soldering?

[TVisitor]

I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

 

[Dan]

TVisitor wrote:

I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

OK, first thing to do is ensure both the wire and component lead are
clean.

Second, if you decide to tin the lead use as little solder as
possible. Tinning the wire, among other things, makes step 3 easier.
Strip enough wire so the insulation won't interfere with the solder
joint, but not too much.

Third, think mechanical connection. If the lead is flat bend the
exposed wire into a U or hook shape. If you can use the lead hole life
is easier here. Using pliers squeeze the hooked wire to the lead, don't
crimp it, it just needs to have firm contact. A mechanically sound joint
before soldering, when possible, makes for a better joint.

Fourth, heat your work, not the solder. Apply only enough solder to
fill any gaps with a fillet.

Lastly, clean off any flux and examine your work for frosting which
could mean a cold joint. The finished joint should be shiny and you
should be able see the shape of the wire.

It take practice which you can do on un-serviceable components.

Dan, U.s. Air Force, retired

 

[Dan]

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.


All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

George H.

When it comes to round connectors I prefer crimp. As for soldering I
made a board with dummy bulkheads to hold the connector. Fair warning,
dummies cost more than any standard connector I have ever come across.
What I did was either use old bulkhead connectors or buy the cheapest in
that size, cut the back down to the flange, remove the insert and,
violin(sic), you have a dummy.

Speaking of dummies, I once soldered the three panel disconnects for
a T-39A pilot's instrument panel. Each wire had been numbered and cut to
length. I spent a 12 hour shift doing that. It's one of those things you
don't hand off to someone else in mid job. I came back the next day and
had to start all over. Why? Because some dummy decided to cut all the
wires to the same length to tidy things up. My personal feelings are
that's grounds for justifiable homicide.

As for real fun try repairing a solder joint in the middle of a 50
plus pin connector. It takes more time to get to it than to repair it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

 

[George Herold]

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow.  then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1.  There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through.  Does it *really* matter?  [assuming of course the wire can
fit].  There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint.  If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2.  While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it.  Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly.  Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

George H.

 

[David Eather]

On 17/08/2010 8:29 AM, Dan wrote:

George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.


All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

George H.

When it comes to round connectors I prefer crimp. As for soldering I
made a board with dummy bulkheads to hold the connector. Fair warning,
dummies cost more than any standard connector I have ever come across.
What I did was either use old bulkhead connectors or buy the cheapest in
that size, cut the back down to the flange, remove the insert and,
violin(sic), you have a dummy.

Speaking of dummies, I once soldered the three panel disconnects for a
T-39A pilot's instrument panel. Each wire had been numbered and cut to
length. I spent a 12 hour shift doing that. It's one of those things you
don't hand off to someone else in mid job. I came back the next day and
had to start all over. Why? Because some dummy decided to cut all the
wires to the same length to tidy things up. My personal feelings are
that's grounds for justifiable homicide.

As for real fun try repairing a solder joint in the middle of a 50 plus
pin connector. It takes more time to get to it than to repair it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

If you are soldering into a plastic connector then have the connector
plugged into its matching plug/socket - this helps stop the plastic from
melting and if it does melt the matching socket/plug at least hold the
pin in the right position until the plastic re-hardens

 

[Dan]

David Eather wrote:

On 17/08/2010 8:29 AM, Dan wrote:
George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.


All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

George H.

When it comes to round connectors I prefer crimp. As for soldering I
made a board with dummy bulkheads to hold the connector. Fair warning,
dummies cost more than any standard connector I have ever come across.
What I did was either use old bulkhead connectors or buy the cheapest in
that size, cut the back down to the flange, remove the insert and,
violin(sic), you have a dummy.

Speaking of dummies, I once soldered the three panel disconnects for a
T-39A pilot's instrument panel. Each wire had been numbered and cut to
length. I spent a 12 hour shift doing that. It's one of those things you
don't hand off to someone else in mid job. I came back the next day and
had to start all over. Why? Because some dummy decided to cut all the
wires to the same length to tidy things up. My personal feelings are
that's grounds for justifiable homicide.

As for real fun try repairing a solder joint in the middle of a 50 plus
pin connector. It takes more time to get to it than to repair it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


If you are soldering into a plastic connector then have the connector
plugged into its matching plug/socket - this helps stop the plastic from
melting and if it does melt the matching socket/plug at least hold the
pin in the right position until the plastic re-hardens

I have never melted a plastic insert even when doing multi pin
connectors with a coax. I will say I have managed to get them too hot to
hold while installing them in an aircraft, but that was back when I was
learning and was poor soldering technique. The nasty part was the coax
was capacitance sensitive for fuel quantity systems. Nothing quite like
soldering a connector hanging from an instrument panel.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Dan wrote:

David Eather wrote:
On 17/08/2010 8:29 AM, Dan wrote:
George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.


