My solder won't stick!!

[ceecrb1]

Not a good idea to blow on solder to speed up hardening, it causes microscopic fractures and other disturbances in the solder joint. <_<

 

Honestly didnt know that!!!

 

well you learn something every day,

 

personally I dont blow.. mostly because my soldering is generally of a high enough standard that I´m quick enough not to need to blow... but have seen others (noobies) doing it for the reasons I stated...

[lightsource]

It's been alluded to here already but one MAJOR thing to remember when soldering is care of the tool itself.

 

As Paul mentioned above, it's easy to get bits of crap on the tip, including melted insulation, all of which reduces the efficiency of the heat transfer. If the iron starts to blacken, then wipe it on some steel wool to a) lose the crap and b) lose the excess solder. A clean iron is an effective iron.

 

Every now and then it pays to revitalise the tip by heating it up, getting rid of all the molten glump, then giving it a rub (when you've let it go COLD, of course!) with some fine emery paper. Take the tip down to the bare metal BUT make sure that before you start using it again that you tim the bit properly first.

 

Oh - and a BIG plus 1 for NOT blowing on a soldered joint. Not only will it risk those micro-fractures, it can also mean the solder dries too quickly and results in the joint as a whole becoming weak.

 

That is spot on. You only need a small amount of debris on the tip of an Iron to seriously reduce the heat tranfer.

 

Would also agree that it's not wise to blow on a soldered joint (even if it is to cool the fingers) just let it cool in it's own time.

 

Some connectors do have unfriendly coatings, so a simple metal file may come in handy.

[Bobbsy]

Agreed on all the advice. However, I have to say that, despite years of soldering, Neutrik TRS jacks are one of my least favourite things to do--even using expensive temperature controlled solder work stations. When I have a lot to do, I must admit I often move to cheaper brands of connector just because they're easier to solder.

 

Bob

[Junior8]

Tin the wire (this is solder the tip of bare wire). Touch the wire with that wet part of the iron and add solder to the opposed side of the wire. Just enough that the cores of the wire should disappear, it should not be a "ball" of solder.

If you don't do this it will not stick, or be far slower to stick as you will need to add a lot more solder when you do connect the cable to the terminal.

Cut the tinned wire to its desired length.

 

NO PHYSICAL PRESSURE IS NEEDED ON THE IRON. The harder you push, will not help it melt!! It will only succeed in bending the tip, causing micro-fractures, preventing heat transfer, causing you to push harder.....

 

This technique works perfectly with my JBC 11W iron I use at home and on site (got a proper desk iron at work).

 

I think this is the key. I remember being taught about tinning when I was starting out and it transformed my work. 'Dry' joints became vary rare and because both surfaces had been tinned very little heat was required to complete the joint so the temptation to press hard was removed. I was also taught to make simple little wooden jigs for every job and to clean the tip after every joint by just rubbing it on the jig somewhere. Thant being said I haven't picked up an iron for years but back on the day the DIN plug had to be my least favorite type...

 

Youngsters should regularly say a prayer of thanks for the invention of multicore solder though I do recall old timers who still liked to use a bit of flux on some jobs as well.

 

Nigel's point about coatings is a good one and I always had a flat faced 'needle file' with the iron.

[paulears]

The other tip I learned early on is that if you have lots of cheap jack plugs to solder, they melt if you heat them up too much, for too long. The good thing is that the plugs usually have decent sized 'holes' that the screen, when teased/twisted together will fit through. With these type of plugs, you can pop the centre conductor through the hole, and bend it back, same with the screen, so the plug is physically secure, without the solder. As long as they are tinned, when you bend them back on themselves, they hold pretty well. Then, a quick application of the solder tip to the tinned ends that are already in secure contact with the plug metal tag rapidly reflows the solder and the end of the solder, touched to the plug melts very quickly - maybe two seconds then off. because the conductors are mechanically secure, there's no need to try to hold everything stable while the solder solidifies.

