Question about insulators and wire connections. How do you do it?

[cthulhudarren]

I am building a test circuit that uses an L200 (Pentawatt) voltage regulator for controlling voltage. I am not using a a PCB, and so I am soldering wires to the 5 pins on the L200. Needless to say, the pins are already close together and soldering wires to them is even messier. I have concerns about these touching and shorting out. I am using heat-shrink tubing but it still appears messy and doesn't cover the entire length of the L200 pins.

Is there a better way to do this without making a PCB?  Is there a type of connector that I can use that I would solder a wire to and then just connect to the L200 pins? Are there better insulating tricks and tools to do a better job covering up connections and making it also look better?

Thanks in advance,

[iccaros]

you can try these, Radio Shack Sells them.  your likely to kill any IC you directly solder to, as people tend to leave the iron too long in contact.

[cthulhudarren]

your likely to kill any IC you directly solder to, as people tend to leave the iron too long in contact.

Since you need to heat-sink L200s (they're voltage regulators) I figured they would not mind getting hot enough to solder to. I just remove the tip within a second once the solder has melted. Making it look neat and clean is another matter.

[artifus]

use a croc clip as a heat sink whilst soldering? i often clip the legs of transistors topside when soldering without sockets for peace of mind, tho i strive to be quick and clean too.

*also* keep the sheaths from stripped wires for use on such occasions. you can build up quite a collection of various sizes and lengths which can be later put to good use.

[R.G.]

Heat shrinkable tubing.