Wire with self melting insulation (instant solder wire)

Hi

about 20 years ago I worked in a development department that was doing a lot of prototyping of circuit boards.
This was the time when you still could see the electronic components without a magnifier
and ICs still had pins.

One thing I really liked was a wire that looked like the lacquer insulated wire you would use in
a transformer or wire inductors, with the exception that the insulation would melt and disintegrate when exposed to soldering heat.

In other words you could immediately solder it to any component without the hassle of removing plastic insulation form usual cables (like wire wrap wire for instance).

Does anybody know were to buy such wire and what the proper name is?

Thanks

It is called "enamelled copper wire" or "magnet wire".

For ease of manufacturing, most new magnet wire has insulation that acts as a flux when burnt during soldering. This means that the electrical connections at the ends can be made without stripping off the insulation first. Older magnet wire is normally not like this, and requires sandpapering or scraping to remove the insulation before soldering.

See wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enamelled_copper_wire

Hi mr.s.p

That's why I love forums: The concentrated knowledge of thousands of people.

Thank you so much! I had googled all kinds of words, but not enamelled.

Thank you again!

Solderease wire is another name.

Motor wire is for much higher temperature use and the insulation will not burn off with a soldering iron.

Didn't know

So, that is magnet wire...

Learnt something today.

"Solder-rite" is another name and it is generally called polyester insulation.

colin55 said:

"Solder-rite" is another name and it is generally called polyurethane insulation.

Click to expand...

Isn't it the same wire used for wrapping? Used some lately for point-to-point soldering. (Not very nice but practical!)

Sold by the meter and expensive locally.

Here is a link that explains the different insulations. Note that the solderable insulations here are typically polyester, not polyurethane. If you want solderable insulation, be sure that is in the specification.

**broken link removed**


John