Hey, how can you knock a good livin'???
Because I've got into the nasty habit of liking being able to sleep well at night.
se
by using examples and phrasing that makes it sound like I was arguing that point... just as you are now ...
nobody said current wont flow through solder, that would make it a pretty poor choice of material for the job.. but given the choice for it to flow through a more direct connection, albeit just with as small amount of solder possible that has wicked through while pressing the parts together; i'll go with that. relying totally on the solder to make the connection is not ideal and should be avoided where you can.
making solder joints where you rely on flux and too much solder to do the job where proper contact and a small amount will do, is lazy and all too common.
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In a properly constructed joint the connection should be manual with the metal components mating cleanly against each other. If you rely purely upon the solder you are not doing it correctly.
As soon as you apply solder + flux it will flow through cappillary effect between the two metal components, which is good. Otherwise, you would have a very weak connection from a purely mechanical point of view.
jacco, did they cut the leads first so as not to introduce any strains on the joint after the soldering? Any real benefit of doing it that way?
That is very out of date, even if it were ever true.
I remember "in the good old days" when large components (all there was!) were strung between turret lugs on paxolin board. A full turn of wire twist around the lug was the standard, so that the cct could almost work without soldering!
With through-hole components, they are (were) normally pressed against the pcb and the leads sheared off to about 1mm before wave soldering. No way was there any deliberate mechanical contact between device lead and pth. If there was, we field engineers cursed because we could not easily get the component out and replaced with just a solder sucker.
Marketing ?
If you have not been there, not held the highest security clearance levels and not had access to secured info - what can you possibly know ?
That, and completely covering the lead end plus solder pad, minimal length of exposed interaction zone.
Just google for pcb bottom pics of earlier ML gear.
After the solder job, I clean boards to get the solder flux off, then cover them with an acrylic coating.
For which I use an airbrush paint spray gun & compressor, and paper stickers for last assembly stage solder tabs.
(at the least, I feel no need to change my name to something that floats on Sanskrit. Though I do appear to be popular for the scientology mailing list on occasion)
He-he, that was fun! I made a ridiculous statement just to show how silly it is. Leaving off the winky was the best part.
At least it got ya'll thinking and talking about solder joints. Solder does make a difference to me. The better it melts and flows, the better I like it.
Oh yeah, SMD don't have metal to metal contact, do they? Always a film of solder there, right?
was the best part.At least it got ya'll thinking and talking about solder joints. Solder does make a difference to me. The better it melts and flows, the better I like it.
Oh yeah, SMD don't have metal to metal contact, do they? Always a film of solder there, right?
I've tried so many goofy things (green CD pen, Armor All, cable, special connectors, special solder, etc etc etc).
I cringe/cry when I think of all the $$$ spent on 'critical tweaks' only to know now that I could have spent the money on some really good parts out there that are now unobtainium.
After I joined the forum, I picked up some highly recommended transistors and other parts that are also now unobtainium. phew!
In the end, the improvements gained from reading various books out there (Cordell, Self, etc.) and input from some members has improved the sound of my equipment far more than any system tweak I had tried.
I cringe/cry when I think of all the $$$ spent on 'critical tweaks' only to know now that I could have spent the money on some really good parts out there that are now unobtainium.
After I joined the forum, I picked up some highly recommended transistors and other parts that are also now unobtainium. phew!
In the end, the improvements gained from reading various books out there (Cordell, Self, etc.) and input from some members has improved the sound of my equipment far more than any system tweak I had tried.
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He-he, that was fun! I made a ridiculous statement just to show how silly it is. Leaving off the winky
At least it got ya'll thinking and talking about solder joints. Solder does make a difference to me. The better it melts and flows, the better I like it.
Oh yeah, SMD don't have metal to metal contact, do they? Always a film of solder there, right?
Pano, when I worked as buyer for a company that built small run of devices using mainly smd, we talked about ensuring good solder fillets on all the components. Lack of a fillet and you could grab a lead with a tweezer and easily remove it from the pad on the pcb.
One aspect of the Shunyata methodology intrigues me:
According to this, it is advantageous to surround a conductor, or more than one conductor, in ferroelectric beads e.g. Rochelle salt within the cable sleeving. Looking at Wikipedia we see that such substances generate a voltage when flexed or vice versa, and when used as a dielectric, form a capacitor with hysteresis, which can even be used as a memory. I have never heard of such a thing being used in a cable. Can anyone explain how and why it works?
Ferroelectricity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The patent then goes on to say:
Fascinating!
According to this, it is advantageous to surround a conductor, or more than one conductor, in ferroelectric beads e.g. Rochelle salt within the cable sleeving. Looking at Wikipedia we see that such substances generate a voltage when flexed or vice versa, and when used as a dielectric, form a capacitor with hysteresis, which can even be used as a memory. I have never heard of such a thing being used in a cable. Can anyone explain how and why it works?
Ferroelectricity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The patent then goes on to say:
Fascinating!
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