When the Wire Breaks...

[fieldwrangler]

(poly insulated, that is) - how do we think a reliable splice should be made?

[big_teee]

I make a Pigtailed splice.
I twist the two wires together, several twists.
I put the end of the wires in my aligator clip vise, and solder the twisted pigtail.
being careful not to get the main wires being spliced to hot.
I cut most of the pigtail off, and spray with lacquer, let dry, and wind away!
It works great, and I've done it more times than I would like to admit!
Good Luck,
T

[copperheadroads]

I only do a splice in R n D stuff
tie a knot ,tying the 2 ends together ,Solder the knot(make it quick any longer than 2 seconds n the wire will burn off) ,trim the ends n tape over the splice n continue winding

[David Schwab]

Here's a better and safer way to do a splice.

Take some thin insulated wire, like you would use for your hookup wire from humbucker coils. Strip off about 1/4" of insulation, and tin the wire. This is going to be our "carrier."

Now take both ends of your magnet wire that you want to splice together, and wrap them around this tinned wire about a dozen times. Solder the magnet wires just like you are going to solder them to a hookup wire. I don't sand or string the insulation on my magnet wire. For SPN, all you need to do is heat it up enough. If you are using non solderable wire, strip the insulation before you wrap it around the carrier.

Now test that connection with your meter from the splice to the start wire, and you should get a reading. Now cut off the excess insulated wire leaving just the part you soldered, and fold some masking tape over that splice.

Lay it flat on the coil and continue winding over it.

It works every time and is reliable, because it's the same as your final connection to your hookup wire. And it's easier to solder because of the carrier than trying to solder two pieces of magnet wire together.

[CRU JONES]

All good advice.

Consider that the wire might be stretched before the break and after. I use a good pair of fiskars to cut all the wire off. The pickup winding gig is a crowded one. Competition is fierce. There are two other winders in a ten mile radius of me. You have to run as tight a ship as possible! But, I agree with Copper; no sense in wasting research and development if you are just gathering data.

Ethan

P.S. I live in Layton, UT. Greetings! If either of the the other two winders read this