Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

Remedial soldering 101----- Original Message -----
From: Brousseau, Paul E (Paul)
Got all the way up to soldering the braided ends of the coaxial to the
bevelled lug on the switchcrafts, but no matter how hard I tried, I could
not get a good looking joint. The solder just bubbles up around the joint,
rather than really melding.

I have noticed in the past with some other wire that oxidation of the wire
can have a profound effect on getting a good solder joint. If everything
else soldered OK, then you might try scraping the brade with an X-acto knife
to remove oxidation. Then try it (right after you heat up that new
soldering iron).

Larry









All my other joints (including the core of the coaxial) look good to decent.
It feels like I couldn't get the braided wire hot enough to meld with the
solder. At one point, though, one of the braids become brittle and snapped
as I flexed it. Surely this isn't very good. I had my (cheap Radio Shack)
soldering iron set to "high", which has consistantly worked in the past.
Any suggestions? I've never changed the tip, but that hasn't seemed to give
me any trouble before. Perhaps the iron is failing? Did something change
with the coaxial? Do I need to learn more patience and wait a significant
amount of time (i.e., more than 15 seconds) before applying the solder to
the braid?
Tonight it gets powered up to see just how badly it's turned out.

Thanks for any suggestions!
--PBr

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.