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What is the trick for soldering Litz wire?

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gary350

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I have a piece of Litz wire that is about 100 feet long. The Litz wire is made of 10 tiny wires .004" diameter each wire. I folded it in half several times to get a piece of wire 32" long. The wire is made up of 32 pieces of Litz wire = 320 strans of .004 wire.

I have been trying to solder the ends but not having much luck. I tried to burn off the enamel coating on the wire with a small propane torch but it melts the wires. I tried lower heat it burns off the enamel coating but leaves the wires black and solder will not stick. I tried plumber flux to clean the wires but solder still will not stick.

I cut the wire end off and tried again with a new solder gun tip and solder. Enamel coating burns black, wires are black, solder will not stick.
 
Sounds challenging. I've never had to do it. I have enough trouble stripping the enamel off of solid magnet wire. But, this reference says to use a solder pot. The solder melts the wire and the contaminations stay behind due to surface tension of the solder in the pot. And, a horizontal motion is used. At least that is the claim. I'll bet you have to practice to get good at it.

**broken link removed**
 
Besides a Solder Pot, A GOOD Solder Flux is Also Required.
 
In all likelihood the insulation is "solderable." In the unlikely event the insulation is one of the non-solderable types (that is, it is not removed at normal solder temperature), you can dip it in molten NaOH/NaNO3. I use a little steel block that has a hole bored in it:

upload_2015-2-14_22-13-40.png


The amount of NaNO3 that you use is not critical. Use 10% to 25%. There will be vigorous bubbling as the insulation is destroyed. The copper comes out bright clean, but darkens quickly. Rinse with water. Flux, of course, helps solder it.

John
 
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The litz I use has "solder ease" insulation. At soldering temperature the insulation goes away.
 
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