[TimxSally]

Ive looked at the guide on how to make interconnects but I still have some questions.

1.In the guide I couldnt understand wich 4 wires solder were on the plug so could someone show me some pics or tell me in detail wich of them goes where.

2. Whats the techflex for.

3. Whats a good soddering iron for newbies.

 

[MasiveMunkey]

1. For interconnects you really only need two wires, but if you have more than two: one solders to the middle pin and all the others solder to the long metal piece coming out of the RCA connector.

2. Just to make the interconnects look nice.

3. I would go down to your electronics store and get a nice cheap one from 15-30+ watts. For wires you might want a 30 watt since it will melt the solder faster. I use a Weller WP25 (25 watts) which works perfectly well, cost ~$20.

 

[TimxSally]

Any more help. I need pics of the things being soldered. Also how do you use techflex? Also whats heatshrink?

 

[1nf1n1ty]

alright...more noob than I, that means I can help...

Irons..just get a generic 30W one and 25w for weller...you might be better off with the weller...but if your starting get the cheapo $10 one tips for it are cheap too...

techflex is also called expandable sleeving...so its for holding several strands of wire together to provide a cleaner appearance... and heatshrink is mainly for covering the ends which you soldered...ie the bare wire...dont want the wrong ones connecting...lol

 

[Soymilk]

what kind of interconnect are you thinking of making? for a mini to mini, you need three wires, one for left signal, right signal, and ground. you'll need a multimeter to check which prong sticking out the back of the jack connects to which part of the plug. the tip of the plug is left, middle is right, base is ground. if you don't have a multimeter, you could wire a battery and a led around the jack and see when the led lights up to find out which part's connected to what.

techflex isn't only for aesthetics, it's for protection, too, although if you're not going to be moving your cables much it wont really matter if you have it or not. heatshrink is for covering exposed parts and for providing support at places where the wires are likely to bend a lot or weak spots. for an interconnect, i think you want to cover the inside of the jack with heatshrink. (if you don't know how heatshrink works, you put it around something, and when you heat it up it shrinks. hence the name.) for headphones i presume you would want to put some heatshrink in the area where the cable enters the headphones.

 

[TimxSally]

does anyone still have some pics of what to solder and to where. I understand almost everything else now.

 

[el_matt0]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=52044

i duno how much more clear you could really want / need. that should definitely cover all the bases that havent been already