Generally speaking, if the solder joint remains shiny and smooth after it cools, you have gotten it hot enough. If it is rough and dull, it may be a "cold" joint.
How hot is hot enough?
I am going to reterminate some speaker speaker cables and make some of my own.
I am assuming silver solder was used on the existing terminations. I will be touching up and resoldering the existing with silver solder and my new terminations will use silver solder as well.
I know part of this depends on what other metals (tin, lead...etc) are present and what the composition is. If I am using a solder from say....Audioquest, Cardas etc. How hot do I need to get? Can I use a high temp soldering iron or do I need to go to a butane torch similar to what Rat Shak sells. If I can use a soldering iron what temp and how many watts do I need to get to.
If this is successful, I may try to buy a "DIY" post, "Why so many For Sale" post or a "Which is better" post and provide my results. I will, of course, get plenty of consultation from the "experts" before posting one of these.
Thanks
I am assuming silver solder was used on the existing terminations. I will be touching up and resoldering the existing with silver solder and my new terminations will use silver solder as well.
I know part of this depends on what other metals (tin, lead...etc) are present and what the composition is. If I am using a solder from say....Audioquest, Cardas etc. How hot do I need to get? Can I use a high temp soldering iron or do I need to go to a butane torch similar to what Rat Shak sells. If I can use a soldering iron what temp and how many watts do I need to get to.
If this is successful, I may try to buy a "DIY" post, "Why so many For Sale" post or a "Which is better" post and provide my results. I will, of course, get plenty of consultation from the "experts" before posting one of these.
Thanks