What is Tinning?

Key Takeaways:

• Wire tinning helps create stronger strands and better contact points when connecting your wires to the correct terminals in your light fixture.
• Before learning how to tin a wire, make sure you have a soldering iron, solder, wire strippers, and the wire you’re planning on tinning.
• After heating up your iron to the appropriate temperature, touch the tip of your wire to the iron, followed by the solder. The solder should melt and coat your wires fully.
• Checking your wires after the job is done ensures the solder is applied correctly, so that none of it flakes or slides off.

Learn About Wire Tinning

“What is tinning?” you ask. The main point of tinning stranded wires is to create a stronger contact point when connecting wires to the correct terminals. When you use a soldering iron to add rosin-core solder to the wire strands, the solder fills in the voids between the wire strands and causes the loose, fine wires to become one solid wire. This solid wire can be bent and manipulated more easily as you place it under the terminal screws.

At Color Cord Company, we encourage a DIY approach to installing your newly purchased light fixtures. Whether you’re putting together pendant lights or chandeliers, if you want to learn more about wire tinning for screw terminals, check out this guide from Color Cord Company today!

Table of Contents

1. Wire Tinning Supplies & Essentials
2. Setup & Getting Started
3. Application & Soldering
4. Checking Your Wire

1. Tinning Essentials

While you can learn how to tin a wire on your own, you do need some special tools to get the job done. Before we can answer your questions about wire tinning, you must have these items on hand:

• Wire Strippers
• Solder
• Color Cord 3000
• Soldering Iron
• Your Color Lamp Cord

If you’re missing any of these tools, we recommend you explore our light fixture essentials before getting started.

2. Getting Started

Now that you know what wire tinning is, you probably have plenty of areas where it can be used. But before you even turn on your soldering iron, you want to ensure that your work is as comfortable as possible. If you plan to tin wires for screw terminals, you should have the right setup to make the job quick and easy.

At Color Cord Company, our experts prefer to set the soldering iron in a static position, moving the wires and solder to touch the heated tip. A stable iron is safer for you and your workspace than trying to manipulate the iron while also holding the solder and the wires. After all, you don’t have three hands!

Many soldering irons come with a stand, but you can also buy one separately to hold the iron as steady as possible.

3. Application & Soldering

You’ve got all your tools, your iron is set up and hot, and you’re holding wires in one hand and solder in the other. Time to get tinning!

To learn how to tin a wire, apply the wire to the tip of your iron for a second or two before placing the solder on top of the wire.

Applying the exposed wiring and solder in this order heats up the wires and solder in a way that ensures they bond together better. The solder should melt and flow freely into the exposed strands of your wire in just a few seconds.

And, there it is! You’ve answered the question, “What does tinning mean?” without even breaking a sweat!

4. Checking Your Wire

Even though this seems like a super simple process, you still want to check your wires to ensure you did the job right. Take a look at your wires and make sure they’re fully coated and the solder is adhering completely. You don’t want that solder flaking or sliding off! Once your wires look like ours, you’ll see how easy it is to connect your wires to the appropriate terminals.

Wire Tinning FAQ

Why should you tin wires?

Wire tinning can be beneficial for a number of reasons, including:

• Prevent Fraying: The loose strands of your braided wire will be less likely to separate or break off. With minimal fraying, you can also prevent accidental short circuits.

• Protect Against Corrosion: Wire tinning provides a barrier between the metal and environmental hazards. Oxidation, moisture, and other environmental factors are now less likely to affect your light fixture.

• Improved Connection: When you tin the wires, you’re pre-coating them, making the final bond between all the pieces more stable.

• Firmer Wires: After tinning, your wires will be a bit thicker and sturdier. The new firmness makes it easier to manipulate the wires into place.

What are some common tinning mistakes?

If you’re just learning how to tin a wire, there are a few common mistakes you should try to avoid, including:

• Cold Joints: If your solder isn’t hot enough, it may end up just sitting at the tip of the braided wire instead of fully coating the strands. Running the iron gently over the solder can help it melt through the braids and create a more secure connection.

• Too Much Solder: If you add too much material as you’re soldering, you may end up with a wire that’s super thick and difficult to move. Thicker wires are also harder to fit through holes or wrap around contact points. Use the soldering iron to melt the extra solder and wipe the excess from the iron onto a cloth or wet sponge.

• Melting Insulation: Touching the iron to the wires for too long can cause the insulation around them to pull back or melt. The result is too much exposed wire, which can make completing your wiring work more difficult. You could use heat shrink to cover the extra wire, but you’ll more than likely need to start over by trimming the exposed wire shorter. 

Do you need flux for wire tinning?

Rosin-cored solder typically has enough flux to streamline the tinning process. However, if you’re working with heavily oxidized wire, you may want to use some extra “no-clean” flux to speed up your work.

More Advice from Color Cord Company

We’re here to help everyone get the perfect lighting for their home. With our DIY tutorials and advice for how to wire sockets, you’ll find yourself installing wall sconces and plug-ins in no time! Explore our blog today for more videos on wire tinning, fixture installation, and decor inspiration!