Where can I buy some small wire ( about # 28 to 30 ) that has the enamel
type of insulation that can be soldered and the heat will melt the
insulation ? There was some on ebay I bought that did not seem to work.
After checking it out, it seems that it needs to be heated to almost 400
deg C and when I tried that, it did not do all that well.

I would like it to melt out with a more normal 300 deg C or so iron.

The object is to use it on a circuit board to build small projects.

On 15/08/2018 22:56, Ralph Mowery wrote:



Where can I buy some small wire ( about # 28 to 30 ) that has the enamel
type of insulation that can be soldered and the heat will melt the
insulation ? There was some on ebay I bought that did not seem to work.
After checking it out, it seems that it needs to be heated to almost 400
deg C and when I tried that, it did not do all that well.

I would like it to melt out with a more normal 300 deg C or so iron.

The object is to use it on a circuit board to build small projects.



Scientific Wire Company here in Britland

On 8/15/2018 4:56 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:



Where can I buy some small wire ( about # 28 to 30 ) that has the enamel
type of insulation that can be soldered and the heat will melt the
insulation ? There was some on ebay I bought that did not seem to work.
After checking it out, it seems that it needs to be heated to almost 400
deg C and when I tried that, it did not do all that well.

I would like it to melt out with a more normal 300 deg C or so iron.

The object is to use it on a circuit board to build small projects.


It used to be sold on small spools for use in simple wire-wrap
construction, not needing fancy wire-wrap tools. I used it decades ago
for a number of computing projects, not ham radio where I tended to want
wires to stay exactly where I put them and not vary things like the
inductance and capacitance of the wiring. The simple plastic tool let
you wrap a bunch of connections, then hit them with a soldering tool to
make a lot of quite reliable connections quickly. (Not pretty, though!)
So maybe searching with phrases like "solder through wire wrap" would
find you something.
Bob Wilson, WA9D

On Thu, 16 Aug 2018, Bob Wilson wrote:

On 8/15/2018 4:56 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:



Where can I buy some small wire ( about # 28 to 30 ) that has the enamel
type of insulation that can be soldered and the heat will melt the
insulation ? There was some on ebay I bought that did not seem to work.
After checking it out, it seems that it needs to be heated to almost 400
deg C and when I tried that, it did not do all that well.

I would like it to melt out with a more normal 300 deg C or so iron.

The object is to use it on a circuit board to build small projects.


It used to be sold on small spools for use in simple wire-wrap construction,
not needing fancy wire-wrap tools. I used it decades ago for a number of
computing projects, not ham radio where I tended to want wires to stay
exactly where I put them and not vary things like the inductance and
capacitance of the wiring. The simple plastic tool let you wrap a bunch of
connections, then hit them with a soldering tool to make a lot of quite
reliable connections quickly. (Not pretty, though!) So maybe searching with
phrases like "solder through wire wrap" would find you something.
Bob Wilson, WA9D

That "solder through" somehow made me think "soldereze" or some spelling
like that. Maybe my memory bank is faulty, but I do recall there was a
brand name for the stuff, and that might be it.

And yes, there it was a period more or less after home computers arrived
that the stuff thrived, and probably in computer circles. Though,
Hamtronics had some famous preamplifier kits, and I seem to recall they
used insulated wire that could be stripped with heat.

Michael

In article alpine.LNX.2.20.1808162246170.20401@thrush,
says...

And yes, there it was a period more or less after home computers arrived
that the stuff thrived, and probably in computer circles. Though,
Hamtronics had some famous preamplifier kits, and I seem to recall they
used insulated wire that could be stripped with heat.



I never had a Hamtronic kit,but thought I saw in some instruction
manuals some coils wound on forms that the wire went through the pins
and they were heated to do the soldering .

That is the type of wire I am looking for if the insulation melts out at
normal soldering temperature.

