Popeye and Mae West

[pfurman]

before you try the volume controls again, try soldering a few pieces of copper wire together.
practice makes perfect
you will get the hang of it in no time

Well yeah, but I wanted to see if I could get that little pyramid shape where it counted. Soldering the wires together is different; then it's more straight. But I'm not giving up. If nothing else I'm getting in real tight with the Radio Shack crew.

[pfurman]

Would flux help?

Couldn't hurt.

(What's flux?)

[DrDark]

You are almost there!

[SteveFoxUK]

At Last! Wimpey has been found!!!

I went from the Forest straight to the Special Stage (Treasure Chests, etc) and after a few spins found a beanstalk and there he was right at the base!

Climbed the beanstalk, managed to get past a couple of "match" obstacles and finally found out where the Spinach cans on the reels come in too! Yay! Im not saying anymore as I dont want to spoil the surprise for anyone else who hasnt got that far yet but Im well chuffed - huzzah!!!!



Cheers,

Foxy

PS: How're you getting on with the soldering now, pfurman?? Hope you're getting the hang of it!

[MrGneiss]

Couldn't hurt.

(What's flux?)

http://www.answers.com/topic/flux-metallurgy?method=6

[pfurman]

At Last! Wimpey has been found!!!

I went from the Forest straight to the Special Stage (Treasure Chests, etc) and after a few spins found a beanstalk and there he was right at the base!

Climbed the beanstalk, managed to get past a couple of "match" obstacles and finally found out where the Spinach cans on the reels come in too! Yay! Im not saying anymore as I dont want to spoil the surprise for anyone else who hasnt got that far yet but Im well chuffed - huzzah!!!!



Cheers,

Foxy

PS: How're you getting on with the soldering now, pfurman?? Hope you're getting the hang of it!

Congrats, there, foxy dude!!

I knew you'd get to see that cameo from ol Wimpy. (I told ya he was there with the beanstalk scene, didn't I? ;-)

As far as the soldering goes...
ANYBODY WANNA BUY 19 Syscom volume controllers?

[pfurman]

http://www.answers.com/topic/flux-metallurgy?method=6

Aaaah, ok. So THAT'S flux. ;-) Thanks.

[pachinkojohn]

Re: 'solder flowing everywhere' That's good!

The solder shouldn't make a big mound! The event should be that you put the wire through the connector, twist it around good and make it neat, then you touch the soldering iron to the wire/connector for a second or two, touch the solder to the very end of the soldering iron, or to the connection as the soldering commandment tells you to, though I have better luck with the tippy tip of the iron. The solder should zoom off the tip onto the connection as you apply just a -split- second more of solder. STOP!

That's all you need! If the wire and connector are shiney silver and just a very little bit of solder on both, it's perfect. Extra solder isn't helpful, as solder isn't supposed to be a mechanical connection, only electrical. Make sure the wires/connector are firmly twisted, tightened, etc. before the soldering.

You probably did a perfect connection the first time and didn't realize it. Sometimes one needs to glob it on because there is no way to make a better connection due to no way to wrap, bend,twist or tighten. But it shouldn't be done if possible.

John

[pfurman]

Re: 'solder flowing everywhere' That's good!

The solder shouldn't make a big mound! The event should be that you put the wire through the connector, twist it around good and make it neat, then you touch the soldering iron to the wire/connector for a second or two, touch the solder to the very end of the soldering iron, or to the connection as the soldering commandment tells you to, though I have better luck with the tippy tip of the iron. The solder should zoom off the tip onto the connection as you apply just a -split- second more of solder. STOP!

That's all you need! If the wire and connector are shiney silver and just a very little bit of solder on both, it's perfect. Extra solder isn't helpful, as solder isn't supposed to be a mechanical connection, only electrical. Make sure the wires/connector are firmly twisted, tightened, etc. before the soldering.

You probably did a perfect connection the first time and didn't realize it. Sometimes one needs to glob it on because there is no way to make a better connection due to no way to wrap, bend,twist or tighten. But it shouldn't be done if possible.

John

My first inclination (which I probably should have listened to) was to put the wire through the hole in the vol controller, then twist it back towards itself, tightly, on the side/underneath where I was going to solder, and then solder. But from what I read, it seemed as if the best way was to put the stripped end, (1/2") tinned, straight up through the hole, maybe trim it a bit, apply the soldering iron to the wire and the metal part of the vol controller at the same time, for about 2-3 seconds, then put the 60/40 rosin core solder against the wire that was poking through the hole and was now sufficiently hot, somewhere near the top, and watch the solder flow down into a nice little pyramid.

