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Soldering is not my favorite job and I am not particularly good at it. While restoring the startermotor I don't succeed in soldering the brushes set to the metal stick on the starter motor. The wire just does not stick to it, not even after some good sanding plus solderwater. Does anyone know a trick to finish the job? Thanks on forehand!

By solder water I assume you mean flux. Make sure you are using flux for electrical work not plumbing flux. Electrical solder may have a resin core. The easier to use old fashioned solder is harder to come by as more often silver solder is used but has a higher melting point.

Make sure the two metal surfaces are clean of finger oil and oxides. It is often easier to "tin" the two surfaces first. Put the flux on the surface (I don't rely on the flux in the core of the solder alone). Heat the surface to be tinned not the solder itself. Touching the solder to the hot surface will melt the solder so it flows onto the surface. If you heat the solder and not the surface of material to be tinned, the solder will melt but not stick to the cooler surface of the item to be soldered. Once the two pieces are tinned heat them up till the solder is melted. Add a little more solder if there isn't enough. You don't necessarily have to tin the two surfaces first but sometimes it is easier.

To recap: A failed solder job may due to:
dirty surfaces (oil or oxides). Oxides are quickly produced if there is not enough flux to isolate the the surface from the oxygen in the air.

Not getting the surfaces hot enough. The key is to get the surfaces hot enough to melt the solder and not the soldering iron to melt the solder. With some experience you can heat the surface and use the iron to help melt solder but care must be taken to not have the surface cooler than solder. Same as in plumbing although they use different solder and fluxes.


- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

I agree with all of the above and add use the largest iron you can find to apply lots of heat quickly,I have a large copper iron which you heat with a flame when I have tried this.Good luck,Steve..

Yeah I agree with all of the above, especially the importance of using a soldering iron that's man enough for the job, no point in buggerising about with a pissy little soldering iron meant for electronics or hobby work!

"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"

80'Triumph TR7, 73'Land Rover (Ford 351. V8),
'89 Ford Fairlane
'98 MG-F, 69'Ford F250.

Not hot enough might have been the problem. The other points refered to had been taken care of. Tomorrow another try. Btw, this forum is good for my active use of the english language ; )

[img][img]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8583/15315664624_55108f8131_z.jpg[/img]2014-12-01 21.00.28 by Dukmans, on Flickr[/img]

Soldering did not work. This fork trick should keep it together too.

Don't know why if won't work if following all the steps above. Not sure what you've done here but it seems pretty bodgey. Not something you want to do with electrics in general and alternator in particular. If it were me, I would take it to some one who has experience in soldering and watch the steps he goes through to do it. I have soldered all my life and can't recall a job I haven't been able to do including a TR7 alternator. Most of it fiddly electronic stuff but as mentioned above the bigger stuff needs a bigger iron as you need the heat but you also need it to be clean. It won't be able to be soldered if there is oil on it. You need a solvent that doesn't leave behind a film, laqueur thinner (toluene) works well.

If there is oxide on the soldering surface it must be cleaned off.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

What is that Fork connected to...if it's not insulated it will cause problems.

There are usually 2 things that prevent solder from taking...dirty parts and insufficient heat.

TR7 Convertible
Sprint Motor
MegaSquirt EFI

Thanks for the replies. I do understand your hesitation about my solution. The copper is now clamped instead of soldered. For thinner copper wires it is a normal solution, so why not for this size when it is clamped solidly? I do wonder about the insolation, but when soldered it is not insolated either. My first car was Russian, a Lada Niva. Russian cars thrive on paperclips, ducktape and superglue [:)]

An update on this slowly developing story:the clamping of the wire was undone within a few attempts of starting. So I asked around and found an old mechanic who makes a living in repairing startermotors. He did the soldering for free.