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Neq6 power connector mod


Nigella Bryant

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Hi all, finally got around to doing the much needed power connector mod. The plastic original was quite wobbly with the power cord in. 

I chose a 12mm x 2 connector. 

1. New hole for the connection drilled using my drill press.

2. Wires soldered to the connector first before threading this into the new hole. The wire's were then taken over the back of the board and soldered onto the back of the original power input. 

3. New 12volt cigarette male connector was made with the new male connector to the mount. 

Simples, lol. 

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Hi Nigella,

I think you need a higher wattage soldering iron, or a larger bit, as your solder connection on the rear of the board is very 'crystalline' and not flowed, due to the solder temperature not getting hot enough. This forms a 'dry joint' which can lead to a future intermittant connection. There's also a bit too much exposed wire visible, particularly on the +ve wire which could cause a short if the wire flexes a little. 

Apart from that a good job. 🙂

Alan

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34 minutes ago, symmetal said:

Hi Nigella,

I think you need a higher wattage soldering iron, or a larger bit, as your solder connection on the rear of the board is very 'crystalline' and not flowed, due to the solder temperature not getting hot enough. This forms a 'dry joint' which can lead to a future intermittant connection. There's also a bit too much exposed wire visible, particularly on the +ve wire which could cause a short if the wire flexes a little. 

Apart from that a good job. 🙂

Alan

Thanks Alan, appreciated, will look at the exposed wire bit and adjust. 

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A common mistake if you're not too familiar with soldering, is when you seem to need three hands. One to hold the wire on the board, one to hold the soldering iron and a third to hold the solder. In this case it's tempting to pick up solder on the end of the bit and then carry it to the workpiece and apply it to the joint. This however, allows the solder flux embedded in the multicore solder to burn off before it's reached the joint leading to an uneven 'dry' joint which doesn't flow nicely into a smooth shiny surface.

The technique in this case is to 'tin' both surfaces beforehand. In other words with the wire lying on the workbench, held down by any weight to stop it moving around, apply the soldering iron and solder to the end of the wire at the same time for about a second until the wire end is fully coated in a smooth layer of solder. Not too much that it forms a blob. Then do the same to the PCB, applying the iron and solder to the PCB track, again forming a slight smooth mound of solder on the PCB. Then hold the wire against the pcb with one hand and apply the soldering iron with the other hand, for about a second, to the 'tinned' wire and pcb track at the same time, so both solder surfaces fuse into one smooth shiny curved surface. Enough flux should still be remaining in the two tinned surfaces, to allow this to happen. 🙂

Alan

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1 hour ago, symmetal said:

A common mistake if you're not too familiar with soldering, is when you seem to need three hands. One to hold the wire on the board, one to hold the soldering iron and a third to hold the solder. In this case it's tempting to pick up solder on the end of the bit and then carry it to the workpiece and apply it to the joint. This however, allows the solder flux embedded in the multicore solder to burn off before it's reached the joint leading to an uneven 'dry' joint which doesn't flow nicely into a smooth shiny surface.

The technique in this case is to 'tin' both surfaces beforehand. In other words with the wire lying on the workbench, held down by any weight to stop it moving around, apply the soldering iron and solder to the end of the wire at the same time for about a second until the wire end is fully coated in a smooth layer of solder. Not too much that it forms a blob. Then do the same to the PCB, applying the iron and solder to the PCB track, again forming a slight smooth mound of solder on the PCB. Then hold the wire against the pcb with one hand and apply the soldering iron with the other hand, for about a second, to the 'tinned' wire and pcb track at the same time, so both solder surfaces fuse into one smooth shiny curved surface. Enough flux should still be remaining in the two tinned surfaces, to allow this to happen. 🙂

Alan

Thanks for the tip, I definitely needed three hand's, lol. 

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Have to agree with the above comments, the solder joints need more work.  As Alan has mentioned, you should also tin the wires first, ie strip back the insulation and twist the inner conductors so they become tight and straight,  apply the solder iron to the exposed copper wires and add solder so it fills the wires to form a solid core, but not too much solder so it blobs.  Then trim the tinned conductors so its just long enough to cover the pad where its been soldered to, this way there is less exposure of the conductor to accidently make contact with other parts of the PCB.

Soldering, like welding is really an art, and needs to be done correctly other wise the joints can fail and then you have live wires floating around.

Other than that, well done on the moddification

 

 

 

 

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Just to add to the comments above, your power connections are going to fail unless re-soldered properly. As the failed joint comes apart, it's really pot-luck what the outcome might be but it could be £££ so I'd re-do before serious usage. Looks a more secure power connector though!

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