New found respect for DIY solderes

[biostud]

I decide to change my mini jack plug on my headphones, by doing some DIY soldering. It was my first time soldering, but after looking at some videos on youtube it looked pretty easy.

I was wrong. I thought the wires would "soak" soldering material, but that didn't happen. So all in all it took me ~45 mins to do the soldering, and it looked nothing like the soldering in the youtube videos. But they work....now it's just a question of how long

 

[lxskllr]

I don't like doing fine(for me) work. I spent so much time fixing cables and crap for work back in the day. The results weren't pretty, but they held up. I used to keep my soldering stuff in the truck, and I'd run it off an inverter. It was convenient being able to fix things on the spot, especially considering the time it would take to order proprietary cables(expensive!)

 

[biostud]

I was just annoyed that I would have to buy a new set of headphones just because the cables continues to break, and thought I could easily fix it using a $2 plug. But I guess I'll get better every time I have to do it.

 

[zokudu]

I started soldering a good bit when I started getting into mechanical keyboards. I was so nervous when I began I took on some electronics projects to practice before I ruined a $150 keyboard. Try some of those out if you want to learn. Stuff like this: http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/

 

[God Mode]

Headphone wires are usually coated with enamel. You need to scrap it off, burn it off or use a special flux to get through. Most pro places use a solderpot.

Next time, get some sandpaper and scrub the wire tips before trying to solder. If solder doesn't stick, you need to scrub more material off.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I decide to change my mini jack plug on my headphones, by doing some DIY soldering. It was my first time soldering, but after looking at some videos on youtube it looked pretty easy.

I was wrong. I thought the wires would "soak" soldering material, but that didn't happen. So all in all it took me ~45 mins to do the soldering, and it looked nothing like the soldering in the youtube videos. But they work....now it's just a question of how long

You should "tin" the wires with solder first, as it will make it much easier.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i don't trust any youtube video where it's pronounced "sol-der".

 

[fatpat268]

I was wrong. I thought the wires would "soak" soldering material, but that didn't happen.

Use flux.

i don't trust any youtube video where it's pronounced "sol-der".

Thats how brits pronounce it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I find it takes lot of practice, and after a while you get a "feel" for it. When I first soldered all I could do is make a ball of molten solder roll all over the circuit board exept for where I wanted it. It would never "fuse". After a while you know where/how to heat it properly and it seems to work. Can't really explain it. Now I can solder two wires together without even having to mechanically fasten them and the solder is stronger than the wire itself. I would not go as far as calling myself an expert at it though. Some people can solder stuff like cpu pins and what not, I'm far from being able to get into that much precision.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Use flux.

electronics solder has a flux core, although this is the first i've heard of enamel on headphone wires.

Thats how brits pronounce it.

those maniacs drive on the wrong side of the road. thx for proving my point.

 

[chimaxi83]

Like someone mentioned, for what you're doing, make sure what's being soldered is free of any substances. You have to tin the tip of the solder, and heat the wires with the iron until the solder naturally flows into it. That's really it for simple fixes.

 

[fatpat268]

electronics solder has a flux core, although this is the first i've heard of enamel on headphone wires.

The flux core really doesn't help. Unless you're soldering to brand new metal, then you're probably going to have some trouble to getting solder to stick. Using flux will greatly improve solder flow.

 

[biostud]

I tried to burn the wires first, the scrape of the black residue with my nails.

I used this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_OL9KoIFVM

 

[MrSquished]

i've been debating trying soldering out to replace my zune 64hd battery - i misplaced the darn thing for like 6 months and now the battery will not hold a charge all that great. a new battery is like 15 bucks. to pay a store in NYC to do it is like 60 bucks. but i really don't want to screw it up - seems harder than it looks.

 

[jupiter57]

i've been debating trying soldering out to replace my zune 64hd battery - i misplaced the darn thing for like 6 months and now the battery will not hold a charge all that great. a new battery is like 15 bucks. to pay a store in NYC to do it is like 60 bucks. but i really don't want to screw it up - seems harder than it looks.

Practice.
Pick up some old electronic items & de-solder & re-solder a bunch until you get the hang of it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

One trick I found that works well too is when you first start, touch the solder directly with the iron, try to have a blob always stay on your iron. It increases the heat conductivity so when you touch a wire it will get hot faster, then apply more solder to the wire or whatever you are soldering.

 

[lxskllr]

For fine work, I wrap the tip in copper wire, and leave some off the end to use as a tip. It works pretty well.

 

[Phoenix86]

Anyone else read this as DIY soldiers?

 

[Tobolo]

Anyone else read this as DIY soldiers?

I did.

 

[notposting]

Do some cap replacement on motherboards and feel like a tech god

 

[Wyndru]

I'm horrible at soldering, I just end up getting gobs of solder everywhere.

I'm equally bad at sweating copper pipe, even after many attempts.

 

[Engineer]

You should "tin" the wires with solder first, as it will make it much easier.

tinning the iron and using a wet, stiff sponge to wipe it down from time to time helps too.

 

[Engineer]

Do some cap replacement on motherboards and feel like a tech god

Have done it several times as well as replacing caps in one power supply, one monitor and two tvs. Also replaced 2 convergence chips (about 20 pins each IIRC) in my projection tv.

Also, if removing solder, make sure to get some good, copper braid solder wick. A solder sucker will work too but not cheap, plastic ones that use a separate iron to heat up the solder before sucking it off. Must be solder sucker attached to the iron itself.

Used to make circuit boards and solder them. Myself and a co-workers went in on Saturday and etched 150 boards, drilled them, sanded them down to size, soldered the chips and components tested and painted them in about 8 hours. Fun times.