3pdt lugs

[dave h.]

so im working on a bypass box. while soldering, one of the lugs overheated, the plastic sort of melted, and it tilted over a little.

im new to this. is it still worth finishing it and seeing if it works, or does that render that lug completely unusable?

[petemoore]

THIS IS A JOB FOR: DMM Beep Mode.
 Probably the DMM continuity check would indicate how well the connection works in the box, [hopefully] it sounds like it may have been damaged by heat so MMV.

[dave h.]

unfortunately, i just started doing this DIY stuff, and due to being a no-income-type college student, the whole multimeter thing has to wait few weeks/months.

fortunately, it did work. i was sweatin for a while there... then my retarded self switched the labels for "send" and "return" so i didnt get any sound when the effect was on. then i realized that im an idiot, switched the cables, and it worked.

i have to admit, this whole electronics/pedal thing... im just getting started, but it's very addictive. its hard to learn, but man is it rewarding. now i can actually use my ADA s1000 "crap-bypass" digital delay. the "bypass" didnt actually bypass the in and out volume levels, and when the effect is on, theres a huge volume boost. since the levels applied to both the effected and bypassed signal, (which makes zero sense, only negative about the unit though) adjusting them does make it louder or softer, but the difference between in and out cant be fixed.

[petemoore]

you can add a volume control to the effect on mode of the bypass box...if there's space available.

[MartyMart]

so im working on a bypass box. while soldering, one of the lugs overheated, the plastic sort of melted, and it tilted over a little.

im new to this. is it still worth finishing it and seeing if it works, or does that render that lug completely unusable?

I did that once with an "X" wing DPDT switch, it works, but looks awful !
With switches, and in general, i'm in and out with the iron in 3 seconds, one with iron, one with solder and one to finish, thats all it should take to get solder on there.

Cheers and have "fun"
Marty.

[dave h.]

wow... 3 seconds?

i must be doing something terribly wrong. how many watts is your iron? what kind of solder are you using? more importantly, what im i doing that takes me forever to get the joint to form?

[petemoore]

Clean hot tinned tip. Sounds like the iron isn't hot enough to do nice jobs on items with greater thermal mass.
 Tin the end of the wire, also I like to twist it tight so that strands to splay when I solder to the lug. I heat the wire first, then add the heated wire end and the iron, [or iron first then the still hot tinned wire end], this allows less time for the heat to 'sink' into the switch body. Just another trick, not really necessary if everything else is working right.
 You 'should' be able to get the lug metal heated enough to grab solder within 5 seconds or so, opinions vary, but anything much more than that, and I stop, regroup, and try again when conditions [more heat in this case probably] are more favorable.
 After you've used a good 'hot' enough iron, you'll be able to tell when you're using a 'cold' iron. I certainly prefer something that gets great looking joints on perf in about 2-4 seconds, and heavier lugs like pots and jacks in about 5 seconds.

[dave h.]

Clean hot tinned tip. Sounds like the iron isn't hot enough to do nice jobs on items with greater thermal mass.
 Tin the end of the wire, also I like to twist it tight so that strands to splay when I solder to the lug. I heat the wire first, then add the heated wire end and the iron, [or iron first then the still hot tinned wire end], this allows less time for the heat to 'sink' into the switch body. Just another trick, not really necessary if everything else is working right.
 You 'should' be able to get the lug metal heated enough to grab solder within 5 seconds or so, opinions vary, but anything much more than that, and I stop, regroup, and try again when conditions [more heat in this case probably] are more favorable.
 After you've used a good 'hot' enough iron, you'll be able to tell when you're using a 'cold' iron. I certainly prefer something that gets great looking joints on perf in about 2-4 seconds, and heavier lugs like pots and jacks in about 5 seconds.

i never thought about tinning the wire first. that makes a damn lot of sense. it seemed like working on a perfboard was a lot quicker, and working on the 3pdt was just a pain in the ass. it worked though, and ill have to completely replicate all my work for the other half of the box tonight or tomorrow night, so the more practice, the better. thanks for the tips!

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Those switches with the lo-temp plastic are REALLY annoying.
One way around it (apart from buying Aron's much better switches :wink: ) is to put a blob of solder on each lug first, then as petemoore says, tin the wires, then just remelt each lug & bang on the wire. It isn't how I'd make EVERY joint!! but, when something is temperature critical & it isn't going to be load-bearing...
and the same for Ge transistors.

[MartyMart]

wow... 3 seconds?

i must be doing something terribly wrong. how many watts is your iron? what kind of solder are you using? more importantly, what im i doing that takes me forever to get the joint to form?

Its a basic 25 watt Iron, some nice new "tips", tinned iron and tinned wire, as suggested.
Mine takes about 7/8 minutes to get "hot" enough.
Wipe the tip after every solder, when its "right" you can get it done in three or four seconds and without any damage  
The problem I have is when attaching wires to say the "jack" I seem to melt the wire coating very easily  !!!

Marty.

[dave h.]

wow... 3 seconds?

i must be doing something terribly wrong. how many watts is your iron? what kind of solder are you using? more importantly, what im i doing that takes me forever to get the joint to form?