All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

George H.

When it comes to round connectors I prefer crimp. As for soldering I
made a board with dummy bulkheads to hold the connector. Fair warning,
dummies cost more than any standard connector I have ever come across.
What I did was either use old bulkhead connectors or buy the cheapest in
that size, cut the back down to the flange, remove the insert and,
violin(sic), you have a dummy.

Speaking of dummies, I once soldered the three panel disconnects for a
T-39A pilot's instrument panel. Each wire had been numbered and cut to
length. I spent a 12 hour shift doing that. It's one of those things you
don't hand off to someone else in mid job. I came back the next day and
had to start all over. Why? Because some dummy decided to cut all the
wires to the same length to tidy things up. My personal feelings are
that's grounds for justifiable homicide.

As for real fun try repairing a solder joint in the middle of a 50 plus
pin connector. It takes more time to get to it than to repair it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired


If you are soldering into a plastic connector then have the connector
plugged into its matching plug/socket - this helps stop the plastic from
melting and if it does melt the matching socket/plug at least hold the
pin in the right position until the plastic re-hardens

I have never melted a plastic insert even when doing multi pin
connectors with a coax. I will say I have managed to get them too hot to
hold while installing them in an aircraft, but that was back when I was
learning and was poor soldering technique. The nasty part was the coax
was capacitance sensitive for fuel quantity systems. Nothing quite like
soldering a connector hanging from an instrument panel.

There were some Japanese connectors made with styrene insulators.
They would melt in a heartbeat. Long before the pin was hot enough to
solder. If they weren't plugged into a a mating connector they
distorted so much that you couldn't plug them in. The importers were
soon out of business.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.

 

[Dan]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.
All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.


I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.

I always pre-tinned before I went to crimp. I made good deals on
assorted crimpers on e-bay. It doesn't mean I never solder round
connectors anymore, but I do it a lot less often. It's also a lot easier
rearranging or replacing wires.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Dan wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.
All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.


I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.

I always pre-tinned before I went to crimp. I made good deals on
assorted crimpers on e-bay. It doesn't mean I never solder round
connectors anymore, but I do it a lot less often. It's also a lot easier
rearranging or replacing wires.

Most of the connectors i used the last years i worked were machine
crimped Air powered AMP, berg and several other brands were used at the
plant. All i had to do was tell the workers in the wire room what I
needed for the test fixtures i built or repaired. My soldering was on
high pin count surface mount. Up to 244 pins wit .015" spacing.

 

[Dan]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Dan wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.
All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.
I always pre-tinned before I went to crimp. I made good deals on
assorted crimpers on e-bay. It doesn't mean I never solder round
connectors anymore, but I do it a lot less often. It's also a lot easier
rearranging or replacing wires.


Most of the connectors i used the last years i worked were machine
crimped Air powered AMP, berg and several other brands were used at the
plant. All i had to do was tell the workers in the wire room what I
needed for the test fixtures i built or repaired. My soldering was on
high pin count surface mount. Up to 244 pins wit .015" spacing.

I do it for a hobby so I am happy with hand crimping. Production is
something I have managed to avoid most of my life with the exception of
a small company where I made infrared radiometers.

I wire number using a Kingsley hot stamp machine which is tedious,
but I can't justify a production machine.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Dan wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
Dan wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
George Herold wrote:
On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.
All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.
I always pre-tinned before I went to crimp. I made good deals on
assorted crimpers on e-bay. It doesn't mean I never solder round
connectors anymore, but I do it a lot less often. It's also a lot easier
rearranging or replacing wires.


Most of the connectors i used the last years i worked were machine
crimped Air powered AMP, berg and several other brands were used at the
plant. All i had to do was tell the workers in the wire room what I
needed for the test fixtures i built or repaired. My soldering was on
high pin count surface mount. Up to 244 pins wit .015" spacing.

I do it for a hobby so I am happy with hand crimping. Production is
something I have managed to avoid most of my life with the exception of
a small company where I made infrared radiometers.

This was telemetry equipment.

I wire number using a Kingsley hot stamp machine which is tedious,
but I can't justify a production machine.

We used custom printed Brady markers, and some older products used
hot stamped white heat shrink to identfy coax and small harline.

 

[Jeff Johnson]

"TVisitor" <tvisitor@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4c439a02-2759-437d-8fa4-d04e9b75ee88@u26g2000yqu.googlegroups.com...

