[Toxic Cables]

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Can anyone tell me the length of Westone pins please?

Hi Luke,
 
It's 3.4mm on the stock cable.

 

[ardgedee]

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i ordered some transparent aftermarket ones from china that have not arrived yet. once they are in ill measure with a caliper.

Mine have arrived from tygamehk09 on Ebay. I'll post full measurements tonight, along with measurements I made of my Heir 4.A, UE SF 3, and another head-fier's Westone ES 5 that I had the opportunity to measure last weekend.
 
I hadn't thought of measuring the lengths of the pins (That's the parameter with the most tolerance anyway), but I'll try to do that as well for the ones I have.

 

[The8thst]

...but which one of those?  The Hakko one looks like a toy... lol.

 


 

I use a Weller WES-51ND and have never had an issue with it.
I also use these butane irons for portable irons.

Also, pick up a a wire spnge for cleaning the tip. Wet sponges will do nothing other than ruin your soldering tips. The wire sponges are definitely worth the $10.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Where did you find 26AWG Gold Plated Copper wiring?  I'm interested!
 
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Thanks. I used nylon sleeving and 26awg gold plated copper.
 

 

 

[micmacmo]

I can attest to the benefits of a wire tip cleaner. In my case, I just use a brass scouring pad from a local store  -- just a buck or two total. It's easier on the tip (doesn't cause fast temperature drops like a wet sponge) and seems to get the tip very clean. Just be careful that it doesn't flick hot solder as you drag the tip across it. 
 
I've been using this iron happily for the last few months.
 
Quote:

I use a Weller WES-51ND and have never had an issue with it.
I also use these butane irons for portable irons.
Also, pick up a a wire spnge for cleaning the tip. Wet sponges will do nothing other than ruin your soldering tips. The wire sponges are definitely worth the $10.

 

 

[liamstrain]

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Just be careful that it doesn't flick hot solder as you drag the tip across it. 
 

They are great. You plunge the tip in and out, rather than wiping. This helps prevent spatter.

 

[Lurkumaural]

This is cool.  I've never heard about why the wire sponge is better.  Now that I think about it, I do have issues with some heat loss after wiping my iron.  And you say it damages the tips too?  Time to change.

 

[micmacmo]

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This is cool.  I've never heard about why the wire sponge is better.  Now that I think about it, I do have issues with some heat loss after wiping my iron.  And you say it damages the tips too?  Time to change.

Or so I've read. But it makes sense. According to the LED on my station, the temperature can drop 10 C in a few seconds with a damp sponge. 

 
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They are great. You plunge the tip in and out, rather than wiping. This helps prevent spatter.

I should have added that hit. But when stabbing the brass doesn't get the last few bits of crud off the tip, I'll wipe the tip across the top of the brass. 
 

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Also, pick up a a wire spnge for cleaning the tip. Wet sponges will do nothing other than ruin your soldering tips. The wire sponges are definitely worth the $10.

 
I've heard that, but I've always used a sponge and have never had any problems. The tip on my WES-51 has many thousands of solder joints under its belt and I can't even remember when I first bought it. Had to have been over five years ago.
 
Maybe it's more a tip thing than a sponge thing.
 
se
 
 

 

[ardgedee]

I suspect there are right and wrong ways to use a cellulose sponge for cleaning. By contrast, using a copper scrubber is obvious and easy. The little vessel it comes in is convenient too because it traps the spray of solder caused by stabbing the scrubber with the iron. I empty it out now and again and it helps keep my workplace neat.
 
Which is neither here nor there. A friend has told me to not bother with any kind of sponge, and flick the excess off against the wall instead. I don't think my landlord would approve of that.

 

[Mad Max]

 
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... A friend has told me to not bother with any kind of sponge, and flick the excess off against the wall instead. I don't think my landlord would approve of that.

 

 

[kingoftown1]

Anyone been using Gotham lately?  Need another headphone cable and rca interconnects and haven't been totally thrilled with either Canare or Mogami so I picked up some GAC-1 UltraPro and GAC-4/1.

 

[Donnyhifi]

I purchased the Hakko for $81.88, will be here Friday.

Great choice! I'm using the same Hakko FX888 and it rocks! I have used it for a Diymod iPod and the lod cable so far.

 

[ardgedee]

Here are my measurements of two sets of Westone IEM-style plugs sold by tygamehk09 on Ebay, plus my previous measurements of other Westone/UE-style IEM plugs:
 

	tygamehk09 set 1	tygamehk09 set 2	Heir Audio 4.A cable	UE Super.Fi 3	Westone ES 5
L front pin dia	0.69mm	0.68mm	0.76mm	0.74mm	0.77mm
L rear pin dia	0.69mm	0.69mm	0.77mm	0.74mm	0.77mm
R front pin dia	0.69mm	0.69mm	0.77mm	0.74mm	0.77mm
R rear pin dia	0.68mm	0.69mm	0.76mm	0.74mm	0.77mm
L front pin length	3.02mm	3.04mm	3.32mm	n/a	n/a
L rear pin length	3.02mm	3.04mm	3.32mm	n/a	n/a
R front pin length	3.02mm	3.05mm	3.33mm	n/a	n/a
R rear pin length	3.02mm	3.05mm	3.33mm	n/a	n/a
L gap between pins	1.23mm	1.25mm	n/a	1.05mm	1.04mm
R gap between pins	1.21mm	1.20mm	0.97mm	1.040mm	1.08mm

 
So far I've only handled the tygamehk09 plugs to measure them; they have not been built into anything yet. On my units, there was plastic mould flashing that had to be cut away from around the pins before they could be measured or tested. When soldering, note there's no notch or socket on the working surface, which might make a secure joint a little more challenging. (For soldering newbies like me, anyway).
 
For completeness sake: I should also note that the sockets on my left Heir 4.A are splayed, as are the pins, so I can't make a reliable measurement of the gap between pins. I'm unable to measure the pin length on the UE SF 3 because the plastic boot on the plug interferes with the calipers, and I forgot to take this measurement in the brief time I had with the ES 5.
 
I briefly experimented with plugging the tygamehk09 plugs into both the Heir 4.A and UE SF 3. The plugs slide into and out of the Heir 4.A easily and seem stable once inserted. There's a little more resistance when plugging into and removing the SF 3. In both cases, the plugs do not require greater force than their original-equipment cables require. Keep this in mind when comparing figures in the table above.
 
(Edit: I've added the above table to the DIY Cable Info & Resources wiki page.)

 

[ardgedee]

Is there a standard polarity arrangement for Westone/UE-style connectors? For example, is the + socket always in front of the - socket, or do manufacturers generally not care, as long as the left and right channels are arranged uniformly?