Hi All
Here's a good tip if you are soldering multiple connectors of the same type - say RCA/phono plugs for example.
Always buy one of the opposite polarity of connector - for phono male plugs some form of phono female socket - I use a solid female to female phono connector.
Put the female in a vice to hold everything steady and plug the male into it while soldering the connection wires. If the plastic in the male connector is a bit soft and starts to melt, the female will keep everything in line until the plastic cools - this is especially good when soldering DIN plugs and the plastic always seems to melt a bit no matter how good they claim to be.
When you have finished soldering one plug, just unplug it and plug the next one in to the female and away you go.
Cheers
Mike
Here's a good tip if you are soldering multiple connectors of the same type - say RCA/phono plugs for example.
Always buy one of the opposite polarity of connector - for phono male plugs some form of phono female socket - I use a solid female to female phono connector.
Put the female in a vice to hold everything steady and plug the male into it while soldering the connection wires. If the plastic in the male connector is a bit soft and starts to melt, the female will keep everything in line until the plastic cools - this is especially good when soldering DIN plugs and the plastic always seems to melt a bit no matter how good they claim to be.
When you have finished soldering one plug, just unplug it and plug the next one in to the female and away you go.
Cheers
Mike
If the plastic in the connector melts it might be worth searching for better parts perhaps?
Plastic parts in connectors are usually engineered to be stable at high temperatures, both by the choice of polymer and using inert filler powder that holds the shape and increases thermal conductivity and decreases thermal expansion. Glass dust is one common filler, especially with nylon or epoxy.
If you do have cheapo melting connectors, good fast soldering skills are a bonus - often using a somewhat higher iron temperature setting can be advantageous (this can reduce heat damage simply through speeding up the process - heat travels quite slowly in some metals like steel).
Plastic parts in connectors are usually engineered to be stable at high temperatures, both by the choice of polymer and using inert filler powder that holds the shape and increases thermal conductivity and decreases thermal expansion. Glass dust is one common filler, especially with nylon or epoxy.
If you do have cheapo melting connectors, good fast soldering skills are a bonus - often using a somewhat higher iron temperature setting can be advantageous (this can reduce heat damage simply through speeding up the process - heat travels quite slowly in some metals like steel).