I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

No, I rarely use the hole since it can make it more difficult getting the
wire out in some cases. It is, ofcourse, more secure to do such things and
depends on the specific mechanical requirements. I would take a guess that
99.9% of the time it won't matter if the wire is properly soldered in both
cases.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

This can be a problem, it happens. In fact the problem is your iron is
either too cool or you are holding it on too long(which could be cause of
various reasons).

Solder generally melts at around 400 oF. As long as you are able to melt
both solder surfaces together then they should form a pretty strong fused
connection. Solder will melt at around 400 oF(Depends on specifics) but even
if you use a 700 oF iron does not mean that you can get good heat transfer
to enough of the solder.

Generally when I solder two things together the solder will liquify almost
instantanous when I touch the iron tip to the solder. This is because the
iron is hot enough and is able to transfer it's heat to the solder easily.
If there is any corrosion on any of the surfaces or if the solder is on
something acting as a large heat sink then it can be a problem because even
though you are touching a 700 oF surface to something probably at room
temperature you are dumping only so much energy into it which is being
pulled away very quickly.

Temperature (difference) is analogous to voltage (difference). If you know
enough about electronics you know that when you hook up a voltage source to
a load and the load is too large the voltage will "sag". Similar with your
iron. if you try to heat something up that has very low thermal resistance
the temperature of the iron will lag. You might have noticed this when you
heat something up for a long time(10's of seconds) then try to heat
something up that is cold immediately after it seems to take longer. This is
because even though the soldering iron may be 700 oF it may not always be
that(depends on the quality of the iron).


When I do solder things such as wires to large copper plates it can be very
difficult. You must make sure the surface is very clean and use flux(note
that flux can burn and leave a residue that can interfe with heat transfer).
Ideally you would need to preheat such surfaces but this is not always
plausable. Using a very hot iron can do the job as it can dump a lot of heat
very quickly to a local spot without heating up the whole device.

e.g., think of a spot welder. These are able to generate very high
temperatures but only for short times. They locally heat up the surface but
because of the thermal resistance of the material the heat is not able to
spread out quick enough(Which is why you are able to get local heating).

With an iron it is different as you can easily burn up whatever device you
are using since it is "always on". This is why low wattage irons are
recommended for beginners as they tend to keep the iron on too long.

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

You may not be having any more difficulty than most people have. It's not
always easy. It depends on exactly what you are doing and what you are
trying to accomplish and what tools you are using. If you are trying to
solder very thick wires then it is going to be more difficult than smaller
wires. You must get the surface of whatever you are trying to solder hot
enough for the solder to flow on the surface. If you are able to do this for
both connections then it should be easy to fuse them.

As far as the wire insulation goes you'll probably always have that problem.
Most insulation isn't made for soldering. e.g., if the wire ever got 400oF
then there is a big problem. Things you can try are to use heat sink
clips - not great but might be enough, larger iron - less contact time which
would allow quicker bonding and hence less total heat energy transfered but
much worse if you leave it on too long, heat shrink tubing - These tend to
have great thermal resistance and will generally not burn up but will
shrink. You can sort of use it as a secondary insulation to cover up the
main insulation. You can also use it to protect the bare copper completely
and it will look more profession. It can be difficult to use in some
cases(tight places).

Some solder is much easier to use than other. The new "ROHS" solder is total
crap for hand soldering. Soldering flux is almost a necessity and usually
makes things much easier to do. Having a variable temp iron is pretty good.
If your iron is too low of a wattage then invariably you just end up heating
up what you are trying to solder rather than actually soldering anything.
e.g., suppose your iron was 300 oF. You won't meld the solder but surely end
up heating up what you are trying to solder. This is why a hotter iron works
better as your more likely to melt the solder but of course you have a
higher likelyhood of ruining what your soldering.

 

[Dan]

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 17, 6:05 pm, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:
George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.
What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?
Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.
So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.
The 2 problems I have:
1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.
2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?
If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.
All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.
I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hmm, I guess with the connectors I've been doing lately the wire
'just' fits. I'm afraid if I tin it there will be some solder 'bluge'
left on the side and then I can't get it in. Perhaps I don't have the
proper technique.

George H.

Properly tinned wires won't have that, you should still be able to
see the strands. A neat trick for tinning is to get a soldering iron
with a large diameter tip, drill a hole most of the way through on the
side of the tip. It should be large enough to accept any wire gauge you
are likely to use. Warm it up, fill the hole with solder and you now
have a small tinning pot. (I would have said voila, but getting into
stringed instruments could lead to wandering threads)

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 17, 6:05 pm, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:
George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow. then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1. There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through. Does it *really* matter? [assuming of course the wire can
fit]. There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint. If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2. While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it. Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly. Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

All good suggestions from Dan. I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them. Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector. Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it. I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin. A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place. I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints. (sorry that’s not a good
description.) The connector is held in a vise.

