Soldering tips

[antosaurus]

Hey crew

When wiring things to Jacks, do you have to wire/solder on the lug or can you wire direct to the metal other bits (like the tip shaft rather than the tip lug)?

Made some drilling errors in my first build and struggling for room to cleaning solder things - thought this might be a solution.

Cheers


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[alanp]

It isn't what you'd call best practice, but if it's mechanically and electrically sound, and you don't have any other real option...

The only real issue I can think of is when the contact flexes when the plug is inserted or taken out, that will cause the wire soldered directly to the contact to flex as well. Over time, this can cause the wire to break internally (or just a bit after the soldered connection.) This is the #1 reason why jacks have solder lugs, I suspect.

[antosaurus]

It isn't what you'd call best practice, but if it's mechanically and electrically sound, and you don't have any other real option...

The only real issue I can think of is when the contact flexes when the plug is inserted or taken out, that will cause the wire soldered directly to the contact to flex as well. Over time, this can cause the wire to break internally (or just a bit after the soldered connection.) This is the #1 reason why jacks have solder lugs, I suspect.

Thanks for that. Better get better at soldering then!

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[davent]

You don't have to do the soldering to jacks and other off board parts with those parts mounted in the enclosure.  I'll take a thin piece of plywood, drill it to match the enclosure layout, mount the pots and switches to the ply then do all the wiring and soldering to the pcb. Have much easier access with your soldering iron, when they aren't in the enclosure.

If your enclosure layout is symmetrical you could mount the pots and switches inside out and do the wiring/soldering outside the enclosure. Can also wire/solder the unmounted jacks.

dave

[BrianS]

So are you saying you don't have enough Room because the lugs on the jacks are causing problems with fitting the board/3pdt/etc... in? 

If this is the case, you can shave some of the box around your holes to get a little more room. The washer size will limit how much you can take off. 

I'm with Alan on putting wires in other places besides the lugs.  If you have another box Have you thought about starting over and keeping this one for another build?

[oip]

You don't have to do the soldering to jacks and other off board parts with those parts mounted in the enclosure.  I'll take a thin piece of plywood, drill it to match the enclosure layout, mount the pots and switches to the ply then do all the wiring and soldering to the pcb. Have much easier access with your soldering iron, when they aren't in the enclosure.

can also recommend this for tight space builds with offboard pots.  i use cardboard, it's very handy for making drill templates at the same time too, you can print the (reversed) template, punch holes, ensure the pots fit properly, adjust if not, then wire etc.  also enables testing of the effect with some simple i/o breadboarding.