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Soldering Help

E

EJB

pfm Member
Hi,

I can recognise a soldering iron from a toaster, but whereas I can make toast, I have never used a soldering iron.

Would anybody be willing to convert a pair of linn silver interconnects from the current RCA/RCA to RCA/DIN for me?

I want to be able to use the interconnect between a linto and my 552, so a Naim style DIN plug would be the preference. Whoever does the job can keep the redundant Linn plugs.

I am more than happy to reimburse for the work/parts and cover the return postage.

Please PM if able to help.

KR

EJB
 
It's a straightforward job with a decent iron however I have a suggestion....Sell the Linn Interconnects and get a pair from Flashback?
 
I am in Northern Ireland. I did watch a dealer solder Naim plugs on my NACA5 and decided there and then it was not a skill I wanted to develop.
 
If you want to send them down to Dublin I can do it for you. PM me if interested.

If you'd asked a few months back you could have had my RCA-DIN Linn silvers before I converted them back to RCA-RCA :)

Richard
 
Learning to solder is something I would love to be able to do - so I can get involved in DIY audio and hopefully build a better system. I bought a solder iron from maplins and some "Lead Free Solder" from Maplins: Composition SN 99.3%, Cu 0.7% 1mm dia. I cannot get the solder to flow very well. Is it the solder type or me?

Stuart
 
It's the solder type. Maplins sell only lead-free, and it's the work of Beelzebub. Get to your friendly motor factors and buy some proper solder. If an ageing female academic can solder perfectly, you can. Trust me on this.
 
Stuart, get an old pcb out of anything you can find, practise desoldering and resoldering the components. When you can do it on a grubby old pcb you'll find it a breeze doing it with new components and boards. There are loads of decent videos online.
 
Even within the lead free world, the type that contains some silver (typically something like 95% tin, 4% silver, 0.5 % copper) is much easier to use than the tin-copper version, which has a rather high melting point.

But old lead-tin is nicer still.
 
My present iron could do with being a bit higher wattage, although I manage. I miss my old Weller solder gun (they're a US product, but mine was made in Canada). You can buy them in the UK. They heat up within a few seconds when you pull the trigger, and cool down quickly. I don't think much of these temperature-controlled soldering stations, especially those with a damp sponge. Best thing to wipe your bit is kitchen roll, and it's good to have some steel wool to hand for cleaning it from time to time.
 
I agree with everyone else - soldering is actually a lot easier than it looks. What I did was to but some veroboard (I think it was caled tripad board) and a big pack of cheap resistors to practice on. As I knew the resistance, I could then check with the reistance with a multimeter. Reistance = bands on resitor = good joint - gave me confidence enough anyway. As long as the tip is tinned and you are holding the iron at the right angle to make proper contact withn the board, it really does seem surprisingly easy. I found lead free solder tricky. Ersin multicore was a lot easier to use for me.
 
Stuart Frazer said:
Learning to solder is something I would love to be able to do - so I can get involved in DIY audio and hopefully build a better system. I bought a solder iron from maplins and some "Lead Free Solder" from Maplins: Composition SN 99.3%, Cu 0.7% 1mm dia. I cannot get the solder to flow very well. Is it the solder type or me?

Stuart
Click to expand...

I built a World Designs KEL84 valve amplifier kit in my kitchen ( well actually on my dining room table :) ) using this spec of solder ( Order code N32AR) and an old battered Draper 30w soldering iron ( with a shiny new tip), no prob's at all, solder flowed free and easy, i had one dry joint on the remote relay input board ( extremely tight, fiddly, small joints) which i found and rectified quickly .

Sorry Stuart but gotta put your problems down to operator error....

get a piece of strip board, some bare solid core wire, make sure everything is cleaned and...... practice, practice practice......
 
Sid

My Solder is Maplins N29AR. Yours is their Lead-Free Silver Solder and according to Maplin: "This solder is 4% silver, 95.5% tin and 0.5% copper. We recommend this solder for use with the iron-clad and nickel-clad bits supplied with our soldering irons. Solder is available in 1mm 100g, 250g and 500g reels. The high silver content improves the conductivity of the solder and lowers the melting point, improving the flow."

It might be better solder to work with until I get the hang of it. I agree I need to set some time aside and practice.....

Stuart
 
If you're using Veroboard or a printed circuit board, best to clean the tracks with steel wool just before assembly, to remove any oxidation. Same goes for valve base tags, tag strips and component leads. Then, if you want to do a really good job, do what I do and clean all the component leads, tracks and tags with Ronson lighter fluid, obtainable from tobacconists. It removes all traces of grease (a great enemy of a good solder joint), evaporates rapidly, and a tin lasts for ages. Apply with clean cotton buds (Q-tips). It's also invaluable for removing that sticky stuff left when you remove paper labels from mains leads, and also any residue from price labels.
 
Isopropyl alcohol, around £10.00 a Ltr in Maplins. Excellent stuff for cleaning any electrical/electronic gear, very handy suff and will last years...
 
ClaraBannister said:
If you're using Veroboard or a printed circuit board, best to clean the tracks with steel wool just before assembly, to remove any oxidation. Same goes for valve base tags, tag strips and component leads. Then, if you want to do a really good job, do what I do and clean all the component leads, tracks and tags with Ronson lighter fluid, obtainable from tobacconists. It removes all traces of grease (a great enemy of a good solder joint), evaporates rapidly, and a tin lasts for ages. Apply with clean cotton buds (Q-tips). It's also invaluable for removing that sticky stuff left when you remove paper labels from mains leads, and also any residue from price labels.
Click to expand...

Good advice on cleaning,
preparing cct boards prior
to soldering components.

The best way to prepare
components, eg: resistors,
capacitors, all components
with tags is to scrape the
leadouts until they show a
shine, use a knife blade or
similar.

It's a good method of preparing
old tarnished copper wire, twist
first then scrape with blade until
the copper shines, then solder.

Have Fun. :)
 
Not a brass wire brush?

Steel is ferrous - i wouldn't recommend it myself especially wool.

Proper quality soldering is an elusive art - despite what peolpe say it is harder than it seems to get right especially when it comes to sound.

As for soldering irons, in my view the best in the industry is a - Metcal soldering station - but these are really for the expert on a production line or re-work station.
http://www.okinternational.com/product_soldering/mx500
 
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