Heater Wire Help

guitar007 · Post by **guitar007** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:59 pm

Compared to some of you guys

monsterwalley · Post by **monsterwalley** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:23 pm

someone posted somwhere a while back about using a cordless drill.
I tried it on my first build and it worked pretty good. On my second build
I just took my time and it still turned out pretty good. I used zip ties and tape to hold things in place until I soldered everything. I'm sure there are slicker ways though......

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:45 pm

billy batz uses heat shrink to keep the twists in place tight during the soldering process .....you'll see it in the 45/100 thread ...it makes all things easier i think

shakti · Post by **shakti** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:10 am

Solid core wire helps to make the heaters a little easier to get tight and neat. That way, once you twist or fold them, they stay more or less put.

Other than that, I think patience is the key word. I hate doing heaters, I spend a looot of time on those.

Joe Popp · Post by **Joe Popp** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:14 pm

PTFE Wire (Teflon coated silver plated stranded) holds it's shape well too. Just tape 2 ends together and pu them in a cordless drill. Twist them but not too tight. Cut into sections and unwind a few inches for your solder connections.

Here's a great link from Brownnote:

http://www.brown-note.com/heaters/

NitroLiq · Post by **NitroLiq** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:41 pm

+1 on the drill method, and if working with teflon, a little temporary masking tape to hold things in place while making the hookups to the socket pins helps as well.

Wicksy · Post by **Wicksy** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:19 pm

The best way i found when i was doing my 18 watter was to use the nice tinned copper wire that came with George's wiring kit. I twist it up by hand. Nice and tight then solder up to the relevant pins. It just takes patience and some good wire and you can get great results.

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:55 pm

+ 1 on Simon's method. I do it by hand and that works great. If you use a drill you have to untwist some wire. The untwisted parts will look crooked. I use aligator clamps to hold the wire in place, or a pair of pliers, actually anything that works, also tape. It just takes a lot of patience to get the wiring neat. Patience is probably the key ingredient!

OnTheFritz · Post by **OnTheFritz** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:00 pm

Rootz wrote:+ 1 on Somon's method. I do it by hand and that works great. If you use a drill you have to untwist some wire. The untwisted parts will look crooked. I use aligator clamps to hold the wire in place, or a pair of pliers, actually anything that works, also tape. It just takes a lot of patience to get the wiring neat. Patience is probably the key ingredient!

+2!!
I can't use a drill for the reason you just mentioned. Fingers all the way! lol
That pre-tinned wire Simon mentioned is great for the heaters.

guitar007 · Post by **guitar007** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:33 am

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'm going to redo my heaters...and try out both methods to see what works best for me. I must admit I did rush through it the first time. I'll use much more patience this time around.

Thanks for the link, Joe.