A 500 sound issues (Short maybe)

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by prowler

Hey, that's not cheating.
It's how you should have been taught to do it if you served an electronics apprenticeship like I did!

i dont have your qualifications, but i'm glad what i taught myself over the years is as it turns out, an official method

Originally Posted by prowler

Edit: Either that, or you're just a natural!

naw, i had a year of lessons in year 10 of school, then dropped it for my final year, back in 1998. nothing since though

Originally Posted by prowler

I must admit I've only used flux paste for soldering copper pipe unions when I'm fixing up the plumbing with a blowtorch!

my pipe solders aren't anywhere near as pretty as my electronic ones and i have been known to use plumbing flux when i'm short of soldering flux paste.. still works the same, and not had any joints corrode from the "no clean" corrosive stuff you can get from Wickes but i wouldn't recommend it

[Zippy Zapp]

Originally Posted by prowler

Good luck!

Be sure to report back and let us know how you get on.

Will do! Probably won't have time to attempt till Wed after work.

Originally Posted by diablothe2nd

to reflow, i cheat... after tinning my iron tip, i dip the end of the solder (NOT the iron!!!) in my flux... hold my iron to the contact needing reflowing until it melts, and then just touch the iron with the fresh solder for a split second. = total time for all of that, about 3 seconds. and an even shinier joint than before with no bulging of the solder

Cool, I will do the same.

[roy bates]

i actually use the paste on the solder joint to be worked on.and not the iron.
i clean the iron every now and then on the stand.
i use the paste becuase it stays where its put,the other type runs all over the job.

this way the heat is spread evenly through the joint more effectively(i find),though peaple do things differently.
theres no trick to using a soldering iron, just use it long enough to melt the solder and no more.

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by roy bates

i actually use the paste on the solder joint to be worked on.and not the iron.

i read it's bad practice to dip the iron in the flux directly as it corrodes the tip. but if using flux core solder, that would be inevitable. plus, iron tips are cheap as chips anyway so a blob on the solder wire wouldn't be much different from a blob on the joint

[prowler]

Using resin-cored solder, I prime the tip of the soldering iron, introduce the iron to the joint and at the exact moment the solder melts I touch the tip of the solder to the joint at the point where it meets the iron tip and the flux immediately coats the joint so that I can withdraw the iron.

When the joint has cooled sufficiently, I clean the flux residue off with isopropyl alcohol applied with a 10mm paint brush with the bristles cut short (8mm or so) for a professional finish.

[diablothe2nd]

Originally Posted by prowler

When the joint has cooled sufficiently, I clean the flux residue off with isopropyl alcohol applied with a 10mm paint brush with the bristles cut short (8mm or so) for a professional finish.

good point, and i think a crucial one especially when using "no clean" flux based products.

the "No Clean" part doesn't mean that you don't need to clean up after, but that you don't need to clean the contacts prior to soldering as it contains a corrosive to remove any grease and oxides. This corrosive if not removed after soldering, wont do any good

i just use cotton buds (q-tips) with ethanol, same thing i guess

[roy bates]

i dont really want to get into what ever other peaple do themselves.

heres a habit i got into:

when ive finished soldering i apply solder to the tip and turn it off,when i go to use it again i clean the tip and apply more when/where i need it as im using it.
i dont apply flux to the tip because theres flux in the solder.

the only thing i would suggest is to be carefull what type of iron you use and how long you have it on the joint,for this sort of work you dont have to be uber good at soldering just carefull.

[Jope]

Originally Posted by prowler

When the joint has cooled sufficiently, I clean the flux residue off with isopropyl alcohol applied with a 10mm paint brush with the bristles cut short (8mm or so) for a professional finish.

This is always a good idea. No-clean flux should also be cleaned off, even though the name suggests you wouldn't need to. :-)

[GadgetUK]

Originally Posted by prowler

Using resin-cored solder, I prime the tip of the soldering iron, introduce the iron to the joint and at the exact moment the solder melts I touch the tip of the solder to the joint at the point where it meets the iron tip and the flux immediately coats the joint so that I can withdraw the iron.

When the joint has cooled sufficiently, I clean the flux residue off with isopropyl alcohol applied with a 10mm paint brush with the bristles cut short (8mm or so) for a professional finish.

That's exactly what I do!

[Zippy Zapp]

Thanks for all the advice. Took it apart and noticed that there was already some flux on the surface. I cleaned it up a bit but nothing seemed bad on the surface. I heated the one solder point on each connector and then from the other side pushed the main center connection down so that it protruded a bit out of the bottom. put a bit of solder there, a tiny amount.

Hooked it all back up and the short is gone. Works good.

The jack must have been plugged and unplugged a lot because the RCA cables fit very loose without modification to the cable.

Now to tackle the keyboard issue.


Thanks All!

[prowler]

Well done! And thanks for the feedback.

[diablothe2nd]

excellent stuff! congrats

[Loedown]

One of the easiest ways to retension RCA plugs is to *very* mildly distort the shape of the 4 outer edges of the plug with a pair of bullnose pliers, if it's the inner of the socket that needs retensioning then use a jeweller's screwdriver to bend the tongue a little.