Solder joint on Hicon Plug is a turd

[fixxe]

Can someone tell me what's happening to my solder joints on these Hicon plugs? They don't really want to melt but just kinda "sit" there.....the cables work though.
I didn't have this problem with any other plugs before.
Also, how do you shrink shrinktube the right way? I usually use a lighter, but I'm afraid that I melt the insides of the cable.
Thanks!

[wgc]

The images are big, but a little blurry, so a little hard to see what's going on.

From what I can see, it looks like you need a little flux and more heat, or at least better heat transfer. It gets tricky because you don't want to melt the insulators on the wire.

Try soldering the plug first with no wire. Wick out excess, then try adding in the wire with a lower temp.

Heat shrink is best done with a heat gun. Not sure it's doing anything for you here though since the shield is already connected to the shell and the signal isn't sleeved.

[micromegas]

+1 on what Billy said. Try flux or use some sand paper and sand the connection softly (I mean very softly).

I've soldered many of those hicon connectors with no problem, but it also depends on the solder used, the cable, etc...

For the shrink tube I always use a lighter too, keep a fair distance and it shouldn't melt


NOTE: don't know what cable are you using, but I use the Sommer-cable Tricone MKII as it is flexible, has very good quality and is fairly cheap (only a recommendation, I'm sure there are many other brands/types that are as good if not better)

[FloorIt]

Are you having difficulty soldering the ground to the casing?  I've struggled with that as well.  I found it easiest to first try to attach some solder to the casing and then solder the wire to it. 

Since making some cables I found these pancake connectors that actually have a tab for the ground wire.  Genius!

http://www.amazon.com/GLS-Audio-Profile-Pancake-Speaker/dp/B00CX5AN7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409413093&sr=8-1&keywords=1%2F4%22+plug+pancake+mono

[RobA]

I used to use the side of my old crappy soldering iron to shrink the shrink wrap. It's not ideal and when I moved to a better iron, I didn't want to risk it anymore, so I got a heat gun like one of these https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10326. They work really well and they are available all over the place for cheap.

P.S. If you need a bit of a laugh, check out the manual for the heat gun linked on that Sparkfun page.

[fixxe]

Sorry, I was talking about the tip. The shield has a hook as well which lets the solder flow nicely, even though I don't get the shield wire through the hook, since it's too small   
I used 400°C, which should be more than enough. I might try sanding the connector once I get some sanding paper.
When I apply solder beforehand, the connector still doesn't really take the solder...

Micromegas, did you use the exact same ones? Their pancakes? Did you also get those hershey kisses solder joints without sanding and flux?
The cables are monorail from evidence, they should do just fine, I hope.

[fixxe]

Or did anyone else use these Hicon plugs?

[micromegas]

Micromegas, did you use the exact same ones? Their pancakes? Did you also get those hershey kisses solder joints without sanding and flux?
The cables are monorail from evidence, they should do just fine, I hope.

Sorry for the late reply man. Yep I use the exact same plugs and have got good results (with a JBC 40w soldering iron and standard tip).
FWIW, I don't use flux in the tabs nor sanding paper, but apply paste to the cable once rolled (I actually dip it in the paste) and apply solder with the tip before soldering it to the tab.

[fixxe]

No worries!
What's the paste you are talking about, though?

[micromegas]

No worries!
What's the paste you are talking about, though?

just common soldering rosin or paste like this one:

[fixxe]

Cool, thanks!