Recommended wattage for soldering 2.5mm to 4mm cables

[CageyH]

I will need to solder up some speaker cables soon, so how many watts do I need in a soldering iron to cope with bigger cable sizes?

[Barry]

As high as possible - suggest a 50W solder gun.

[337alant]

Get a maplin adjustable one they are quite cheap and work well think they go up to 50W
Or crimp them then heat them up on the gas ring and solder them as well followed by a bit of shrink screen

Alan

[Reffc]

If it's just for a one off, I'd avoid the cheap Maplins solder stations and plump for a bog standard 50w electric iron with chisel tip for a tenner. It's not so much the wattage that matters as much as an irons ability to maintain a constant heat across the tip when in contact with a larger solder area (you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was directly related to wattage but I've used enough cheap solder stations to learn they're mostly hobbyist tools for smaller solder jobs). The cheaper digital solder stations rarely maintain a constant temperature on the solder tips needed for larger section solder jobs. If you plan on buying one to do all future jobs little or large..look for a used Weller and forget needing to buy another again. Plenty of tips available cheaply, robust and reliable with little to go wrong.

[Firebottle]

+1 on the Weller solder station, I have been using one professionally and privately for many years and can thoroughly recommend them.

As I've said before, if you need to do a few larger joints, see if you can hold them in a mini vice or some sort of clamp, them apply two soldering irons to the job to get the heat in, it works a treat.

If you practice a bit of dexterity you can hold one of the irons and the solder with one hand and jobs a good 'un.

Cheers, Alan

[istari_knight]

As I've said before, if you need to do a few larger joints, see if you can hold them in a mini vice or some sort of clamp, them apply two soldering irons to the job to get the heat in, it works a treat.

If you practice a bit of dexterity you can hold one of the irons and the solder with one hand and jobs a good 'un.

Cheers, Alan

Thats works well. I've got an ancient inherited iron with wooden handle, I don't know the wattage but its in the hundreds [!] Useful in conjunction with the standard Weller for chunky cables, an iron in each hand & feeding solder from the mouth :D

[spendorman]

Weller

[DSJR]

My trusty old adjustable RS soldering iron ran out of tips (I'm sure I could get one from somewhere as it has a push fit bit with a separate liner), so I bought a cheap Maplin adjustable station. Very frail for continuous professional use, but fine for the occasional 'domestic' work I currently do, using old RS Components LMP solder with 2% silver content.

Weller have always made great soldering stations, but they may be too costly for enthusiastic amateur use though.

[PaulStewart]

Weller, Weller, Weller Huh
Tell me more tell me more....
Tell me more, Tell me more
Soldering on a summers night, drifting awaaaaay.......

I have three soldering devices from a double tip gun via a standard soldering station and a 15w for mini work They are all Weller :)

[DarrenHW]

Weller, Weller, Weller Huh
Tell me more tell me more....
Tell me more, Tell me more
Soldering on a summers night, drifting awaaaaay.......

:rfl:

[spendorman]

One place I worked, as a punishment, staff out of favour with the boss were given a very boring soldering job. It did involve using a Weller iron. One lady was doing this job, and the boss sarcastically said to her: "solder on", she was quick to reply: "flux off"