On Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:56:15 +0000, Ian Malcolm
wrote:

:Ross Herbert wrote:
: On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:38:41 -0600, "JDandy" wrote:
:
: :One of the easiest ways to solve splayed stranded wire it to lightly tin
: :the wire with solder, in effect turning the stranded wires into s solid,
: :more easily controlled single conductor. Hope this helps.
:
: That technique will do at a pinch but it is frowned upon by anyone who knows
: anything about conductors and cables.
:
: The problem with tinning the stranded ends of a flexible conductor to make it
: easier to fit into one of these speaker terminal clips is that the solder
runs
: back to a point where a rigid flexing point is created. Any prolonged
movement
: or flexing of the conductor near that point will cause it to fracture at the
: point where the solder has run back to (the solid to flexible interface
point).
: I have seen this happen more often than I care to remember.
:Which is why you only tin the very tip. The soldered portion lets you
:get the wire in, but the clip actually bites on the untinned flexible
:stranded part of the wire end so the fatigue issue you so clearly
:describe never becomes a problem.

I see what you are getting at, and yes, I agree that just soldering the tips
will be a good solution. However, most inexperienced "solderers" don't tend to
be all that circumspect when applying solder in a judicious manner - it just
runs so fast.

:
:The OTHER problem with fully tinned ends is with screw terminals. The
:solder tends to cold flow under pressure and this loosens the wire under
:the clamping screw sooner or later leading to a bad contact.


Entirely agree.