Substitute for Soldering Wire?!

[ClobberXD]

I don't have money to get Soldering Wire, and won't, at least within the next few months (I'm not allowed money ). Is there any way I can use any house-hold material that does the Soldering Wire's job? Thanks!

[Technous285]

Basically: No. Not unless you want to risk killing yourself and/or the project you're trying to work on without solder.

[manikyath]

unless you're able to find some kind of a lead/tin alloy, or my personal favourite "Sn60Pb39Cu1" you'll be in for a loss.

 

should also mention that soldering wire has flux embedded in it, so the solder flows onto the joint better. without flux you're basicly trying to stick scotch tape to a dirty car tire.

[ClobberXD]

14 minutes ago, manikyath said:

unless you're able to find some kind of a lead/tin alloy, or my personal favourite "Sn60Pb39Cu1" you'll be in for a loss.

 

should also mention that soldering wire has flux embedded in it, so the solder flows onto the joint better. without flux you're basicly trying to stick scotch tape to a dirty car tire.

Any other way to join wires to pins (Specifically USB Type-A Male jack)?

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Anand_Geforce said:

Any other way to join wires to pins (Specifically USB Type-A Male jack)?

very, very careful glueing.

[ClobberXD]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

very, very careful glueing.

Yea... Tried superglue yesterday - FAILED MISERABLY!!!

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, Anand_Geforce said:

Yea... Tried superglue yesterday - FAILED MISERABLY!!!

exactly

[You_are_a_cunt]

52 minutes ago, manikyath said:

unless you're able to find some kind of a lead/tin alloy, or my personal favourite "Sn60Pb39Cu1" you'll be in for a loss.

 

should also mention that soldering wire has flux embedded in it, so the solder flows onto the joint better. without flux you're basicly trying to stick scotch tape to a dirty car tire.

Even I don't have the tools to make THAT. Sure, Copper, lead and tin are easy to get by themselves, but getting the compound right would be a bitch to do in-house. And yea, then there's flux, which you could A. buy (which is out of the discussion) or B. make it, which is hard and not very cost efficient.

[manikyath]

5 minutes ago, revsilverspine said:

Even I don't have the tools to make THAT. Sure, Copper, lead and tin are easy to get by themselves, but getting the compound right would be a bitch to do in-house. And yea, then there's flux, which you could A. buy (which is out of the discussion) or B. make it, which is hard and not very cost efficient.

buying flux is actually more expensive than buying an extra roll of solder wire

[You_are_a_cunt]

8 minutes ago, manikyath said:

buying flux is actually more expensive than buying an extra roll of solder wire

or buying a tin of rosin 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, revsilverspine said:

or buying a tin of rosin 

i actually have a small bottle of "soldering water" on hand for the extra annoying solder jobs, but beyond that i just use an excessive amount of solder, and let the flux inside take care of it

 

(i last used the soldering water to solder onto a 3.5mm jack -the jack itself- which really needed that extra stick to get the solder to grab before the plastic melted trough)

[AresKrieger]

Silver, that's probably the only material with a low enough melting point you might have that is a a good conductor, but really that wastes more money than the tin and copper soder, unless you have a fume hood and some lead and tin

[Hackentosher]

60/40 rosin core solder is incredibly cheap and easy to find. I've seen it go for about $5 at a radio shack, if you can find one of those. Now if you can find an unsoldered usb type a connector, but can't find $5, you're kidding yourself. 

[mariushm]

You could just go to a shop that repairs electronics or phones and just ask the guy/lady behind there to cut a bit of solder wire and give it to you for free. Ask nicely and politely and chances are they'll help you out.  Or give them a small tip, some cigarettes or whatever a coffee or something costs in your country.

If you're in India, surely you have lots of small shops around.

 

Flux isn't that expensive, if you know where to buy it from.

 

An authorized distributor in Europe ( http://tme.eu ) - they're Polish company - sells no-clean flux manufactured by a local Polish company AG Termopasty, which is sold in 15ml , 50ml, 100ml, 250ml and 500ml bottles and maybe even higher from something as little as 2$ and up. Shipping to India will probably be somewhat expensive, I guess 5$ or higher.

 

Here's a link to see them : http://www.tme.eu/en/katalog/#id_category=100484&s_field=niski_prog&s_order=ASC&visible_params=2%2C1625%2C1682%2C1677%2C909%2C849%2C1597%2C436%2C74&used_params=2%3A84346%3B1677%3A80685%2C16293%2C57644%2C10968%2C16297%3B1682%3A5915%3B&page=1

 

I have one of those 50ml bottles in my desk right now, it does wonders.

[Huntsman]

Steal from other PCBs of scrap electronics..

[W-L]

On 7/9/2016 at 8:40 AM, Anand_Geforce said:

-SNIP-

As mentioned there isn't really another option other than say crimping if the connections are large enough, there is such thing as conductive glue that does work in a pinch but I wouldn't trust it for long term connections. 

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/b70c/

[catzambia]

Somebody mail this kid some solder.

[misanthropicyberpunk]

Mate, I feel you. I am a teen who is in a similar position, and this powerlessness feels like hell.

I think I can offer a solution, although, I have NOT tried it before.

 

Find a circuitboard with wires that were soldered on. Use a lighter to heat a steel nail to high temperatures. When the nail is hot, desolder the wire, and extract the solder that was used to solderit on and use the nail to apply that solder to the alpha usb jack. If you don't know how to find such a circuitboard, try usinig a cell phone charger. The part where the battery wires solder to the circuit-board (which you would know if you cracked it open, or in my case, unscrewed the top) has a LOT of solder paste on it.

 

My parents are strict extremist who never gave me an allowance, or any amount of personal freedom. Know that if you are in a similar situation, fighting on is the only way to get what you want.

Good luck!

 

 

[Guest]

Try a breadboard? 

 

[Matty2048]

3 hours ago, fpo said:

Try a breadboard? 

yeah breadboards are op for doing stuff quickly and easily 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Matty2048 said:

yeah breadboards are op for doing stuff quickly and easily 

thread tl;dr.

 

Was this what he was asking? If he wanted a more perminant circuit then I'm pretty sure he can afford 10 USD a solder iron, and 5~14 USD for solder. 

 

15~24 USD total package + electricity. 

[KaminKevCrew]

OP could also grab one of those breakout connectors that just lets you screw in the wire: https://www.amazon.com/Jack-Breakout-Board-Screw-Terminals/dp/B01EBBMY0M

 

Also, OP. You might be able to use a Lemon as flux, as lemon juice is somewhat acidic. I've never tried that as a substitute before (you could also get rosin for a violin bow. Melting that might help you clean off a pad or some wire.)

 

As for replacing solder, you *could* melt some lean or tin in a pan (indium as well, maybe) and use that if what you're trying to solder isn't particularly heat sensitive though, again, you're going to be limited here by what you may have on hand, and you probably won't have those on hand. 

 

Why not try asking your parents if you can have some solder/a soldering iron? You can get both relatively cheaply, and it's a useful skill to have.

[MeDownYou]

DAMMN the NECRO'S came out strong on this one!!!!

 

also reading previous comments, I'm glad W-L responded to this thread back in the day.

[W-L]

Yeah please try to not bump old threads, didn't even notice it until now.

 

-Locked-