Why, oh why.

azrockitman · 2354

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Offline azrockitman

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on: June 23, 2013, 06:41:48 PM
Stupid stupid stupid.

So last night I'm wiring and soldering the Safety Ground bus connections, part 1 & 2 on my Stereomour.  Really moving along at a nice pace and could possibly even finish the amp in the new day or so.

I'm on the last wire, and I don't know if I cut it short, or if I simply wound a bit too much wire around the binding post end, but my wire was just a little too short to safely make it all the way through the hole on the solder lug.  I couldn't truly attach the wire to the lug at all.

So, did I cut a new slightly longer wire and use a replacement that was clearly long enough?  nooooo.  I decided I could shove that short wire into the solder lug wire configuration deep enough to where the solder would just magically flow around that unsecured wire like a warm flowing blanket of liquid solder and all would be fine.  In reality, did that work?  noooooo. 

So, first... failed attempt to use desoldering braid ...
and second... failed attempt to get the new desoldering iron I purchased today from radio shack to successfully remove that solder,
and third... failed attempt to simply remove the machine screw and nut and just replace the top soldering lug with a new one...( the repeated heat from all that desoldering must have heated up that screw/nut too much to allow it to come off, it just got stripped at some point)
So, I had to resort to Dremel and cut the damn screw off and now I'll need to go find some new solder lugs somewhere so I can get going again.  Sigh. 

Time, money, frustration, and an entire wasted Sunday that I could have possibly even finished the entire amp.......all of that down the drain because I didn't want to take the time to cut a new piece of wire (for a few pennies and a few seconds). >:(

I guess I'll have to be content with the knowledge that I'll never make that mistake again.




Esoteric DV-50, Technics SL1200-M3D, B&K Phono 10 Preamp, Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, Bottlehead Stereomour, Orca's


Offline earwaxxer

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Reply #1 on: June 23, 2013, 06:50:08 PM
lol!  Great description! We have all done that. Not exactly that, but some approximation to it.

Eric
Emotiva XPA-2, Magnepan MMG (mod), Quickie (mod), JRiver, Wyrd4sound uLink, Schiit Gungnir, JPS Digital power cord, MIT power cord, JPS Labs ultraconductor wire throughout, HSU sub. powered by Crown.


Offline adamct

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Reply #2 on: June 23, 2013, 07:27:59 PM
Oof! I feel for you, man...



4krow

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Reply #3 on: June 23, 2013, 08:40:35 PM
Since you are looking for a new solder lug, check out the ones at Parts connexion. They are ceramic, and if they don't have a stud to anchor them with, use epoxy. It works quite well for my Quickie.



Offline Grainger49

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Reply #4 on: June 24, 2013, 12:06:06 AM
A suggestion...

An inexpensive soldering iron can make pretty good connections.  I know I used a $6 soldering iron for years.  For solder removal in a timely fashion you need a good soldering iron or soldering station.  I prefer solder wick to the solder sucker I have.  And I have a good aluminum bodied solder sucker. 

You need heat to heat the wick, the solder, the lead and the terminal.  There are soldering stations from Hakko available for $35 or there about. 



Offline azrockitman

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Reply #5 on: June 24, 2013, 06:11:37 PM
Thanks all

Grainger;  I recently bought a great Hakko soldering station.  But last night, for the life of me, I could not get the wick and solder to heat up sufficiently to remove the solder and I had it on 850'  I've done it before but the solder on this terminal seemed to be perma hard.  Probably my impatience and frustration because tonight, I'm taking my time and giving it more time to heat up the connection and so far I've removed 2out of 3. 

So I've learned more lessons... at my own expense.   ::)

Thanks again

Esoteric DV-50, Technics SL1200-M3D, B&K Phono 10 Preamp, Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, Bottlehead Stereomour, Orca's


Offline Grainger49

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Reply #6 on: June 25, 2013, 12:13:54 AM
Excellent! Sorry for accusing you of a cheap POS (an Infinity speaker I sold in the 70s) when it wasn't.



4krow

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Reply #7 on: June 25, 2013, 09:59:41 AM
Infinity Speakers, where are they now? Couldn't find cooler stuff in the 70's



Offline azrockitman

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Reply #8 on: June 25, 2013, 10:05:06 AM
 :)

Back on track now and in hindsight, your comment about heating the wick, solder, lead and terminal is what I was not factoring in the other night.  Heating one wire/connector happens much quicker than 4 items and I was jut not giving it as much time as it needed to heat all 4 sufficiently. 

Now I hope to be listening to music by this weekend. 

Esoteric DV-50, Technics SL1200-M3D, B&K Phono 10 Preamp, Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, Bottlehead Stereomour, Orca's


4krow

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Reply #9 on: June 25, 2013, 10:08:15 AM
  I don't do it too often, but when I heat up that amount of metal I like to really 'wet' the tip of the iron, amking sure it has good thermal contact.



Offline azrockitman

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Reply #10 on: June 25, 2013, 12:31:58 PM
Good tip. I'll try that.  Thanks.

Esoteric DV-50, Technics SL1200-M3D, B&K Phono 10 Preamp, Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, Bottlehead Stereomour, Orca's