trying to build cables

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staen

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Hi all-
I am trying to learn how to build my own cables. I have finally bought cable, connectors, and soldering supplies and now I am apprehensive. Can anyone take a picture or post a link to pics of soldered connectors? I want to have a reference for the "best case scenario". It would be a huge help. also, feel free to give any words of advice. thanks in advance!
 
Well, I don't have any links, but you should try not to use too much solder, and obviously just check to make sure the connections are strong.

Look at some guitar chords or pre-made cables to see what a good connection should look like.
 
your solder bead should be smoothe and shiny.
 
First off you need a decent iron. Then it really helps to have something like this:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=360-670

to hold the cable.

OK, you need to make sure your cable is mechanically sound, which means stress does not bear on the solder joints. With XLR cables this is pretty easy, like with Neutrik connectors they have an internal clamp that holds the wire jacket. You just need to make sure that you don't cut back the jacket too far. An inch will do the trick.

Put the strain relief and the clamp on the wire first. I don't care to mention how many cables I've soldered only to realize that I left these off and I have to solder it again. Don't do that!

Next, strip an inch of the jacket. I use a razor blade, because I enjoy living dangerously, but there are safer tools for this.

Then you peel back the braided shield, and twist that together. I like to solder the ground wire first, then the two leads.

The key to soldering is you have to get the wire & connector hot enough to melt the solder. You shouldn't just use the iron to melt the solder, because that will not form a sound joint. So you put the wire in the connector, then you put the iron on it. With my iron, after about five seconds, I'll put a bit of solder on the tip, just above the wire, and in a couple more seconds, the solder will flow into the joint--hot solder, hot joint. I'll leave the iron on for another second or two just to be sure. The whole process takes about ten seconds. When the joint cools it should be nice and shiny.

It does take a little bit of practice, because you don't want to get the connectors too hot, as they are plastic and can melt. Also the insulation on the wires can melt, and if it gets too melty, could touch another lead and short your connector.

I have some soldering I can do tonight, so I'll try & post pictures.
 
Pictures

OK, pictures as follows:

1) My humble desktop setup :o

2) Cable cut, stripped, twisted, clamped & ready to go. Note the strain relief on the cable!

3) Applying heat to the connector

4) Add some solder to the iron

5) Solder begins to flow

6) Finished joints: the good, bad, and ugly. The ground wire is done properly. It's hard to tell in the pix, but it is shiny, and the solder flowed into the joint and along the wire. I use more solder than strictly necessary on the ground wire, since it's the first one I do and I like it nice and strong.

The red wire is also a good joint, but the heat stayed on too long, so the connector lead slipped a bit. You can see that in the picture--it will still work OK, but you want to avoid that. The black wire I purposely dumped solder on the iron, then touched the iron to the wire. This is the WRONG way to do it. Notice how the solder is just sitting in a big glob on the wire, it didn't flow into the joint. Also there is a little mark from the alligator clamp, but that doesn't make a difference so long as it's in a spot where it won't cause a short. To avoid that, clamp further down the wire where it doesn't get as hot.

7) Finished connector with internal wire clamp attached (after I fixed the black wire!): note the end of the clamp grips the cable jacket, not the wires.
 
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There's something slightly pornographic about those pictures, just not sure quite what.

Don't you tin the wires before soldering? Also, I never liked using those alligator clips, they weren't solid enough for me. I now use a panavise clamp to hold the connector and manipulate the rest with my hands. I hold the cable and solder in one hand and the soldering iron in the other.

A really great book with a section on soldering is the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement handbook. A great reference book to have around the studio, and it has a series of pictures on soldering as well.

The best way to see how your finished cables should look is to buy a professionally made cable and take it apart. I frequently do that when making a new cable type.
 
good post above, but i personally have never soldered like that. The best way that works for me is to tint each part individually, then use your iron to heat them together. For example, you would take your iron and heat the wire, then use the solder and let it flow covering the tip of the wire. Remember, your solder should never really touch your iron, your iron is only to heat the element. Do the same process with your tab on the connector you are soldering to. When both elements have some solder on them, you just put them together and heat them with the iron. This method is a little easier because you dont need 4 hands to try and hold everything together at once. Also, buy some Rosen flux, and dab a little on each one of your elements you are soldering. This can save you hours of trying to remove solder from unwated areas. Always make sure you have a clean workspace, a good iron (weller is best), and never any cold joints. Get in good habits now, so you dont end up like me and have a bunch of half-assed cables laying around that you have to fix all the time ;)
 
SonicAlbert said:
Don't you tin the wires before soldering? Also, I never liked using those alligator clips, they weren't solid enough for me. I now use a panavise clamp to hold the connector and manipulate the rest with my hands. I hold the cable and solder in one hand and the soldering iron in the other.
Click to expand...

Nah, that works slower me, because I'd heat the solder twice. My wires end up tinned all the way through, up 3/16" or so. For doing TRS connectors, I like to twist the wire through the hole to get a solid mechanical connection, thus pre-tinning isn't possible. With the TRS connector there's a lot more room though, so I can get the solder straight onto the wire. I like TRS a lot better.

Honestly, before I had a decent iron, nothing worked well, and once I got the Weller, practically anything works. That for me is the key.

The clips aren't my favorite either, but they work & they're cheap. I couldn't work with cable & solder in one hand. I am very uncoordinated with that sort of thing.
 
I just looked at 'solder.jpg' again. Sorry that is bad. Normally I aim right at the junction of the iron & wire. Unfortunately since my two hands were occupied, I also had the wife in there real close with the camera. I resolve to do better next time.
 
