so I can get the wire back underneath it. but like I said I have a few extra practice tweeters that came with the crossovers I got on ebay so I should be able to figure it out one way or the other. Thanks to everyone who has offered suggestions.

 

[bigbang 10+ year member]

I think this has gotten way to complicated. Try a practice tweeter, see if it still works after wards. I believe in most cases the tweeters voice coil wire is internally soldered to the tab inside the cassing, but it would take a long amount of time before it heated up and fell off. The only problem I see happining is the metal tab getting hot enough that it melts the plastic around it a little and becomes lose. I say about three seconds with the soldering iron/ gun whatever, get it melted connect that wire quick, it will be done with little or no harm. Just put a little bit of fresh solder on your iron before you do it so the heat will transfer quicker to the connection.

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

hit it with a hammer

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

hit it with a hammer

If I fry it I will...vid if I do. got a nice big non working tv to destroy as well how should I do it?

 

[kross 10+ year member]

If I fry it I will...vid if I do. got a nice big non working tv to destroy as well how should I do it?

Throw it off the top of a 3 story building, David Letterman style, of course!

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

Well I tried the solder wick first...It didn't make a mess but it didn't really get much of the solder off the connection...so then I tried the rosin paste flux with a soldering iron...I cut up a speaker level wiring harness from some old amp and got a couple of pre tinned wires...worked like a charm..wires are not coming off...I got lucky though because I forgot to mark which wire was pos and which was negative before I broke them off the tweeter but was able to figure it out with a picture I took and the direction of the bar code on the back of the tweeter. Thanks for your help guys. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/graduate.gif.d982460be9f153bb54e5d4cb744f6ae8.gif