[johnhunt]

Hello,
 
I spent pretty much my entire weekend trying to put a 3.5mm jack on to the end of my HD555's to replace the quater inch jack it comes with. After two failed attempts I finally got something that works but I can't help but feel like I didn't really do it properly. Either there's something wrong with my ears, but the left driver doesn't seem as loud.. plus I just couldn't get the copper to solder onto the jack contacts properly (explanation below.)
 
I stripped the wires and removed the very fine white nylon thread from each (and the thicker yellow nylon from the main insulation.) Unfortunately it seems the copper strands are coated in something, when I tried to solder them on to the contacts the solder pretty much refused to bond with the copper... the only way I got it working in the end was by wrapping each copper wire around the contacts in the jack several times, using a flame to try and burn off the coating on the copper strands and soldering the s**t out of each.. very messy, just about worked. Like I say though, I'm not too happy with the result.
 
Using a flame to remove the coating on the copper strands didn't seem to work very well as the strands are so fine that in some cases they actually burnt away even though I was very brief applying the flame to them (under 1 sec, just so the coating lit up..)
 
I've read on some forums that you can sandpaper, but I get the feeling most solutions are for a thicker gauge wire than this. What I'm really looking for is someone who has hands on experience doing this and perhaps some awesome tips..
 
It was a bit discouraging as over three attempts I really did spend about 3 hours or so each time being extra extra careful.
 
This isn't my picture below, but it shows the same cable I'm dealing with fairly clearly.
 

 
Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions (or an outright solution) of how to remove the coating on the copper strands, please let me know.
 
Edit: I found this post where someone mentions a good way to do it is to heat a blob of solder up and then dip the wire into it. Can anyone confirm this is a good method or if there's a better way.. sounds fairly good to me.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/448117/3-5mm-disaster
 
Cheers in advance!
John.

 

[impetusera]

I'd say put a thin coating of flux on the end of the wires.  With a warmed up and tinned 15-watt iron build up a small amount of solder on the iron tip and touch the wire to it.  The flux should help pull it up onto the wire to create a thin coating over it.  Tin the connections on the new plug and solder the connection as usual.  All of these steps should be smooth and quick.  Torching the wires and trying to make a connection with a massive blob of solder will just end up a poor connection.

 

[johnhunt]

Am I right in thinking flux means solder?
 
I've done a bit of soldering before but I'm not too clear on the terms.

 

[johnhunt]

Ah, no worries... I found this!
 
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem03/chem03278.htm