I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hmm, I guess with the connectors I've been doing lately the wire
'just' fits. I'm afraid if I tin it there will be some solder 'bluge'
left on the side and then I can't get it in. Perhaps I don't have the
proper technique.

You only need enough solder to fill the space between the strands. If
you get too much, just re-heat it and tap it of the edge of something to
allow the excess solder to hit the workbench. Just don't get careless
and let it go somewhere else. A pair of safety glasses or Goggles will
help. I've soldered for 50 years, now and have tackled a lot of strange
problems.

 

[George Herold]

On Aug 17, 6:05 pm, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow.  then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1.  There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through.  Does it *really* matter?  [assuming of course the wire can
fit].  There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint.  If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2.  While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it.  Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly.  Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

All good suggestions from Dan.  I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them.  Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector.  Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it.  I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin.  A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place.  I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints.  (sorry that’s not a good
description.)  The connector is held in a vise.

  I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hmm, I guess with the connectors I've been doing lately the wire
'just' fits. I'm afraid if I tin it there will be some solder 'bluge'
left on the side and then I can't get it in. Perhaps I don't have the
proper technique.

George H.

 

[George Herold]

On Aug 18, 5:35 pm, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

George Herold wrote:

On Aug 17, 6:05 pm, "Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terr...@earthlink.net
wrote:
George Herold wrote:

On Aug 15, 11:51 pm, TVisitor <tvisi...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm comfortable with soldering components to a board (mostly thru-hole
stuff), but I still struggle greatly with soldering wires to parts.

What is the process for soldering a wire to a connector?

Let's take 2 examples - soldering a wire to a bridge rectifier lead
(the lead is 1/4" square, pretty large), and the second example is
where you need to solder a wire to a 1/8" headphone jack.

So far, I've been tinning the wire, tinning the lead on the component,
then heating the lead till the solder melts, then holding the wire on
the lead for a second or so with the iron in place, giving the solder
on the wire a chance to flow.  then remove the iron, hold in place to
give the solder a chance to cool.

The 2 problems I have:

1.  There is invariably a hole in the lead, for you to feed the wire
through.  Does it *really* matter?  [assuming of course the wire can
fit].  There doesn't seem to be a good way to push the wire through
the hole and have the wire flush up against the lead to make a good
solder joint.  If the joint is good, I've been told there is no reason
to have to have the wire in the hole.

2.  While holding the wire waiting for it to cool, invariably the head
tracks up the wire and makes my fingers hot and I can't hold it.  Or,
if I try to hold it with a pair of tweezers, the head deforms the
insulation and it looks ugly.  Perhaps the iron is too hot (I have it
at 700 degrees F), but how do you hold the wire against the part while
waiting for it to cool?

If someone could walk me through it, or point me a to a link online,
I'd appreciate it.

All good suggestions from Dan.  I like to twist the lead and wire
together (making a mechanical joint) and then solder them.  Trim off
any excess wire when you are done.
Perhaps one of the finickiest tasks is soldering wires into a multi-
pin connector.  Then I do like to have a ‘third hand’ to hold the wire
in place while I solder it.  I don’t pre tin the wires and I apply the
heat to the connector pin.  A ‘third hand’ is any sort of clamping
device that can hold the wire at the right place.  I’ve got some
alligator clips on movable joints.  (sorry that’s not a good
description.)  The connector is held in a vise.

  I prefer to pre-tin the wires, then use a single drop of Kester RMA
flux on the pin. Then you align the wire and reflow the solder. You can
get perfect joints without spending all day.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hmm, I guess with the connectors I've been doing lately the wire
'just' fits.  I'm afraid if I tin it there will be some solder 'bluge'
left on the side and then I can't get it in.  Perhaps I don't have the
proper technique.

   You only need enough solder to fill the space between the strands. If
you get too much, just re-heat it and tap it of the edge of something to
allow the excess solder to hit the workbench.  Just don't get careless
and let it go somewhere else.  A pair of safety glasses or Goggles will
help.  I've soldered for 50 years, now and have tackled a lot of strange
problems.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for the tips (Mike and Dan). I'll try the bench tapping next
time I'm doing this sort of thing. In the past I've also tinned a
long section of wire with the iron at the bottom, and wathc the solder
wick up. Then snip off the bottm section of wire where the excess
solder is.

George H.