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In Reply to: RE: Terrific DIY Video posted by Eli Duttman on April 12, 2015 at 11:38:38
I agree, especially his cabinet making skills and his planning and execution.
One extremely minor point, though, and my eyes may be deceiving me. It happened so fast... At about 1 minute 32 seconds into the video, he is soldering a wire to the tube socket. It looks to me as if the wire is just stuck through the lug and soldered. Do you guys do that? I would not unless it wasn't possible any other way. I was taught to get a good mechanical joint first (as in making a hook of the end of the wire and crimping with needle nose) and then solder. Nitpicking for sure, though. It's a fabulous video and the guy is a real craftsman.
Follow Ups:
I've looked at loads of Tektronix tube equipment and have yet to find any where wires to tube sockets are not just passed through and soldered. These units stood (still stand) the test of time. It's a matter of skill. On the other hand, a poor connection that relies on a mechanical crimp is, in my experience, just waiting for a few heat/cool cycles before becoming one of those frustrating crackel / pop issues in an amp. Right heat, solder, time = good connection. Now, that being said, today we have these moster connections to make like to massive speaker terminals. That's really hard to do with a tiny iron. Get a good 'ol Weller Soldering Gun for that stuff!
He didn't say just crimp, he said hook, crimp, then solder.
"Now, that being said, today we have these moster connections to make like to massive speaker terminals. That's really hard to do with a tiny iron. Get a good 'ol Weller Soldering Gun for that stuff!"
I agree about the tiny iron, but NOT about the gun. I've had guns fail on me doing exactly those kind of connections. I bought a 60 W. Hexacon iron and it gets some pretty heavy duty jobs done.
IME, soldering guns can be good on tube sockets and terminal strips. FWIW, I prefer Wen to Weller, when it comes to soldering guns. Weller copper tips are a short lived PITA. Wen tips are iron and they LAST.
For truly monstrous soldering jobs, follow the provided link. Get ready for sticker shock.
BTW, before PCBs became commonplace, the construction standard was that the unit worked, without solder. Excellent mechanical connections were made, which functioned well electrically. The solder was used to lock the good mechanical connections into place. 60/40 Sn/Pb is fine under that regime. As soon as the possibility of signal actually flowing through solder entered the picture, 63/37 Sn/Pb eutectic or even fancier alloys became necessary.
Eli D.
If you want a heavy-duty iron that will last and doesn't cost a fortune, buy the Weller 100P. They can be had for $65-75, and they'll solder almost anything. Much better than a gun; it'll last for years, even if you leave it on all day at the bench.
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Is the linked product what you had in mind?
Eli D.
nada aqui
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
its not just better, but helps to hold the wire in the right place.
AB.
Crimping then soldering is by far the best way to do it sonically and mechanically. However, when you are building something that you know has a high propensity to be modded and worked on, like a guitar amp, a 90 degree bend works just fine by allowing you to disassemble. Straight through, not so much.
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