Bad cable soldering?

vernplum

vernplum

New member
Making a new thread out of this since the 'Cables' thread has descended into a bitch-fight. Anyone electronically minded able to give me some advice on the below please?

Thanks



"I saw the mention of 'bad soldering' and I'm the first to admit that I'm totally crap at it.

Recently I made a whole bunch of patch cables myself with neutrik heads and some klotz cable (anyone who tells me this is crap due to loss of 2db of upper mid or muddiness in the 20khz range can p*ss off ) and soldered all the plugs myself.

The question is what constitutes 'bad soldering' apart from cosmetic concerns and obviously making sure the correct bit of the wire makes the correct contact and no other? Does the amount of solder matter? Does the copper core need to touch the plug contact or will solder in between make a difference? How do I test conductance (is this even valid) is optimal once I am done? "
 
bad solder leads to early cable failure ...that i know !

I am not gonna bother talkin abt *tone* no more ..to each his own>

I applaud your DIY spirit ....no worries you will learn by makin boo boo 's ya .

If possible, resolder ... and a good practice is to solder the two contact surface prior as this gives good and 'less' solder connection.
 
Cable plugs soldering

1. a slightly higher warttage around 30-40W soldering iron.
2. soldering stand with a SPONGE to do your tip cleaning. VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP YER TIPS CLEAN. TIP HYGIENE IS THE TRUTH ABOUT SOLDERING! :lol:
3. Wet the plug lugs with solder
4. Wet the wires on the cables with solder
5. Put em together and heat em up to fuse em together. Melt some solder on the tip if required before doing this.

Easy as ABC.

A good solder looks shiny.

A bad solder will be dull and if you crack it open, it'll look porous.

KEEP YER TIPS CLEAN!
 
I am not gonna bother talkin abt *tone* no more ..to each his own>
Click to expand...

AND THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

Tone is personal. Tone is an opinion.

Some people share the same opinion, some don't.

There's NO TRUTH to tone. :lol:
 
Hi Vernplum,

Im sorry I cant contribute much other than:

(a) dont blow on the solder to cool it.
(b) dont move any parts for a few seconds after soldering.
(c) clean off old solder from the tip of the soldering iron with a wet rag after soldering a few parts.
 
to keep the tip clean, try those steel wool for washing plate, dip the tip in it when the soldering tip is hot. Will come out shiny clean and much better than those yellow sponge for cleaning
 
Thumbs up to this thread.

If you're a bad solder guy, practice a lot, or get someone who's good at it to do it.

(Edder does really clean solders.)
 
hur hur hur.... when i'm not in a hurry lah. did you buy some 500k modified to 250k pots from me before? :?:

but when there's too many things to do, I do "functional" soldering and not "boutique" soldering.
 
i hope you don't mind me hijacking this thread.

due to recent patch cable failures, i have decided to start learning how to solder so i can repair my own cables and such. but i'm not sure where to start. i'm a total newbie when it comes to electronics and wiring.

i believe soldering irons have different wattages. which should i get? and what are the other tools i need?

any help here will be much appreciated! thanks.
 
well you just need
soldering gun(40W one should do the trick)
solder
the sponge thingy to clean the gun tip

these are the just the basic stuff, there's a few extra things that's useful to have too.

and lots and lots of practice!

you could google it, there's lots of useful websites on soldering basics and equipment.

there should be a sticky on soldering techniques!
 
Thanks to everyone who replied with tips - much appreciated.

One point I'd like more clarification on though which i didn't see anyone comment on is this bit:

"How do I test conductance (is this even valid) is optimal once I am done? "

Will my ugly, porous soldering (which some of it is, though I am genuinely proud of a couple of my joints) affect the signal throughput, or once the metal is joined (solder in between or copper core directly to point) is that the job done *as far as the electrical conductivity aspect goes*?

Thanks
 
imho, a multi meter be really useful.

Do continuity test between the point of solder and the end of the cable side, as long as theres continuity, the cable shud work. If not, can test also the tip/sleeve of the jack to the inner contact point to ensure continuity

anyway, i think continuity test is a simple but necessary measure, just to ensure that from point to point, what need to be connected, stay in contact and what need not, shall not cause the multimeter to beep
 
Cold solder joints are what you should be worried about. They look blurry and happen when you move the parts before the solder cools on it's own.

They'll test out ok and seem to work, but jiggle the parts a bit and the connectivity might break.
 
Practise and knowing the basics

most important rule ( aside from not burning yourself )
you heat the part to be soldered till its hot enough
and you touch the solder to the part and the solder melt from
the heat in the part
NEVER try to use the soldering iron to melt the solder directly
this is one of the main cause for cold solder joints.

Boutique solder - use 99.99% silver for solder : )
 
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