I am concerned soldering will melt the plastic and distort the plug. Anyone ever solder the wires for the AC tabs for an IEC socket? The equipment came with typical spades to slide on. I want to hard wire the socket instead for best flow. Any tips?
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Not recommended, and some types of tabs will NOT take solder at all. I'd get a different socket if you want to solder.
I have to say, the spade crimps have always worked well in my experience. Not only is a lot of commercial pro audio full of them, but things like my microwave, refrigerator, dishwasher have worked for years with those connections. I see no reason to fear them. And they won't melt the plastic.
Unfortunately, to properly and reliably assemble crimp lugs, you need a dedicated crimp tool for that particular brand,
usually costing $300-$400 each.
Eventually the spades will oxidize. This will cause the sound to degrade a degree. On a used amp just try DeoxIT on the spades connectors and you may just hear what I did. I also used a silver contact enhancer and the sound gets even better. Yet, there is no connection better than hardwired. And, it becomes maintenance free.
Use hemostats or aligator clips as heat sink next to plastic body. I have done this often and has worked for me.
Oh dear. The spade either connects or it doesn't. Sound does not degrade a degree! It supplies mains or it intermittantly doesn't.
Solder it, bearing in mind the specification of the connector, usually 200degrees C for 20Seconds before any degading is noticed..
Use lots of heat and flux and be quick!
Your comment has me wondering.. do you ever DeoxIT your interconnects? your power cords? Nothing degrades over time?
Are we talking about the same kind of spade connector?
As for your suggestion... I will get a dummy socket to experiment with. Thanks.
yes, quick connects are the way to go, you can get ones with plastic sleeving
that you can slip over it...i do it all the time...
since these are plated, tarnishing is avoided, install and forget...
that you can slip over it...i do it all the time...
since these are plated, tarnishing is avoided, install and forget...
I've seen many fast-on connectors in poor, oxidized condition in older equipment of various types. Often they get unacceptably loose as well.
Just plug in a female cable and then solder. The pins will be in place after soldering. That´s how I do it.
sure, but it is really up to the builder to make sure connections using them are tight,
i never had problems using quick connects...
in fact many old UPS's that i dismantled used those quick connects...
use the right quick connects for the job, if they are easy to unconnect,
then you have done something wrong, they should be tight and not easy to pull off by hand...
i use pliers to pull them out so i know they are tight...
btw, if you are concerned about the plastic melting, then use a soldering gun for quick soldering..
also plug in a power cord to that before soldering, make sure the power cord is not
connected to the wall though, and make it quick...
i never had problems using quick connects...
in fact many old UPS's that i dismantled used those quick connects...
use the right quick connects for the job, if they are easy to unconnect,
then you have done something wrong, they should be tight and not easy to pull off by hand...
i use pliers to pull them out so i know they are tight...
btw, if you are concerned about the plastic melting, then use a soldering gun for quick soldering..
also plug in a power cord to that before soldering, make sure the power cord is not
connected to the wall though, and make it quick...
Put the plug in the socket; use flux and be quick. The plug will take excess heat away and keep the socket pins in place if the plastic gets too hot
So how to explain that for military, aerospace and automotive applications, crimped push-on connections reign supreme?
Push-pull, along with DIN and XLR, if left plugged in, will maintain a connection that doesn't allow enough oxygen in to be concerned with. Quick connects generally aren't that good.
Personally, I reflow for such large connections, holding them with needlenose pliers. The initial cold joint's solder helps spread the heat quicker than on the first try, and the pliers act as a weak heatsink. I'll have to try plugging in a spare cord, next time, to see how that works 🙂.
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