[rotorwrench]

I just soldered some wires up to a stick grip switch yesterday to repair the 4-way trim function on a helicopter. A person has to have good clean wire to start with. It can be soldered without tinning the wire tip but tinning speeds things up and insures that the solder will stick. Solder type terminals that are clean brass should be fine without any pre tinning. If you wire is loose on the bullet, try doubling the wire over if it will fit tighter or tin the wire as thick as you can with solder before inserting it in the terminal.


You can use a torch but avoid contaminating the parts to be soldered. A good quality solder gun or an old large soldering iron would be better. The quicker you can heat it the better it will solder. Use a good quality modern electrical type rosin core solder no larger than 1/16" in diameter. Use a good quality shrink tube of the correct diameter to protect the finished solder joints. It doesn't take too long to master the soldering technique.


In aviation, crimp type connectors are preferred over soldering but in tight areas, there is no choice. Solder joints are stiff on the solder joint but the wire remains flexible. They tend to fatigue crack at the joint over time and the wire will break off from the terminal. This is the reason most stuff is crimped where practicable.