Cardas GRFA female RCA connectors

[McCrackers]

Has anyone had any experience soldering these? I am having little success getting solder to adhere to the shield part without making a mess. I'm tempted to roughen up the surface a little but that would defeat the purpose of the plating.

[Algar_emi]

Use own Cardas flux and solder. It solders well with these two.
Or do as I did in the past, using an exacto, scratch the plating at one place to expose the copper, then solder. The solder will cover all the copper, no need to worry about the lost of plating. Anyway a good solder joint is much important than a nice finish

[tomat]

i'm using 60w soldering iron to solder them

[McCrackers]

Thanks for your tips.

I have a 35w iron but it goes to 850f which should be enough. I have some left over Cardas solder also but I'm not sure if it's rosin core(had it for some time now) I think I will resort to the "scratch method" and use easy to work with Kester rosin core.

I just Googled this topic. Makes me feel a bit better to know that I'm not the only klutz out there with this problem.

[Magura]

Originally posted by McCrackers
Thanks for your tips.

I have a 35w iron but it goes to 850f which should be enough. .

Increasing the temperature of the iron, will not do you any good, as it will just burn off the flux.
What you need is an iron with enough power to heat the part in question, then it will solder just fine.
Both platinum and rhodium solders perfectly fine with regular 60/40 solder, given the fact that it reaches the right temperature, and does not exceed that temperature.

Magura

[jormajj]

Hi,
are you guys soldering these connectors when already installed in chassis or before ? I mean are the chassis insulators able to take the heat - they dont look like teflon to me...

[sangram]

I think George Cardas insists on using a hot and big iron - a 100 watt Weller with 900 degree tips are his standard equipment, so I guess something comparable will work. I had a problem getting enough heat into the litz wire of Twinlink speaker cable, as well as the milled copper spades. A 125 watt generic sheetmetal soldering iron took care of both those problems, the soldering happened in three seconds flat. The iron cost me $2.50 at my local electronics store.

Cardas solder holds very well and comes back to solid state really fast. Generic solders take time to solidify when heated with that hot an iron, so you're left holding the baby for a little longer.

The insulators should be removed for all soldering purposes. The iron literally heats things up so much, I slide the heatshrink on and it shrinks while the entire assembly cools. They *are* Teflon but soften up a bit with a very hot iron (they are fine with the heat from my 35 watt iron though).

[Magura]

Originally posted by sangram
I think George Cardas insists on using a hot and big iron - a 100 watt Weller with 900 degree tips are his standard equipment, so I guess something comparable will work. I had a problem getting enough heat into the litz wire of Twinlink speaker cable, as well as the milled copper spades. A 125 watt generic sheetmetal soldering iron took care of both those problems, the soldering happened in three seconds flat. The iron cost me $2.50 at my local electronics store.

Cardas solder holds very well and comes back to solid state really fast. Generic solders take time to solidify when heated with that hot an iron, so you're left holding the baby for a little longer.

The insulators should be removed for all soldering purposes. The iron literally heats things up so much, I slide the heatshrink on and it shrinks while the entire assembly cools. They *are* Teflon but soften up a bit with a very hot iron (they are fine with the heat from my 35 watt iron though).

In that case, I think Joe Cardas should insist on a "soldering 101" lesson.

1) No, PTFE (Teflon) is damaged by more than approx. 650F.
2) Bonus NO! Flux is not working proper above 650F either.
3) Cardas solder, AKA regular solder with a bit of silver and copper, does not solidify faster than regular solder, if regular solder is treated correct, as in used within the temperature range it's supposed to be.

Please take the time to make sure that your advice is correct, before posting.
What you have told people to do, can actually damage their plugs.


Magura

[sangram]

Fortunately, there is some distance between the location of the application of heat and the actual teflon insulator. The Twinlink cable is teflon insulated, and it handled the heat from the iron just fine, it was applied for only a few seconds, maybe three.

The higher power ensures fast local heating, so the joint is made quicker than the heat can wick itself to the rest of the connector body. Anyway, I'm posting from my personal experience, and nothing has got damaged. Yet. So YMMV, I guess.

Regular rosin core flux does burn off at those temperatures, but the joints are clean as can be. I see no problems with the finish or the quality of the joint when using high-mass metal surfaces.

I guess if one were to heat the joint for ten seconds using a smaller iron it would eventually get that hot, but then the connector would suffer even more damage. Too little heat is as bad as too much heat, maybe more dangerous.

[tomat]

Originally posted by McCrackers
Thanks for your tips.

I have a 35w iron but it goes to 850f which should be enough. I have some left over Cardas solder also but I'm not sure if it's rosin core(had it for some time now) I think I will resort to the "scratch method" and use easy to work with Kester rosin core.

I just Googled this topic. Makes me feel a bit better to know that I'm not the only klutz out there with this problem.

i think not only the temperature,i usually using iron with larger tip,because if i using iron with small tip even they have high temperature,it doesn't work on cardas products,except his little hook up wire