[TowerTalk] Joining two perpendicular wires

[Lux, Jim]

On 7/13/21 4:52 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> Like many posts, this went off on a tangent. If it was for connecting two
> parallel wires, I would have suggested the western-union splice. I use this
> splice all the time on dipoles and Beverages. I use regular lead solder
> without issue but perhaps they are not up long enough to see lead
> degradation. Interesting post on using plumbing solder, that should be
> easier to use on the tower than silver solder.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
> David Gilbert ab7e wrote:
>
> I don't understand these suggestions.   Steve asked about perpendicular
> connections, not inline, and using split bolts means that one or both of
> the soft copper wires is going to be under buffeting tension while
> making a bend around a sharp edge.  That seems like a recipe for a failure.
>
> The rope and tail connection idea proposed by others makes far more
> sense to me.  Run a rope from the tower to an egg insulator near the
> ring.  Loop the radial wire through the egg insulator with enough of a
> tail to solder to the ring.  The ring wire can (and probably should) run
> through one of the holes in the egg insulator as well.
>
> And by the way, silver solder ... like plumbing solder ... should hold
> up for ages.  It's tin-lead solder that degrades in weather.


Plumbing solder is still soft solder, used to be 50/50 lead/tin but is 
now Tin, Copper, Nickel, and Silver (and other stuff with low melting 
points like indium), but is still not hard solder, and is not structural.

brazing and hard soldering uses higher melting alloys (high silver 
content, copper) and is significantly stronger, and much less likely to 
become brittle than the tin based alloys used for soft soldering.


I don't know that solder degrades from weather, per se (i.e. it doesn't 
oxidize or chemically change from exposure to air and water) However, it 
work hardens easily, so mechanical loading or temperature cycling (which 
creates mechanical loading in some cases) can make it brittle. Soft 
solder also has creep and deformation under constant load.  Tin/lead 
solders can form two kinds of crystals, so cracks can develop between 
the crystals, which combined with temperature cycling, can cause 
degradation.