[phil dB]

Just to add to all of the above - if you keep trying with the same connector it will get more difficult to solder. Repeated handling and heating/cooling of the connector will most likely lead to oxidisation of the area you want to solder to. If the joint area is starting to look a bit discoloured, I'd recommend cleaning it with either a fine grade wet and dry paper or something like DeoxIt cleaning fluid. I also like to use a fibreglass cleaning pen, but I know most people hate these because of the fibres that come off them get stuck in you.

 

If you're unsure about the joints you've done, do a google image search for soldered cables - there's plenty of examples on there for you to check your work against.

 

 

HTH

[themadhippy]

just be careful with your wire wool,emery cloth or files near the tips of my soldering iron.A damp sponge/jeans leg is good enough to get the crud off and leaves the protective coating on the tip intact

[abbotsmike]

It's not much fun but is perfectly possible to solder Neutrik Jack Plugs with 25w Iron, I've done it with both a cheapo one and a semi decent one. But the shield does soak up the heat nicely.

[musht]

Its not good to file Antex tips, they are iron clad copper, filing `em takes off the iron cladding exposing the copper which craters due to corrosive effect of flux.

 

Multicore Tip Cleaner , in the tiny round tin for over a fiver, is actually worth the money and will last for ages.

 

For real heatsucking connectors, and portable use, gas irons are very useful, had a cheapo Iroda from Maplin`s for a few years , been well worth the investment.

[TomHoward]

I've had a two of those Antex XS25 irons where the elements on them weren't getting up to temperature - it may be the case that your iron isn't getting hot enough. Also, personally (as long as it isn't going to melt the connector, which it shouldn't with Neutrik) I tin both ends first - so apply solder to the jack without the cable, and then introduce them.

 

Also, personally I wouldn't use a cable tester as a soldering stand, as you may well break the soldered joints inside the tester as the heat is transferred. A big lump of Blutac has always worked for me.

[musht]

+1 for Blutack the all purpose soldering aid.

[adam2]

As the O/P states that they have soldered other connectors, including some relatively large ones, without problems I suspect something specific to the particular connectors, rather than unsuitable technique or improper equipment.

Might the connectors be old stock ? still serviceable but slightly oxidised and therefore diffecult to solder.

Could they be slightly contaminated with oil or grease? perhaps from other cargo in transit.

 

I have found that old but unused stock of almost anything except cable is much more diffecult to solder than new. Who knows how long the supplier had them on the shelf.

 

I would try more thorough cleaning with either alcohol to remove grease, or a very mild abrasive to remove oxidation.

 

Slightly O/T but electronic components intended for automatic soldering often have a very limited shelf life, not because the components themselves become unservicable, but because they wont form a reliable soldered joint.

[d.breeze]

As the O/P states that they have soldered other connectors, including some relatively large ones, without problems I suspect something specific to the particular connectors, rather than unsuitable technique or improper equipment.

 

 

Thanks for sticking up for me ;) I do indeed know how to solder and already employ most of the techniques voiced here. My issue was that the solder was melting/flowing and apparently bonding to both the jack plug and the cable and cooling properly but as soon as I moved the cable to close the jack plug it would pop off again.

 

The most helpful comment was the knowledge of Neutriks being particularly good heat sinks. In the end I spent about 5 minutes pre-heating the jack plug (no plastic melted either) before tinning up everything and creating the joint. This technique worked flawlessly and I now I have a full compliment of Neutrik/Van Damme jack cables.

[paulears]

As we're talking soldering - which is producing plenty of really decent tips - has anyone found a better way to solder plugs to headphone cable of the tinsel type - where the conductors are not insulated from each other by a plastic jacket - but by a coating of varnish like insulation. I've come to hate these over the years, and they test my patience. My current, most successful technique is simple to scrape off the green and black surface coating, by doing one side, then turning over and doing the other side - then tinning with quick, hard pressure to heat the wire quickly and get a solder coat on as rapidly as possible. This seems to prevent the heat burning the coating off further up the cable. I'm producing about 1 high res joint per 10 good ones, and I've done loads in the last week or two - swapping 3.5mm moulded on ones for 1/4" ones.

 

There must be a better way of doing these!

[J Pearce]

Crimp connectors?