Yeah, I'm a pianist, so I can coordinate different things with one hand. Glad those lessons are paying off!

I use a Weller soldering station as well, and like it very much.

One other suggestion I'd like to make is to have a small fan blowing the fumes away from your face as you solder. Also, working in a well ventilated area is important. My soldering station is set up at a work bench in the garage. The disadvantage to that is that even here in Southern California the garage is a little too cold in the winter and a little too hot in the summer.
 
I think everyone here has done a great job in helping a novice do the job, and then go from there. I would go with the tinting of the exposed wire not due to ease or convenience, but just to keep the rust away. However, if you know you are going to use the wires inside (with A/C or heating comfort) or you live in Arizona with little or no humidity then it's not really an issue.

As for Lead fumes, just try not to inhale deeply when soldering, and do it in the garage or the kitchen (if you live in an apartment) with the vent fan on.

However, one thing I highly recommend before soldering your first set of wires is, to do some tests on some scrap wires you have. Just try and solder them together and try different techniques. This really helps you in getting ready for the real thing. It really doesn't take long to get the hang of it.
 
That's completely different than how I was taught in the military. Some of the components we worked with could not be heated to the point they could melt solder. It would destroy them.

First, the iron must be properly cleaned and tinned.

The wire would be stripped, flux applied, heat-sink would be clamped just below where the insulation was stripped off. This was to help prevent solder (wicking) up the wire underneath the insulation. And the wire would be tinned.

Flux would be applied again to tinned wire and the connector.

Wire put in place

Now here's the difference. Solder is applied to the iron first. Now, you just touch the iron to the work and the flux will make the solder flow around the joint.
 
I'm with Hangdawg on this one. That's how I solder. And I've soldered a shit load of stuff in my time.
 
Track Rat said:
I'm with Hangdawg on this one. That's how I solder. And I've soldered a shit load of stuff in my time.
Click to expand...


Yep, It's not necessary to heat the work up like that. I've noticed on some XLRs the pins will get loose when it is heated too much.
 
HangDawg said:
That's completely different than how I was taught in the military. Some of the components we worked with could not be heated to the point they could melt solder. It would destroy them.
Click to expand...

Sure, with a PCB board. But the ground wire on a mic cable must be like 16 AWG when it's twisted. It's gonna take a fair amount of heat to get it tinned whether done before or after.
 
mshilarious said:
Sure, with a PCB board. But the ground wire on a mic cable must be like 16 AWG when it's twisted. It's gonna take a fair amount of heat to get it tinned whether done before or after.
Click to expand...

Most of the stuff I worked on in the Army was not PCB mounted. Point to point most of it.

You missed the secret. It doesn't take alot of heat. It takes flux, a properly tinned iron. That's it. Cover the end of the wire in flux, get a blob of solder on the iron and run the wire through it. Instantly tinned wire with no excess heat. Try it once.
 
HangDawg said:
Most of the stuff I worked on in the Army was not PCB mounted. Point to point most of it.

You missed the secret. It doesn't take alot of heat. It takes flux, a properly tinned iron. That's it. Cover the end of the wire in flux, get a blob of solder on the iron and run the wire through it. Instantly tinned wire with no excess heat. Try it once.
Click to expand...

OK, I'll anything once. If it hurts, I usually try it a couple more times.

What you are describing isn't a lot different than what was shown here, except I don't use flux. Isn't there flux in the solder? Thought there was supposed to be.

However I believe others were suggesting to get the wire hot enough to flow the solder directly into it, which I don't do with XLRs, but I don't mind with TRS. Either way you can get nice shiny joints. How much does this really matter with cables? I mean, to get the melty XLR pin on the red wire, I had to apply a ridiculous amount of heat, like 30 seconds or something.

The one thing I really hate is desoldering opamps on PCBs. Man that makes me nervous. I've never ruined one, but I feel like it's always lurking, waiting for me to screw up.
 
mshilarious said:
OK, I'll anything once. If it hurts, I usually try it a couple more times.

What you are describing isn't a lot different than what was shown here, except I don't use flux. Isn't there flux in the solder? Thought there was supposed to be.

However I believe others were suggesting to get the wire hot enough to flow the solder directly into it, which I don't do with XLRs, but I don't mind with TRS. Either way you can get nice shiny joints. How much does this really matter with cables? I mean, to get the melty XLR pin on the red wire, I had to apply a ridiculous amount of heat, like 30 seconds or something.

The one thing I really hate is desoldering opamps on PCBs. Man that makes me nervous. I've never ruined one, but I feel like it's always lurking, waiting for me to screw up.
Click to expand...


It probably doesn't matter much doin cables. Unless you are using cheapo connectors and you melt them. I guess the big difference is less heat and you don't have to hold the solder cause it's on the iron.
 
HangDawg said:
That's completely different than how I was taught in the military. Some of the components we worked with could not be heated to the point they could melt solder. It would destroy them.

Now here's the difference. Solder is applied to the iron first. Now, you just touch the iron to the work and the flux will make the solder flow around the joint.
Click to expand...
That's how I got taught, but I was working on electronics. However, my concern with applying the heat directly to the wire would not be melting the copper, but the heat does change the composition of wire.
Heat on the copper causes the electrons to vibrate at higher rates, and when the wire cools off the electrons (although not necessarily at these temperatures) may be lined up in a different direction. This could cause higher resistance in the wire. I seriously doubt that the iron could cause this, but I like to err on the side of caution. :)
Just my 2 cents worth.
 
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