soldering wire to straight lugs?

[bifbangpow]

I've got this dual 50k pot that has straight lugs instead of round ones with holes in them. How should I go about soldering the wires to it?

[J0K3RX]

Just like you did in your pics from the "Can I use solder to connect a broken copper circuit?" post. You can use heat shrink tube on them if it will make you sleep better at night... Or, you could design your own PCB with board mounted pots or find a layout with board mounted pots or..... Don't over think it just use common sense.

[Ben Lyman]

If you have trouble holding the parts together without using "holes" you can throw an alligator clip on there while soldering. I use a $5 set of "helping hands" from Harbor Freight, they are flimsy and I want to get better ones eventually but for now they do the job.

[Kipper4]

I clamp my pots in long nose pliers with elastic band round the handles to hold the pot tight.
Tin the lugs and wires to be attached and then heat both up and boom.
Shrink the heat shrink and sleep sound as Jok3r says.

[induction]

Or use a small piece of vero:

[deadastronaut]

i use needle nose pliers and carefully bend the lug into a hook,

then do the same with the tinned wire for a mechanical connection..

this also raises the lug from the enclosure to prevent shorting too...

hook together , solder done....

[amptramp]

I sometimes wrap tight turns of wire around the pot lead and solder them.  If you can form a hook in the pot lead after wrapping, so much the better.

[feddozz]

I sometimes wrap tight turns of wire around the pot lead and solder them.  If you can form a hook in the pot lead after wrapping, so much the better.

I can't picture it. Could you post a photo?

I can suggest advice from madbean, if I recall correctly, use blue tac to hold things still. With a bit of creativity it's very versatile.

[samhay]

>Or use a small piece of vero:

That's what I do and it works with dual gang pots too, although you may find it easier to use perf in this case.

[duck_arse]

I use the small bit of vero too. but I line the wires up in the board to solder, then run the wires through a bit of folded card as a jaw-guard for a small foldback/bulldog clip, clamping/holding the wires still. the card can also be clamped/clipped to something bigger/heavier to hold everything still.

[anotherjim]

Straight lap joints here. If I make a fussy job of it, I'm almost certainly going to want to change the pot afterwards. If it was work for somebody else, I would put heatshrink over the joints, honestly.

Little bits of vero/perf are great for making multipole cable connectors out of 0.1" PCB header pins & sockets (like Arduino uses), instead of messing with those teensy crimp contacts.

[bifbangpow]

If i were going to use heat shrink, would i solder the wire to the lug first still? or do i just use the heat shrink to hold it together?

[induction]

First solder, then heat shrink. I suspect you would have trouble soldering through the heat shrink. 

If the other end of the wire is already soldered in place, put the heat shrink on the wire before soldering the wire to the pot, then slide the heat shrink over the lug and shrink it. Be careful not to overheat the wire, or the heat shrink will contract in place and you won't be able to move it.

[Jdansti]

Ah, fun with heat shrink! So many times I have soldered both ends of the wire while my piece of heat shrink quietly sits on the bench watching me solder away!

[J0K3RX]

If i were going to use heat shrink, would i solder the wire to the lug first still? or do i just use the heat shrink to hold it together?

Of course, you just use heat shrink to hold it together... Don't let these guys fool ya! Works great, you should slap some on that power jack and battery connector too while you're at it.  Nicely played 

[exztinct01]

Does he mean using clips as heat sink?

[Jdansti]

Here's a clip I accidentally ran across by Haveyouseenhim that shows the lug bending trick.

[bluebunny]

Ah, fun with heat shrink! So many times I have soldered both ends of the wire while my piece of heat shrink quietly sits on the bench watching me solder away!

I'll raise you, John: jack plug case sitting quietly on the bench while I solder the cable...   

[Jdansti]

Ah, fun with heat shrink! So many times I have soldered both ends of the wire while my piece of heat shrink quietly sits on the bench watching me solder away!

I'll raise you, John: jack plug case sitting quietly on the bench while I solder the cable...   

Yes, and I've already pinched the hell out of that damned strain relief! 

[PRR]

> shows the lug bending trick.

Can we make this more complicated and inconvenient??

Jeez. You wrap the wire a turn or two around the pin, solder, done.

It is so "obvious" that nobody posts pictures.

Ponder this:



That is an un-soldered wirewrap. With the right wire, the right pins, the right wrap-count, the right tool, this goes VERY fast, such as wiring-up large telephone systems.

Here we probably do not have the magic pins, the special wire, or the approved tool. So we solder the wrap. Which only has to be wrap-enough to stay while we solder.

With three pins, you skin the wire, take a few turns, solder, trim the stray end, done.