Pet @ www.gymratz.co.uk wrote:
wrote:

Clearly impractical in many cases. Soldering is good, but proper
mechanical support of the joint is essential, as solder is very
weak.
The effective way to give this support is to twist the 2 copper
wires
together for many turns. The far ends will not move relative to
each
other. But insulation?

I hesitated about soldering as I vaguely remember when I had tried
soldering some solid core mains cable (for a non-mains project) the
core
insulation was quickly damaged certainly beyond usability for mains
voltage applications. perhaps a higher lower melting solder might
have
helped to a .... degree (or 2)


That would help.

Maybe the insulation just isn't designed to allow the core to be
soldered.

Also (contrary to some peoples expectations) you need to use a higher
powered soldering iron and the largest bit that is suitable for the
job. That way you can get the heat in make the joint and get out again
before the insulation is damaged.

MBQ