Soldering Throttle Cables

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I run stainless cables on my bikes. As has been mentioned, stainless steel requires a special flux for soldering. I use Harris "Stay Clean" flux on my cables. It is acid-based which is necessary to remove the natural oxide from the surface of the stainless material allowing the solder to flow.

This is an Amazon link for Stay-Clean. (Not suggesting it be purchased here):

Amazon product ASIN B0015DWPV8

Regards,
Russ
 
dobba99 said:
Say 'What is Gas?' to anyone outside the USA and they will say it is what their central heating boiler or cooker burns. Ask the same people what their car runs on the answer will be petrol or diesel or electricity or LPG or maybe gasoline
Click to expand...
So, the US started producing and discarding gasoline in 1859 as a waste product of kerosene production. In 1892 the US started using gasoline in automobiles although gasoline engines and "automobiles" were being worked on other countries such as Germany, Belgium and a couple of other countries.

In 1896 a couple of British guys coined the term petrol to mean gasoline. Yes, "gas" is both slang and not in the US. For instance, my house is heated by natual gas. In the 60s it was a gas to go to the drive-in movies. And today, most people put gas in their cars. The DC metro busses run on CNG (Clean Natural Gas). I often pass gas.

"The term petrol was not used until 1896 when it was patented by Messrs Carless, Capel & Leonard of Hackney Wick." What a gas when you are allowed a patent on something you had nothing to do with :)
 
dobba99 said:
Nowhere on the Venhill website do they mention silver solder. perusing the FAQ page on Venhills site says that they recommend electrical or plumbers solder for the galvanised wire they supply or Tinman grade C solder for the stainless wire.
To call lead free soft solder 'silver solder' because it has a few percent (less than 5%) silver content is grossly miss leading. The silver solder i was talking about is the high silver content stuff (50% and upwards) sold by Johnsen and Mattey. Its a bit like calling petrol 'gas'
Say 'What is Gas?' to anyone outside the USA and they will say it is what their central heating boiler or cooker burns. Ask the same people what their car runs on the answer will be petrol or diesel or electricity or LPG or maybe gasoline
Click to expand...
Right here, under " Please Note"
Soldering Throttle Cables
 
"To call lead free soft solder 'silver solder' because it has a few percent (less than 5%) silver content is grossly miss leading"

:) :) :)

Damn and blast those upstart colonies. :)

We had best get the old gunboats out and whip them back into shape. Captain Boris at the helm.

Sorry I couldn't resist. :)
 
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Since the OP is an Ozzie he can whip down to Bunnings and get all the silver solder he wants. ( That is solder containing silver ;-) )
 
I have used Flanders cables, solder, and tinning solution very successfully for almost 30 years. The solder pot is very cheap on ebay. Never had a nipple pull off though I am very careful to heat the nipple and wire up to solder melt temp. Is there an advantage of stainless wire over regular wire?
 
seattle##gs said:
I have used Flanders cables, solder, and tinning solution very successfully for almost 30 years. The solder pot is very cheap on ebay. Never had a nipple pull off though I am very careful to heat the nipple and wire up to solder melt temp. Is there an advantage of stainless wire over regular wire?
Click to expand...
I wasn't really advocating or recommending stainless wire over anything else just stating I use what is called silver solder in NZ (and many other places) when I need to make stainless wired cables.
 
seattle##gs said:
I have used Flanders cables, solder, and tinning solution very successfully for almost 30 years. The solder pot is very cheap on ebay. Never had a nipple pull off though I am very careful to heat the nipple and wire up to solder melt temp. Is there an advantage of stainless wire over regular wire?
Click to expand...
Yes.
It is very slippery when running inside of Teflon cable. Moreso than galvanized.
Also seems to last forever whereas the galvanized cables often eventually fray at the lever end.
I put a full set of stainless Featherlight cables on the bike I ride the most about ten years and forty thousand miles ago.
They look and work as new.
Never need lubricating.
Best is to get the ready made cables directly from Venhills.
Fortunately they have everything as stock items for the Commando. The owner must have a Commando.

Glen
 
Can't much help , I use off the shelf Venhill cables for my preferred U.K. bars. Never a break..
 
Will someone volunteer to call Venhill on Monday to clarify ?

Would be best if someone did so they don’t get 10 calls on the same topic !

I note they say “a special silver solder” and I’m guessing that whatever that means, it does not mean the stuff that has a 600c plus melting point…
 
FWIW…

I use this flux for general soldering, it’s self cleaning and very good. Being self cleaning, it must be thoroughly washed off afterwards:
www.monsterplumb.co.uk

Everflux 250ml

SOLDERING FLUX 250ml WISEMAN EVERFLUX 1 QUANTITY
www.monsterplumb.co.uk www.monsterplumb.co.uk

I use this stuff for stainless steel:
www.directindustry.com

157 - Brazing flux by Castolin Eutectic | DirectIndustry

LIQUID FLUX FOR SOFT SOLDERING. ESPECIALLY SUITED FOR STAINLESS STEELS. 157 is a corrosive solder flux for many applications on stainless steel or for joining dissimilar metals. 157 flux is an efficient deoxidiser, and helps the filler alloy to spread evenly in the joint, rendering it tight and ...
www.directindustry.com www.directindustry.com

As mentioned already, I use lead free plumbing solder for cables.

Good success thus far.

I used to make a lot of cables when racing as nothing off the shelf was ever quite ‘right’.
 
Venhills lists an off the shelf Featherlight clutch cable for the Commando at 17 GBP.
When I first fitted one of these to the Commando I measured the pull with a spring gauge.
The dry Featherlight reduced pull at the lever by 30% vs a freshly oiled standard cable.
At 17 GBP complete for a high quality lifetime cable, I'll let them do the soldering, silver or otherwise!
Glen
 
worntorn said:
Venhills lists an off the shelf Featherlight clutch cable for the Commando at 17 GBP.
When I first fitted one of these to the Commando I measured the pull with a spring gauge.
The dry Featherlight reduced pull at the lever by 30% vs a freshly oiled standard cable.
At 17 GBP complete for a high quality lifetime cable, I'll let them do the soldering, silver or otherwise!
Glen
Click to expand...

I used a ‘normal’ Venhill clutch cable on my T160 years ago, it failed, and I replaced it with a genuine NOS Triumph cable. I properly lubricated it with a hydraulic cable oiler. It was dreadful! A really heavy pull.

I replaced it with a Venhill Featherlight and was amazed at the difference.
 
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