Soldering - the good and the bad

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Both the O-ring & the tile disasters can teach us something:
In both cases, there were 'feelings' & 'concern' that things were a bit iffy - but they kept getting away with it (blow by erosion of o-rings & multiple foam drops) and, eventually as they kept getting away with it, concern dropped to zero.
So the message is - don't slack off, because nothing has gone wrong YET.

[DougH]

Maybe slightly OT, but I'm seeing many cases where anal neatness is becoming more important than functionality. 

There's a lot of "beauty contest" stuff going on in boo-teek land right now. It's especially in amps, but you see it in pedals too. Overt and anal attention to "purtyness" impresses neophytes, but doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how well the circuit functions or how reliable it will be. Excessive and unnecessary 90 degree wire bends are one example of the stupidity. Someone posts a photo and the next thing you know there's a rash of armchair experts that perpetuate the mythology.

[MusicAudio]

Excessive and unnecessary 90 degree wire bends are one example of the stupidity.

You mean sharply bend wires isn't the answer? I'm going to go against the grain and say that I want my wires to have the largest voltage drop possible - and an unpredictable drop at that!

[ayayay!]

Quote
Maybe slightly OT, but I'm seeing many cases where anal neatness is becoming more important than functionality. 

There's a lot of "beauty contest" stuff going on in boo-teek land right now. It's especially in amps, but you see it in pedals too. Overt and anal attention to "purtyness" impresses neophytes, but doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how well the circuit functions or how reliable it will be. Excessive and unnecessary 90 degree wire bends are one example of the stupidity. Someone posts a photo and the next thing you know there's a rash of armchair experts that perpetuate the mythology.

I also find it funny that the guys who do the "anal wire bends" are the ones who probably don't want you cracking their stuff open.  The advantage of the nice 90 degree bends are that the guys who look inside can easily work on it, but the builders don't realize how easy they've made it for hackers.  I love it.  Ha!  I'm all for refinement, but that doesn't mean it should cost more. 

[Eric H]

Maybe slightly OT, but I'm seeing many cases where anal neatness is becoming more important than functionality. 

Excessive and unnecessary 90 degree wire bends are one example of the stupidity. Someone posts a photo and the next thing you know there's a rash of armchair experts that perpetuate the mythology.

Bundling of wires with no attention to the nature of the wire (signal? ground? power?)
The old HiWatt amps that started this whole mess are great examples --they are noisier than they should be.


-Eric

[David]

Posted, but thought better of it.

[joegagan]

i am guilty of  (sometimes) trying to wire things really neatly, it is a good exercise in workmanship. 90* angles and all that.

it makes the customer feel good about what they bought.

but i won't break any rules about signal lines parallel to power lines etc.

as i understand it, mil spec in electronics was designed to make electronics impervious to harsh vibration and still function, and to make seviceability in the field as easy and fast as possible. the 90 degree bends often achieve this by making certain components below or adjacent more accessible.

but i also see the point, people gettin all boutiqu-ey about it is a little creepy too!

[DougH]

T'ain't no big deal either way. I bend wires when it makes sense. It's the "makes sense" part that is important.

[rikkards]

I dunno 25 years after the incident, I think you are safe to make that kind of joke. And with regards to the infractions, I am invoking the 5th (even if I am not merkin). 

Did NASA have a similar spec for fitting O-rings?

Really classy.   

It wasn't meant to come across as a humourous comment ... maybe I should've said, "Did those ba$turds at NASA have a similar spec for fitting O-rings, probably not?"

Sorry if I upset anyone that thought I was making a joke of it.

Well, I thought it was a joke, and a pretty damn good one, and I even laughed. I guess that makes me the ba$turd.


Anyways, whole else found themselves guilty of at least 10 or more violations?

[ClinchFX]

Maybe slightly OT, but I'm seeing many cases where anal neatness is becoming more important than functionality. 

There's a lot of "beauty contest" stuff going on in boo-teek land right now. It's especially in amps, but you see it in pedals too. Overt and anal attention to "purtyness" impresses neophytes, but doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how well the circuit functions or how reliable it will be. Excessive and unnecessary 90 degree wire bends are one example of the stupidity. Someone posts a photo and the next thing you know there's a rash of armchair experts that perpetuate the mythology.

It's not limited only to boo-teek land.  The PA rack I spoke about was built by a local commercial PA company that supplies systems to shopping malls, schools etc.  I know the guy who built it.  He claims to have qualifications in electronics, but seems to have only rudimentary knowledge at best.  Over a couple of years, it has become obvious that he is using the neatness thing as a cover for his lack of knowledge.  There are also other problems with the wiring of the rack.  I contract to this company as a troubleshooter when their own "techs" can't come up with an answer.  By the time I've corrected the problems, most of their profit on this installation will go to me.

The same guy is "Training Officer" for the company, so his BS will continue down the line.

Peter.

[Filament]

Regarding the NASA document, I don't know how they got into my garage for all those pictures but frankly, I think it's an invasion of my privacy.

Regarding neatness, some of the old Matchless amps look like a "turd in a punchbowl" on the inside but they sure sound good.  Whoda thunk?

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Posted, but thought better of it.

David, you are a wiser man than I.

[gez]

Anyways, whole else found themselves guilty of at least 10 or more violations?

I didn't really go through it all, but I dare say I'd come out of it badly. 

When we got a new laptop last year I had to download the PCB program I use and install the 'key' to activate it.  I hadn't really bothered with updates on the old laptop so everything had changed.  I fired up a layout and there were these little circles peppered all over the artwork.  After consulting the help section I discovered that they highlighted design/regulation breaches for what is considered good layout practice (a new feature of the updated program).  I wasn't concerned as it followed my design rules: see what you can get away with.  The layout worked, that's all that mattered. 

[Solidhex]

Yo

Great article thanks R.G. Reminds me of when I open up my first builds and gasp at the crappy wiring job. I  prefer tidy wiring but I stop at the extreme. Rat's nests are asking for trouble.

--Brad

[Nasse]

And think about methods Nasa did not bother to documnet. Like using screw on terminals made for larger current and wire, instead of soldering, and just take wires and cables what ya can find in the carbage can somewhere in the building ya are called to repair "things".

All I can say some gauges are slippery under screws terminal and breaks easily