Bob Wilson wrote:
On 8/15/2018 4:56 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:



Where can I buy some small wire ( about # 28 to 30 ) that has the enamel
type of insulation that can be soldered and the heat will melt the
insulation ? There was some on ebay I bought that did not seem to work.
After checking it out, it seems that it needs to be heated to almost 400
deg C and when I tried that, it did not do all that well.

I would like it to melt out with a more normal 300 deg C or so iron.

The object is to use it on a circuit board to build small projects.


It used to be sold on small spools for use in simple wire-wrap
construction, not needing fancy wire-wrap tools.

Special wire existed, of course very expensive, but I have always
used regular coil winding wire from the local electronics shop.
The guys there know what you need and what makes of wire are suitable.

Coincidentally, the shop is closing down right now. Like most of
them already have.

On Thu, 16 Aug 2018, Ralph Mowery wrote:

In article alpine.LNX.2.20.1808162246170.20401@thrush,
says...

And yes, there it was a period more or less after home computers arrived
that the stuff thrived, and probably in computer circles. Though,
Hamtronics had some famous preamplifier kits, and I seem to recall they
used insulated wire that could be stripped with heat.



I never had a Hamtronic kit,but thought I saw in some instruction
manuals some coils wound on forms that the wire went through the pins
and they were heated to do the soldering .

Most of the kits were written about in Ham Radio magazine, so you could
build without the kit. That's one reason I mentioned them, maybe one of
the articles gives detail about the wire (and maybe not, maybe they wanted
you to buy the kit).

That is the type of wire I am looking for if the insulation melts out at
normal soldering temperature.


Around that time I got a large roll of thin gauge wire which I thought
might be this sort of wire, but I'm sure I must have tried and failed.
But I can't remember. It was in a box of junk I got for a few dollars,
and 45 years later I still have some of that roll.

Certainly that insulation would melt, but I was never sure if it was
deliberate, or just because insulation tends to melt.

Michael

On Thu, 16 Aug 2018, Ralph Mowery wrote:

In article alpine.LNX.2.20.1808162246170.20401@thrush,
says...

And yes, there it was a period more or less after home computers arrived
that the stuff thrived, and probably in computer circles. Though,
Hamtronics had some famous preamplifier kits, and I seem to recall they
used insulated wire that could be stripped with heat.



I never had a Hamtronic kit,but thought I saw in some instruction
manuals some coils wound on forms that the wire went through the pins
and they were heated to do the soldering .

That is the type of wire I am looking for if the insulation melts out at
normal soldering temperature.


I didn't bother retrieving it, but I just noticed a reference, the
Hamtronics preamp was described in Ham Radio magazine in March 1972 and
Jan 1973 issues. Unless something has changed, one can find the back
issues on the web, I don't have the URL handy. I can't remember if there
was an improved version for the second article, or each was for a
different band, but I'm sure they describe the wire, and maybe name it.

Michael

On 08/17/18 08:37, Rob wrote:


Special wire existed, of course very expensive, but I have always
used regular coil winding wire from the local electronics shop.
The guys there know what you need and what makes of wire are suitable.

Coincidentally, the shop is closing down right now. Like most of
them already have.

I worked for a transformer company decades ago and they used wire that
stripped & tinned in a solder pot. Standard transformer wire for that
company at the time, as it saved time in production. Have a word
with your local transformer company or stockist...

Chris

Chris wrote:
On 08/17/18 08:37, Rob wrote:


Special wire existed, of course very expensive, but I have always
used regular coil winding wire from the local electronics shop.
The guys there know what you need and what makes of wire are suitable.

Coincidentally, the shop is closing down right now. Like most of
them already have.

I worked for a transformer company decades ago and they used wire that
stripped & tinned in a solder pot. Standard transformer wire for that
company at the time, as it saved time in production. Have a word
with your local transformer company or stockist...

Yes that is the kind of wire I used. It was a little easier to pre-tin
it on the iron but when working with ICs in DIP package it usually was
enough to do a half turn of the wire around the pin, clip it, and solder.

But it varies between makes of wire. With the real "enamelled" wire
this doesn't work.