Its a basic 25 watt Iron, some nice new "tips", tinned iron and tinned wire, as suggested.
Mine takes about 7/8 minutes to get "hot" enough.
Wipe the tip after every solder, when its "right" you can get it done in three or four seconds and without any damage  
The problem I have is when attaching wires to say the "jack" I seem to melt the wire coating very easily  !!!

Marty.

yeah...

ive gone on a sort of melting-frenzy. melting the wire coating. melting part of a plastic enclosure. melting the rubber coating on the handles to my needlenose pliers, melting part of the actual holder for the iron, etc.

heres a basic question:
is it bad if my iron gets weird colors in certain places, and how should the actual tip look during and after usage?

[MartyMart]

I think thats normal ! ( not the melting of your whloe surroundings though )
I did "melt" my hand the other day, removing parts from an old "CDi" player ----- ouch !  got some great chips/caps though !!..... I digress

My Iron looks like a '70's "disco" light show, blue/green/purple etc, its just the metal reacting with the heat and air.
The actual "tip" should be tinned and "shiney" otherwise its not going to make a good contact with the circuit/parts.
I have a new "ceramic" tipped version and its much better, my "Iron" tip was becoming bent/bits coming off it "black" and burned up !!
If thats happening with yours, scrape that all off with a small file and re-tin it with fresh solder, that will help, or get a couple of new tips like I did.
They were only £1.50  each.
Cheers,
Marty,

[dave h.]

thats good to know.

i definitely have the disco-colors going on.

and my tip is black as night. a very cloudy night.

ive also "melted" my hand a few times. it seems like i can be steady with the hands when i DONT need to be, but when im holding a soldering iron, its like someones sitting behind me looking over my shoulder yelling "PRESSURES ON, DAVE!" repeatedly. hence the "meltdown"

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Before filing a soldering iron tip, check to see whether the tip is plated! If it is, it will be an expensive mistake to file it.
Personally, I'm using a stainless steel pot scourer (jammed in a vegimite jar) to ckean my iron, just jam it in.

[dave h.]

Before filing a soldering iron tip, check to see whether the tip is plated! If it is, it will be an expensive mistake to file it.
Personally, I'm using a stainless steel pot scourer (jammed in a vegimite jar) to ckean my iron, just jam it in.

haha whatever i do, it couldnt be too expensive a mistake, my whole iron setup cost me under 20 bucks.

im pretty sure its not plated, but good call on checking that out before messing with it. and great idea with the scourer-in-a-jar.

i think the nast growing on my iron might be the reason why it takes FOREVER for a good joint to set. i was shocked when i read anything under 10 seconds. thanks all for pointing me the right direction!

[R.G.]

Yep, the gook on the tip keeps it from heating. Ya gotta have *clean* irons.

[petemoore]

Unless you have a third hand or new switch [see below] how the heck else are you gonna get solder on the surfaces, heat and touching components all at the same time...deftly easier to have the parts tinned...
 I run the end of the de-insulated wire Past the iron tip about 1/4'', touching the tip so the wire is heated from the side...a little tinning there really helps the heat flow to the tip of the wire that's sticking out, then it's real easy to get a 'cool' fresh larger glob on the end...I may have to hold and re-apply when the solder cools the wire...anyway, if the end of the wire doesn't pass by the tip of the iron, the blob isn't 'grabbed' by the tip of the iron...hence you have a nice glob ready, that hasn't been overheated, is 'fresh', flows and even has some 'cleaner' [flux?] left if you're using core solder.
 If you're using a new switch though, sticking the deinsulated, twisted wire end [I don't use solid core for switch wiring], you can stick that in the switch lug hole, and wedge it so it stays, then having an iron hand and solder dabbing hand [get a straight length of solder to poke in there EZ], the whole mess can be made into a clean tight joint at once.
 Adding cold solder to an equation of thermal mass [wire heat, pad heat, lead heat etc. all being part of the 'heat' thing]...adding cold solder cools whatever you're doing...for about a second max. There's bunchesof techniques people use...for the solid metals to 'grab' the solder, they must  reach a certain temperature. Knowing when to stop adding solder is important, especialy if you have blobby joints.
 A little bit helps it get started heating the metals...tinning.
 letting the solids heat for a 'time' after the tinned iron contacts THEM [all the leads/pads/ wires/etc to be joined], then adding enough solder to 'fill' the pad, to make a strong physical structure, hopefully not crowd by adding too much...
 Other wise I may add just enough more solder to 'flow' the heat transfer 'across' a lead to another. It's recommended that the iron contacts the metal partS, preplanning the way the parts lay, and in what order they're installed may help when it comes time to heat all the component leads evenly and quickly where they meet at a node.
 I always socket of course any active components, or heat sink the leads while soldering with an alligator clip.

[dave h.]

maybe im tinning wrong. i think i just need to clean the iron really well and try again. everything ive made has worked on the first try, even though it is all simple stuff. no joints have broken, just the stupid solid-core wire.

thanks again for all the help though.