ericj
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2005
- Posts
- 8,270
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- 170
I'm used to soldering onto the shiny metal tabs on the SFI style drivers, which have never been a problem, and which are much shorter, so I'm not entirely sure what to suggest.
You say you're not so good at soldering. I'd rate myself Not Bad (but if you saw the grizzly work i did on a car stereo wiring harness recently you might disagree).
You are right to worry about overheating the tabs, but it's not difficult to solder something like this without overheating it. Understand that i say that as someone who has destroyed AKG drivers by overheating their solder posts. I got better at it. Thankfully, they were mediocre AKG drivers.
The truth is, I think this driver is less voulnerable than most dynamic drivers in that regard. On a dynamic driver, you often face a metal tab that has a faint wisp of impossibly thin voicecoil wire looped once around it and tacked down with solder.
On the driver style we see in the ATH-1, ATH-2, Realistic Pro 30, and various others that resemble an SFI tweeter, that tab is actually part of a metal ring that rests against the outer radius of the driver membrane. You are unlikely to overheat the ring enough to damage the driver. Unless you really work at it.
I've never used cardas solder, but if i remember correctly, I believe i've heard people complain about how hard it is to get a good joint with it. If this is the case, i suggest that you practice your soldering technique first.
What i would probably prefer for myself in that situation is a eutetic solder with a full helping of lead. But i know that not everybody agrees with me.
General advice for soldering to any headphone driver:
Mask any exposed driver faces with at least some paper tape, preferrably with a piece of card stock. I know these drivers have fabric front and back, but you don't want to damage that fabric either. Take extra care to assure that the area directly around the tab you are soldering to is completely masked.
USE FLUX. Even if you have rosin-core solder. Use a good flux. A mildly-activated ("RMA") flux if possible. I like Kester 186, which i purchase in a flux pen - which is basically a felt tip pen that lays down a thin layer of flux. Apply flux to both peices you are soldering. It is common and usual for the flux to spit a bit when heated - this is one reason to mask drivers carefully.
I usually tin both pieces, allow both to cool, and then solder them together (allowing the existing solder to reflow). Some people hold a belief that reflowing is bad - in that case, use a clamp of some sort to hold it together. I recommend hemostats - aka mosquito foreceps. A surgical tool used to clamp blood vessels. Think of them as narrow needle-nose pliers which lock together, and which are made of spring steel so that you can lock them onto things as large as to-92 transistors. You can get them at any medical supply store or any establishment that caters to fishermen who tie their own lures. Also ebay - where they are CHEAP. Hospitals go through them by the hundreds, and eventually their teeth start to corrode - at which point, they give them one more run through the autoclave and either throw them away or sell them onto the surplus market -- at which point, they are no more corroded than any other pair of pliers you own. Just not fit for any more surgery.
The final point - this is more about soldering in general:
HEAT IS NOT THE ENEMY. Time is the enemy. You want a soldering iron that is hot enough to melt the solder and heat the metal to a temperature where the molten solder can wet it, and this takes longer with a cooler soldering iron, and that time allows heat to radiate around and burn things up. I use a 700f conical tip iron for 99% of my soldering work. I use an 800f wedge tip for large connectors and desoldering. I occasionally use a 600f tapered tip for SMT work. ROHS or otherwise lead-free or exotic solders may require MORE heat than regular old tin/lead eutetic.
Use a hot enough iron - get in, get it done, get out before you destroy anything.
You say you're not so good at soldering. I'd rate myself Not Bad (but if you saw the grizzly work i did on a car stereo wiring harness recently you might disagree).
You are right to worry about overheating the tabs, but it's not difficult to solder something like this without overheating it. Understand that i say that as someone who has destroyed AKG drivers by overheating their solder posts. I got better at it. Thankfully, they were mediocre AKG drivers.
The truth is, I think this driver is less voulnerable than most dynamic drivers in that regard. On a dynamic driver, you often face a metal tab that has a faint wisp of impossibly thin voicecoil wire looped once around it and tacked down with solder.
On the driver style we see in the ATH-1, ATH-2, Realistic Pro 30, and various others that resemble an SFI tweeter, that tab is actually part of a metal ring that rests against the outer radius of the driver membrane. You are unlikely to overheat the ring enough to damage the driver. Unless you really work at it.
I've never used cardas solder, but if i remember correctly, I believe i've heard people complain about how hard it is to get a good joint with it. If this is the case, i suggest that you practice your soldering technique first.
What i would probably prefer for myself in that situation is a eutetic solder with a full helping of lead. But i know that not everybody agrees with me.
General advice for soldering to any headphone driver:
Mask any exposed driver faces with at least some paper tape, preferrably with a piece of card stock. I know these drivers have fabric front and back, but you don't want to damage that fabric either. Take extra care to assure that the area directly around the tab you are soldering to is completely masked.
USE FLUX. Even if you have rosin-core solder. Use a good flux. A mildly-activated ("RMA") flux if possible. I like Kester 186, which i purchase in a flux pen - which is basically a felt tip pen that lays down a thin layer of flux. Apply flux to both peices you are soldering. It is common and usual for the flux to spit a bit when heated - this is one reason to mask drivers carefully.
I usually tin both pieces, allow both to cool, and then solder them together (allowing the existing solder to reflow). Some people hold a belief that reflowing is bad - in that case, use a clamp of some sort to hold it together. I recommend hemostats - aka mosquito foreceps. A surgical tool used to clamp blood vessels. Think of them as narrow needle-nose pliers which lock together, and which are made of spring steel so that you can lock them onto things as large as to-92 transistors. You can get them at any medical supply store or any establishment that caters to fishermen who tie their own lures. Also ebay - where they are CHEAP. Hospitals go through them by the hundreds, and eventually their teeth start to corrode - at which point, they give them one more run through the autoclave and either throw them away or sell them onto the surplus market -- at which point, they are no more corroded than any other pair of pliers you own. Just not fit for any more surgery.
The final point - this is more about soldering in general:
HEAT IS NOT THE ENEMY. Time is the enemy. You want a soldering iron that is hot enough to melt the solder and heat the metal to a temperature where the molten solder can wet it, and this takes longer with a cooler soldering iron, and that time allows heat to radiate around and burn things up. I use a 700f conical tip iron for 99% of my soldering work. I use an 800f wedge tip for large connectors and desoldering. I occasionally use a 600f tapered tip for SMT work. ROHS or otherwise lead-free or exotic solders may require MORE heat than regular old tin/lead eutetic.
Use a hot enough iron - get in, get it done, get out before you destroy anything.
