Bullum wrote on Mon, 19 April 2004 21:04 |
Hmmm. I just fill each of the little cups almost full with solder, leaving a slightly concave surface. Then tin the wire, reheat the cup, shove the wire in, remove the heat, hold it still, and voila!
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Hi Bullum,
Some of the guys in our instrument shop use the pre-tinned method succesfully. But I can't do that as well.
I personally like taping down the connectors and wire, while using the "un-tinned" method, especially on pins. The wires will go in deep and seat unobstructed. Plus I can land all of them them simultaneously if there ain't too to many pins, but XLR connectors are easy to land simulataneously, and the pins will only get hot once. Not to mention, my fingers won't get hot either, and the wires are rock solid stable during cooling.
But on non-cupped pins, or tabs with no holes, like you'll find on used connectors, I'll pretty much have alter my method, and tape down each wire individually. Soldering pre-soldered pins and tabs requires me to treat the connector as a "used" connector.
But sometimes I will have to pre-tin the extrememly small, soft, and finely stranded wires, for the sake of stability, or for scraping the enamel coating off, such as in audio xfmrs, or "Litz" wire found in Sony Walkman style headphones, etc. (which I just learned about recently) but 90% of the time, I won't pre-tin wires on any pro cables or wiring, because it's usually very high quality and stable.
But, sometimes pre-tinning the wire causes obstructions in the pins, like little thorns sticking out, which I have to crush with needle nose pliers. I don't know...it's just me.
Like I said, some guys are comfortable with pre-tinning, but I'm not.
Side Note #1 : NEVER blow on a cooling solder joint. It causes cold, ugly, and impure solder joints (breath vapor), and it'll get you (me) in trouble in all the shops I've worked out of, especially by the "old" old timers.
Side note #2 : If I only had a nickle for every backshell I forgot to put on first...
Lee Patzius