[armenk]

What's the best way to solder wires to various places such as pot leads, etc. Seems like you need 3 hands to do it right! Maybe one of those helping hands devices could be of assistance?

 

[dokebi]

Tin the tips of both the wire and pot etc with some solder, then attach them. It should bond with almost no trouble.

 

[wallijonn]

in the old days, you first make a nice, tight, mechanical connection. you wrap the wire lead around the post, crimp it down nice and tight. then you'd add a little rosin to make the solder flow. heat the connection until the rosin bubbled, remove iron tip, put solder on until it melts. remove rosin flux with alcohol.

http://www.circuittechctr.com/guides/7-1-1.htm
http://www.circuittechctr.com/training/0250030.htm
http://www.metcal.com/tips/sldrbasc.html
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm
http://www.mechatronics.me.vt.edu/VT...soldering.html
http://www.irational.org/sic/radio/solder.html
http://et.nmsu.edu/~etti/spring97/el...er/solder.html
http://www.tpub.com/neets/book4/12i.htm

 

[nanahachi]

thanks for the links wally....
i just bought a soldering iron with digital temp control...now i can learn how to use the damn thing

 

[puppyslugg]

Quote:

Originally posted by nanahachi i just bought a soldering iron with digital temp control...now i can learn how to use the damn thing

Oh, oh....

 

[da_burl]

You should try to do what wallijohn says with the mechanical connection if you can, but the first way is also very good. I think the dokebi might have left out one important part:

Assuming your part or terminal is mounted or otherwise stable

Tin the wire by holding the tinned soldering iron tip to it and lightly applying solder so it coats the outside and runs into the wire if its stranded. Then cut off some of the tip to make to make it look neat again.

Tin the part or terminal the same way, but I generally put little more solder on the "part".

Heat up the "part" so the solder is liquid, place the wire on the part, leaving the soldering iron there momentarily, you will actually see the solder on the wire sort of flow into the solder on the part.

Now remove the soldering iron, being very careful not to move the wire anymore until you see the solder solidify. Eutectic <sp> solder helps here, it goes right from liquid to solid without getting "mushy" first.

This part is where some mechanical hands or helpers help, or I at least try to rest my hand with the pliers holding the wire on the table or something, so it will not move or shake (like when trying to do this before my morning vodka

)

I guarantee if done right the part or the wire will break before the solder connection comes loose, especially with the size of the parts we generally use in headphone amps.

I once worked at this place where they had used big molex connectors for power distribution on backplanes ( poor choice, or underengineered).
Well, after a few meltdowns at customer's sites, us lucky technicians got to travel to each and every site that had these systems installed to solder all these wire connections, there were oh, about 20-30 connectors with 5 wires each, they actually called it the "monster cable" upgrade, no relation. We had a VP who was some kind of national quality control and self proclaimed soldering guru (he actually went on The Today Show during this time period to talk about QC, his name was Chuck Carter, and I still have his Little Green Book). He got us all together and gave us soldering certification. He insisted on the mechanical connection first, then the electrical (solder) connection. I miserably failed this part, mainly because the said molex connectors were about 7 ft. high up inside the back of this huge old voice mail machine the size of four refrigerators. Well after the great class, I went back to our repair shop, and the repair guy said "let me show you how I do it". He took two of these leads, with 5 18g wires in each one, and soldered all 10 of them to the molex pins in the way above, tinned wire and part, no mechanical bending or wrapping. When they had cooled, he grabbed both sets of wires and started yanking. This guy weighed 350 if he weighed 100! After 3 or 4 yanks, the whole machine started rocking back and forth, and the wires were still holding, he pulled it over towards him, then let go. The wires were still intact. After that, I have never doubted method 1's strength, even though every soldering guide you will read still recommends the mechanical connection first.
You, of course, are still free to do it whichever way you would like

 

[ze-ant]

and thanks for sharing your tips/experiences guys. I had better now try and brush up on my own soldering skills

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally posted by dokebi Tin the tips of both the wire and pot etc with some solder, then attach them. It should bond with almost no trouble.

Ditto

 

[PinkFloyd]

Halcyon days... soldering will never be the same

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn in the old days, you first make a nice, tight, mechanical connection. you wrap the wire lead around the post, crimp it down nice and tight. then you'd add a little rosin to make the solder flow. heat the connection until the rosin bubbled, remove iron tip, put solder on until it melts. remove rosin flux with alcohol. http://www.circuittechctr.com/guides/7-1-1.htm http://www.circuittechctr.com/training/0250030.htm http://www.metcal.com/tips/sldrbasc.html http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm http://www.mechatronics.me.vt.edu/VT...soldering.html http://www.irational.org/sic/radio/solder.html http://et.nmsu.edu/~etti/spring97/el...er/solder.html http://www.tpub.com/neets/book4/12i.htm