Patchbay Soldering

longsoughtfor

longsoughtfor

Searching for the sound
I picked up a couple of TT patchbays (used) and need to solder a bunch of wires up.

The trouble is, the contacts on the legs of the connectors are fairly oxidized... Does anyone have a recommendation for cleaning these so I can solder to them? Is there a magic goo or spray so that I don't have to abraide each one by hand (~700)?

Related question: I do have a wire wrap gun that fit's over the legs. I am considering running the ones that go back & forth to the Tape out to a D-Sub connector. Is there any problem with running solid core wire wrap wire from the TT's to the D-Subs?

Thanks
Kevin.
 
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Kevin,
Sounds like you need a good contact cleaner/deoxidizer. Go to http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=116 and check out their R5 cleaner/deoxidizer and "Deoxit". I use the Deoxit at home and work and can vouch for it. Comes in liquid or aerosol. You might have to clean it off before soldering though because it leaves a thin protection coat. The R5 sounds like it'll do too and it's "environmentally friendly", whatever that means :rolleyes: It's also safe on plastic.

As far as the wire wrap. All the wire wrap I've used has been really, really small. You can also run into an intermittent connection somewhere down the road. Also, the post that you typically wire wrap onto tend to be square so it bites into the wire instead of letting it just spin around it.

DD
 
I don't see why you couldn't use a wire wrap. Check out the pix of this patchbay on auction at ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=920607035
Looks like that's what they did. I don't envy you. I had to do five 96 point patchbays once and I was never so glad to see any one thing done in all my life. You could also take the pigtail out to a punchblock. Although there is a chance there too of a bad connection. But a lot of people do it that way.
 
Best solution, (perhaps for the future), look at a recon bay from my friend Mr. Patchbay. http://home.flash.net/~motodata/patchbays/
I've bought stuff from him for many years, never been let down.
My last purchase - 6 used bays in near perfect condition, which normally cost between $800 and $900 a piece new, for $185 each.
 
Thanks Sjoko - Thats exactly were I got these. They are in great shape don't get me wrong. The leads are just oxidized enough to make soldering difficult. Mr Patchbay has been super to me as well, throwing in a few extra cables here and there when I've ordered stuff.

Cheers
Kevin.
 
Sjoko2 used his Jedi mind control on me and conviced me to just email Bob Hickey (aka Mr Patchbay) this question. Here is his response:

>
> Hi Bob - I am (finally) wiring up my patchbay and had a couple of
> questions:
>
> 1. The leads of the jacks are oxidized enough that they are difficult
> to solder to. Can you recommend a de-oxidizer (Deoxit?) that works
> well for soldering without needing to clean with sandpaper (or
> similar).

Do not use "lead free" solder. It will not stick. Go to Radio Shack and get their standard solder. Also they have a solder iron tip cleaner in a tiny can. This will haep as well.

>
> 2. Would the audio suffer at all if I used wire-wrap wire to jumper
> from the jacks to D25 type connectors?

No according to ADC, wire wrap is better at passing high freq. signals. All ADC's high -end patchbays use wirewrap. Go to: http:www.specialized.net 1-800-866-5353 to get a wrap tool. WSU-224 for 20-26 gauge is what I use.

>
> Thanks
> Kevin.
>

Bobby
 
Kevin, you didn't mention whether the pins you want to wire wrap are round or square - if they're round, it's not a good idea. Digital Don was right. Wire wrap depends on proper wire tension and technique to acheive a gas tight connection at each junction of square corner and wire. Without the corners, the wire doesnt "bite into" the post, and the connection will sooner or later fail.

Also, I'm not so sure that re-gurgitated (tinned) surfaces of wire wrap posts would give all that good a connection - new wirewrap components are either gold plated or sometimes tinned. I guess if you got the old surface clean with DeOxit it might come close to a new tinned surface, but I'd be a little nervous about it.

The other thing is, even the largest wire wrap bit I have only uses (I think) 28 ga. wire, and ONLY solid core, not stranded. You would want to make sure that there could be NO MOVEMENT of whatever cable is wire wrapped in the PB area, by tye wrapping in at least two places to something very solid to prevent movement at the wire wrap joint.

It's awfully tempting to take the easy way, but I'd recommend being really SURE it will work for you. Kinda like buying decisions - you can buy cheap, then buy the good stuff after you find out why it was more, or you can buy the good stuff FIRST, and save both the money you paid for the cheap stuff AND the TIME it took you to do it twice... Steve
 
Knightfly - Thanks for the pointers. The posts are not round, more rectangular but the corners are square. The wire wrap gun I have I think can handle 26ga wire, It has a bunch of different size tips, I'd have to check it (it was in a box of stuff I got from a company bankruptcy clearance).

The surfaces have never been soldered, they are brass (I think) and I'm sure it was only ever used for telephone service and was wirewrapped.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again
Kevin.
 
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