Electrical question, solder on wire for 220v 30 amp

[Ben Rafael]

I have some 10/3 stranded wire that I want to use. The strands are a bit annoying to work with. Is there a danger in tinnning the bare ends that I am going to put in to a plug or receptacle?

[Chris Padilla]

Ben,

If you use back-wired (not back-stabbed) receptacles, the #10 strand connects to them pretty easily. You'll pay a little more for these but the connection is very secure.

I dunno, I did my whole garage rewiring in #10 stranded and I didn't think it was all that bad to work with...certainly better than #10 solid (and I had a little bit of that to deal with)!

The general consensus on solder as I've gathered is that it isn't a very good idea due to the fact that it could be possibe for the area that was soldered to get hot enough for the solder to melt and flow...somewhere...somewhere possibly bad.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I solder wires frequently for a variety of reasons.
Some are
1.) I don't trust the wire nut to hold all those ground wires and don't have a crimp

2.) I prefer the permanent connection (for whatever reason)

3.) I want the a multi strand wire to join together and be stiffer.

4.) It comports with my arbitrary notion of how I want things on that particular day.

I don't think you have any down side at all.

[Rob Russell]

I solder wires frequently for a variety of reasons.
Some are
1.) I don't trust the wire nut to hold all those ground wires and don't have a crimp

2.) I prefer the permanent connection (for whatever reason)

3.) I want the a multi strand wire to join together and be stiffer.

4.) It comports with my arbitrary notion of how I want things on that particular day.

I don't think you have any down side at all.

Cliff,

Solder is not meant to be any part of the mechanical connection joining conductors - it's purely an electrical connection.

If you're using the solder because the connection needs it to help hold the connectors together, then the connection isn't properly formed.

Rob

[Ben Rafael]

My only reason to tin the wires is to keep the strands together, the strands coming apart is giving me a bit of a problem.

[Chris Padilla]

Solder is not meant to be any part of the mechanical connection joining conductors - it's purely an electrical connection.

Perhaps this is true in the electrician's world but it is very much a mechanical holder in the PCB (printed circuit board) world! :)

[Eric Gustafson]

In the electronics industry, we tin the wires that go under a screw connection to keep the wire from "birdcaging." However, I have not done this on a wire nut, but doubt any harm could come of it. The wire goes from stranded to solid after tinnintg and solid wire is used in wire nuts, too.

As far as reflowing the solder from heat of the connection, that should not happen unless something else has gone bad.