Now, from what you're saying, I would have been better off putting the wire through the hole and twisting it back around onto the part on the other side of where I'd be soldering.

[pachinkojohn]

............Now, from what you're saying, I would have been better off putting the wire through the hole and twisting it back around onto the part on the other side of where I'd be soldering..........

Yep! Then no worries about things slipping, moving, twisting, arghh stuff. Yes it doesn't look as cool as a tiny bit of wire just showing at the connection, but you're not after looks. If no hole just folding the wire over the metal and crimping tight with a pair of pliers would be good. But if you can twist, always twist!

And de-soldering is usually a pain.

[slotter]

This should be SO easy. Just do it pf! It isn't hard... my 14 year old daughter has done some of the soldering on my machines with zero problems. Yes, stick the wire through the little hole on the pot, bend it over so it is tight, put the solder down against the wire and put the hot iron on top of the wire and solder until it flows. Viola.

[dalto]

Or you could cheat by going to radioshack and buying those little solder wraps.

[pfurman]

............Now, from what you're saying, I would have been better off putting the wire through the hole and twisting it back around onto the part on the other side of where I'd be soldering..........

Yep! Then no worries about things slipping, moving, twisting, arghh stuff. Yes it doesn't look as cool as a tiny bit of wire just showing at the connection, but you're not after looks. If no hole just folding the wire over the metal and crimping tight with a pair of pliers would be good. But if you can twist, always twist!

And de-soldering is usually a pain.

I'm gonna give it a shot probably over the weekend just like you described. Then I'll post back and let ya know how it went. Thanks, PJ.

[pfurman]

Or you could cheat by going to radioshack and buying those little solder wraps.

Hold the phone!!! I'm not above cheating (when it comes to inanimate objects, of course ). Tell me more, mi comprade!!

[pfurman]

This should be SO easy. Just do it pf! It isn't hard... my 14 year old daughter has done some of the soldering on my machines with zero problems. Yes, stick the wire through the little hole on the pot, bend it over so it is tight, put the solder down against the wire and put the hot iron on top of the wire and solder until it flows. Viola.

Oh, Slotter. You're so cute when you take charge!!

[dalto]

Hold the phone!!! I'm not above cheating (when it comes to inanimate objects, of course ). Tell me more, mi comprade!!

RadioShack sells these solder wraps that you just wrap around the area you want to solder. You than apply a little heat and it melts into place.

A little bag of these little things cost about $1

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

I bought some a couple of weeks ago but have not had an oppurtunity to try. I thought they would be good for hard to reach areas.

[slotter]

Oh, Slotter. You're so cute when you take charge!!

Hahaha!!! Thank you, dear.

[pfurman]

RadioShack sells these solder wraps that you just wrap around the area you want to solder. You than apply a little heat and it melts into place.

A little bag of these little things cost about $1

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

I bought some a couple of weeks ago but have not had an oppurtunity to try. I thought they would be good for hard to reach areas.

That sounds about my speed. I bet even I could handle that. Looks like it's time to bond some more with all the new friends I've made lately at The Shack!! (Actually, they all make this kind of face when I walk in the door, then they run and hide or try to look extra busy doing something else.) Hmmmmm. I wonder why?

[pfurman]

Hahaha!!! Thank you, dear.

Y.V.W.

[cwstnsko]

All the general advice about soldering is great, but I believe our dear friend is trying to solder the Pachislo.com board mounted mini-pot style volume controls.

I've done a fair bit of soldering and I consider myself to be reasonable good at it for a hobbyist. I have to say that after soldering dozens of these particular volume controls, they are a MAJOR Pain in the Butt! Something about the way that the board is layed out causes the solder to go everywhere BUT where you want it to go. I get them soldered on, but they often involve too much solder and I'm not proud of the way they look at all.

I think the problem is the relatively large area of the metal surface you're trying to solder to. The solder wants to flow over the whole pad.

As mentioned above, it may be far easier with these controls to strip the wire, tin it, and solder it flat to the board rather than trying to get solder to stick right around the hole.

Autoslot's Volume controls are 10,000 times easier to solder, but unfortunately he is out of stock at the moment.