[primer]

mb3k, the stand looks good. Is it expensive?

 

[rockcod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by primer /img/forum/go_quote.gif mb3k, the stand looks good. Is it expensive?

$65.92US. Available from here: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/we...es/holders.htm

 

[guitarplayer]

Great little vise for holding cable ends for soldering:

And the link to the Panavise page:

http://www.panavise.com/nf/vises/vises_combo.html

Peace,

Lee

 

[mb3k]

Quote:

Originally Posted by primer /img/forum/go_quote.gif mb3k, the stand looks good. Is it expensive?

It's $57 at DigiKey (# 0051502699)

 

[Seaside]

Few people asked me if I use special tool to bend wires at the bottom of the purfboard.

That's right. I have a special tool for that.

I use this all the time for all kind of tiny things, but never used for its intended purpose.

Don't borrow it from your half, get your own.

 

[BradJudy]

I mounted four cheap RCA jacks onto a spare plastic panel. It's great for either connecting a work-in-progress amp to for testing, or for plugging in RCA plugs when soldering wires to them. Nothing holds an RCA plug in place like an RCA jack.

I would probably be more useful to have a panel with a pair of RCA jacks and a 1/8" or 1/4" jack.

 

[ruZZ.il]

lol, Seaside.. so true

Another tip.. when removing voltage regulators or transistors, the ones with the hole for a heatsink, thread a string or wire through it, flip the board and while heating up all the solder points simultaneously, gently pull down on the other side. easy peasy.

solder braid makes for an easy cleanup too.

 

[ezkcdude]

I'm no Tangent, but I posted my first "useful" YouTube video on DIY (plz don't laugh!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mjj3G5x5_Q

The wire stripper shown in the video can be found here:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=360-627

 

[soloz2]

if you DIY at least a couple times a year you are better off purchasing good tools. ditch that soldering iron and get a station, get a panavice and a solder sucker. Most of the tools are relatively cheap and make your life so much easier.

Also, if you work with cardas wire or any other wire that you have to burn off the enamel then invest in a solder pot. You can get a very nice one and a bunch of bar solder for well under $100 and you'll never look back... trust me!

 

[joneeboi]

If you don't have a solder vacuum or just don't choose to use it, what you can do is heat up the solder and blow really hard on the hole you're trying to clean up. Careful, you can sometimes spread it onto the board in funny splash-like patterns or blow it onto your hands and arms. You'd think it would just blow carefully through the hole and onto some unsuspecting wet sponge, but it happens/has happened. And sometimes you need to heat it up real good, blow harder/closer, or lather the pad with a bit more solder, rinse and repeat.

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joneeboi /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you don't have a solder vacuum or just don't choose to use it, what you can do is heat up the solder and blow really hard on the hole you're trying to clean up. Careful, you can sometimes spread it onto the board in funny splash-like patterns or blow it onto your hands and arms. You'd think it would just blow carefully through the hole and onto some unsuspecting wet sponge, but it happens/has happened. And sometimes you need to heat it up real good, blow harder/closer, or lather the pad with a bit more solder, rinse and repeat.

LOL! been doing that fo a while now until last week I finally decided that a cheap vacuum sucker will do the job cleaner.

 

[threepointone]

using desoldering braid--a good thermal contact with the braid / joint is ABSOLUTELY imperative--almost always the reason why a desoldering braid doesn't work right is because of bad contact between the tip and the desoldering braid, or oxidation on some cheap desoldering braid, or something like that. Easy solution, taken from sparkfun's SMT soldering tutorial: just put a little bit of fluxed solder onto the iron before making contact with the braid / joint , and the liquid solder / extra flux will make the process much, much quicker.

After I learned this, I pretty much haven't touched the vacuum pump at all for desoldering--it's just way too finicky, and I'm a bit paranoid about overheating the teflon plastic tip on it.

 

[joneeboi]

I'd like the soldering pump more if I had a set of helping hands. Nevertheless, the braid option works too, except I find it's too finicky. I greatly prefer the blowing route, as it's the simplest (and cheapest). Funny thing though, the only desoldering braid I had came in a plastic case, so it would melt the case as I used it. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but that kind of turned me off the concept. Further, if you have a strong enough pump, there's a greater margin of error, because you don't necessarily have to push it right up to the joint. Aside from the plastic casing of the braid, I think it's still a pretty good option. I suppose you could also use braided copper wire as desoldering braid as a cheap and quick solution.

threepointone:

But it's teflon. Teflon!

 

[IcantHearU]

Really simple and crude, but while testing hfe of TO-92 transistors with the $10 Harbor Freight meter, I hade problems getting consistent,trustworthy contact with the meter's not-so-good sockets,so I chopped off a 3 pin piece of an 8 pin DIP socket and just soldered some thick lead clippings to the 3 pin strip from socket. - With the thicker gauge being inserted into the multimeter socket, rather than the TO-92 leads, the contact is much easier to establish and maintain (and it may help reduce measurement settlement time because the faster socketing means that you don't heat up the part as much with hand heat )

(I could have taken a photo, but I think everyone can picture this little rig)

SF

 

[balou]

are you never able to remember which channel is which on rca/mini jacks and cables?

the 3R rule:
* Ring
* Red
* Right

the ring on the 3.5mm jack, the red RCA connector and red wire are all the right channel