soldering to nichrome wire

I am trying to solder copper wire (tinned) to nichrome ribbon (more like wire, but wider), which I took from an old toaster. The nichrome ribbon doesn't seem to like the solder. Is there a trick to this? Or should I be doing something to the nichrome before I try to solder it? On the toaster I dismantled, I noticed it was soldered to some thick copper conductors, so I didn't think it would be a problem. I even crimped the ends of both, hooked them together, and soldered them. After a time I picked up the connection and it fell apart. Any advice or help is appreciated.

TIA, Joe

Silver solder it. you'll need a mini torch or a very hot iron!

You can't. Crimped or bolted connections are the way to go.

John, Jamie, Homer,

Thank you all for the ideas. I should have realized that nichrome gets hot when current runs thru it and would probly melt the solder anyway.

Well, I have several ideas now, so I can proceed. Thank you all very much for the suggestions.

Joe

I read that you can solder nichrome by using hydrochloric acid as a flux. Never tried it myself though. Be sure to wear goggles, if you want to try.

Never seen it used. Spot welding, crimping or bolting are the only methods I have ever seen. I assume the OP can't use spot welding.

hooked

Nichrome, steel, piano wire, plated washers, bowden cabling etc, (i.e just about anything except Aluminium) is easy to solder using an 'active' flux. In UK it's bought as 'Bakers fluid' or 'killed spirits'.Basically Hydrochloric acid that has spent itself while corroding zinc. Cheap and effective but acidic, so needs a good washing off after use. john

In the states it's just called Zinc-Chloride. Usually sold in a paste form.

Is that the same stuff in sunscreen? And/or Desenex? ;-)

Thanks! Rich

Right you are, I never spot welded anything. And Hydrochloric acid (sold around here as muriatic acid 30% solution) I wouldn't take a chance with. I don't like playing with acids or stuff that is tooo dangerous (at least IMHO). I am just using alligator clips. Cheap, easy, safe, simple.

I've used acid flux but you really need to clean carefully after using it. I wouldn't use HCL.

Joe wrote: (snip)

Go to the plumbing section of your local hardware store or Home Depot and look for plumbers flux (essentially Vaseline and zinc chloride). A little solvent like paint thinner or naptha is handy to remove the greasy residue after soldering. This will make most soft solders stick to lots of metals.

But I use a fluoride based slurry flux for silver soldering. Much more aggressive at cleaning stainless steel (which is basically what nichrome is).

Multicore has a couple of types of solder wire with aggressive fluxes, also available through Farnell. Their "Arax acid" is claimed to be suitable for brass, bronze, iron, spring steel and resistance wire. They also have an "AluSol" product for aluminium, but they say it solders virtually all metals, including stainless steel.

Make sure you clean the flux residue really well.

Every heard of Ruby Fluid? I know a guy who uses that for soldering badges on antique Harley gas tanks.

Nope.

John Popelish wrote in part:

I have tried all kinds of things and gotten nichrome really clean, and usually 60/40 solder will still not wet it. But I have a trick that does work: Wet the metal with braze (get a torch and a brazing rod). You can grind or file down any blobs in the braze if you end up with an any.

- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)

"RUBY FLUID SOLDERING FLUX - ZINC CHLORIDE SOLUTION

"Easy to use zinc chloride solution flux for any soldering job; plumbing, electronics, brazing, etc. Absolutely necessary when soldering nichrome wire - paste flux won't do the job!"

Disclaimer -- I've never used this stuff.

Very corrosive, and hard to remove from the joint when you are finished. It was used to solder copper gutters and pipe together.