Why Didn't I think of That?

Well, now you don't have to think of that.

It's raining and I'm waiting for some epoxy to kick so I thought it a good time to share.

Have you ever wanted to solder some wires for a good connection but found when you stripped one that the copper was not bright? Tarnished copper simply will not take solder. This is especially evident on boat trailer wiring that can 'corrode' back a yard or more inside the insulation.

 You can scrape it with a knife or run sandpaper over it, but odds are you'll still strike out with the solder.

But there is a solution...a wire brush on a drill or Dremmel will do the job in a hurry...I just use a battery tool.

Roll the wire as you try try make it longer with the rotation of the wire brush. You'll end up with shiny copper that will suck up solder like...well, never mind.

And speaking of solder...heat shrink tubing makes very clean insulation for small wires that are soldered together. Twist the bare wires together, lay them back against one of the feeds and give them a tidy drop of solder. Slide the heat shrink over the joint and give it a shot of heat from a heat gun or your wife's hair dryer and you've got a clean connection.

It's not so easy with larger wires though. In order to get a good mechanical twist, the exposed wire is long and laying it back against one of the feeds gives one a a knot that heat shrink cannot accommodate. So we rely on our trusty magnifying glass alligator clip gizmo to hold the wires while we solder them.

The trouble is, that the minute we get the soldering gun next to the splice, the wires come apart and we're trying to hold the gun, solder and wire placement with only two hands. You could strip the wires back more for a sound mechanical twist, but that would lead to a long bulky splice.

Here's the solution:

Make yourself some long pieces of fine stranded wire.

Take one strand and wrap the would-be splice.

Solder away with no fear of the wires separating.

And now we can slide the heat shrink over the joint for a very nice clean splice.

And, for those very small wires that you want to but splice, make yourself a cradle and use a couple small clamps.