Soldering instead of crimping

pcmentor29 wrote:
I soldered some wires in my Toyota MH engine compartment. One joint had six wires 14 or 16 gauge. My 40 watt iron wasn't working so I used my 260/200 watt gun. I still could not get the wires tinned completely it seemed. I tin them then solder two at a time then heat and stick the pairs together. Can someone tell me if I need a higher wattage iron or another solution to solder wires that have old maybe weathered ends. On fresh copper wires the heat flows great. Is there a technique to get old copper wire to tin properly or is this the best I can do? Thanks

First of all, on old wire, its best to scrape the wire to remove any corrosion or oxidation. Then use a flux-cored solder (not acid core) for best results.
Now, a trick - for soldering wires that are really difficult to solder, and for soldering STAINLESS (such as caps on rechargeable batteries, etc) with regular lead-tin solder - flux the metal first with a tiny dab of phosphoric acid, then use regular solder. Its the only sure-fire way to solder stainless steel. But be aware that the acid will do a job on your soldering iron tip over time.