MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGB Technical - Soldering bullet connectors

What is the correct/easy way to solder bullet connectors onto wires without the solder running out the little hole in the front of the bullet connector?

Richard.
RH Davidson

Richard, I usually just tin the connector then insert the wire until the end of the wire shows in the hole and then finish soldering. The wire end should seal the hole pretty well. Another method would be to take a small piece of wood and drill a hole just big enough to insert the connector about half way. Then you can fill the connector with solder and insert the wire, the wood will prevent the solder from running out the end.
Bill Young

See the technical tips in the back of the Moss catalog for hints on soldering the connectors. You strip the wire and solder it (possibly kinking to get a tight fit) then apply the iron to the tip. Then solder through the hole.

Good luck.
Robert McCoy

I purchased one of those small articulating arm devices that has small alligator clips on them. I use one clip to hold the wire in an upright position. I place the bullet connector over the portion of the wire with the insulation stripped and apply the solder gun to the side of the bullet. I put the end of the solder wire at the tip of the bullet over the hole and wait for the bullet to get hot enough and then the solder flows into the hole and around the wire. Hope you can picture this from my words alone.
Frank
Frank

As Frank says, if your iron can't get the bullet hot enough to melt the solder, you are going to have problems. If you do very much of this, it would be worthwhile to get a decent Weller gun. Tinning the wire first helps, too. There are also multiple kinds of bullets available to purchase. Some of them solder well and others simply do NOT. I guess they are intended for crimping only. www.britishwiring.com used to carry a good selection before the company was sold and moved to Bally, PA. Dunno if they still do.
David "soldering on" Lieb
David Lieb

Richard,

I find applying resin to the twisted wire, inserting it into the bullet, heating the bullet with the soldering gun and flowing the solder through the hole at the tip of the bullet is the best way. The resin wicks the solder in. If there is a bit of a lump of solder on the end, I simply snip it off.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

I posted a reply last night but don't see it??? I strip the wire and twist it, trial fit tin the wire and trim length if the insulation retreats a lot. Push through the hole and run the solder to the bullet with the iron on the flat ring around the hole. If you get too much on solder is soft to file anyway. Heating the entire bullet is a problem as you need to wet it with solder to get good heat flow so you are going to finish up with solder you dont want on the outside, doing it this way you just run it locally where you need it.
Stan Best

Combination of two of the above techniques. One must both tin the wire and the connector (by filling it with solder, and I use the hole in the piece of wood method) before bringing them together. Tinning the wire will cause the insulation to run back slightly (it is usually stretched by the stripping operation and heat causes it to go back) so you can trim the ends of the conductors back if required before joining the two together. You need a high-power iron to melt the solder quickly so the iron is only applied briefly or the insulation will start burning back, and the solder will running back down the strands leaving it stiff with the possibility of fractures. Apply the iron to the end of the bullet for the joining process, not the sides, allows the strands to be pushed right in to the bulklet but not out the hole in the end.
Paul Hunt

Thanks everyone for your advice. The hole in the wood trick is the part I was missing for keeping the solder in the fitting while tinning/filling it. The fittings I obtained have a very small hole in the front, such that you can’t see or push untined wire through it. It’s even too small to feed my electronic solder through, yet great for letting the melted solder run out. I have noted fittings with larger holes on my car which I don’t have, but will preserver with the ones I do. The new ones look nice and shiny (weak excuse).

This is a great site.

Richard.
RH Davidson

The procedure with pictures is available at http://www.advanceautowire.com click on "instruction manuals" then click on "headlight relay kit".
Kimberly

This thread was discussed between 08/08/2008 and 10/08/2008

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.