some advice for newbie DIYers..

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STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS!!!

 

work TEMPORARILY HALTED due to oncoming exams.'

 

please inform me VIA THIS feedback thread if you find any mistakes. do NOT reply to THIS thread :

 

http://www.sgheadphones.com/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=577

 

 

an intro:

 

if you make anything (headphone cables, interconnects, power cords, etc etc) yourself, you are a DIYer.

 

you are a person who believe that you can do the same job as big companies BETTER, and for a LOWER price too. you are likely to be confident, cool, smart, unflappable under pressure and brave. maybe even a little reckless.

 

and you're probably good looking too.

 

 

this thread is intended to help all those who intend to become brave cool calm collected and good looking DIY'ers. it will provide the basics, and nothing more. it will teach you how to fly, but you yourself must develop your own style.

 

useful links to additional reading are sprinkled liberally thoughout the article - dont forget to read them!

 

 

here's a quick summary of the 'chapters' in this guide.

 

1. the soldering iron

2. solder and other accessories

3. soldering techniques and maintenence

4. cables: an intro & addressing your needs

5. parts of cables

6. how-to: common tasks MADE SIMPLE

 

some commonly used abbreviations in this article:

 

YMMV - your mileage may vary - you might gain more/less out of it.

IMO - in my opinion

Edited July 14, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER ONE: THE SOLDERING IRON

 

your soldering iron is your best friend in DIY. it is the equivalent of your rifle (aka wife) in the army. as in the army, you never drop your wife. you never let others touch her and you keep her clean (and tinned in this case). however, it is also DANGEROUS. remember that always. an improperly kept soldering iron can burn you, or worse, electrocute you. - these will all be covered in detail later in CHAPTER THREE.

 

just as every good house starts with a firm foundation you MUST get a good soldering iron if you intend to do a proper DIY job.

 

 

a GOOD soldering iron MUST HAVE the following traits.

 

1. a reasonable power rating

 

power rating, or wattage, is how hot your soldering iron can get. the higher the wattage, the hotter your iron can get and the faster it reaches its max temp. 20W is the bare minimum. better still, get a soldering iron with a adjustable wattage (eg 5-50W). different solders may have different recommended pairings with irons of a certain wattage. for example, it is recommended by cardas themselves to pair cardas quadeutectic solder with a 25W soldering iron for optimum performance. however usually this is not an issue except for 'boutique' (aka expensive, exotic etc etc) solders, so an iron with an adjustable wattage is your best bet.

 

2. a replaceable and fine tip

 

the tip is the part of the soldering iron that will matter the most to you. the finer the tip, the better. if you're wondering why, it will make soldering all those fine connections much more easy. also, it is important that the iron tip be replaceable. like all good headphones, good soldering irons have easily replaced parts. besides easy servicing, you are also given the luxury of being able to change the caliber of your tip to suit your needs. tips will be covered in more detail later in this chapter.

 

3. a comfortable grip

 

the grip is the part of the iron that you will come into contact with most of the time (). a comfortable grip is one that fits your hand well (big hand - big grip, small hand - small grip). it should also have some raised pattern on it to enable sweat from your hand to evaporate quicker so that you do not lose your grip on your iron. very useful for marathon soldering sessions.

 

 

soldering IRONs vs soldering GUNs

 

a soldering iron is NOT the same as a soldering gun. a soldering gun is exactly what it sounds like: a gun shaped tool from which the 'hot' bits protrude from the 'barrel'; in essence a gun mounted soldering iron. BUT a soldering gun is also different from a soldering iron as most importantly a soldering gun has a 'trigger' you press to heat it up- when you press it, the tip heats up. when you let go, it cools down. also, soldering guns are typically of a much higher wattage than soldering irons. they're also usually much more expensive.

Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER TWO: SOLDER AND OTHER ACCESSORIES

 

there are many types of solder, but they can be divided into 2 very broad categories:

 

eutectic and non-eutectic

 

what?

 

for our application, this is all you need to know:

 

eutetic - goes STRAIGHT from solid to liquid AND vice versa

 

non-eutectic - goes from solid to PASTY to liquid AND vice versa

 

eutectic solder is what you WANT.

Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER THREE: SOLDERING TECHNIQUES AND MAINTAINENCE

 

a good solder joint is SHINY. a bad one that is likely to be 'cold' (non-conducting) is usually dull and rough looking.

Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER FOUR: CABLES - AN INTRO AND ADDRESSING YOUR NEEDS Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER FIVE: PARTS OF CABLES

 

1. conductor

 

the conductor is literally the heart of any cable. it determines most of the electrical properties of the cable. conductors come in many flavours. the following are just a small sample:

 

copper

OFC copper

OFC LC copper

tinned copper

silver plated copper

gold plated copper

copper plated aluminium

silver

gold plated silver

rhodium plated silver

magnetic oxide

 

quite alot eh? and that's not all. they also come in 2 major types - stranded and non-stranded.

 

stranded - the conductor is made of strands of smaller conductors which are made up of even smaller strands of conductor. an example of a terminology you will encounter would be

 

"24AWG, 7x32"

 

this would represent a conductor who's overall gauge is 24 and is made out of 7 strands of 32-apiece conductor.

 

non-stranded - aka solid core; the conductor is simply 1 thick piece of conductor.

 

 

 

2. insulation

 

after conductor material, insulation material affects the electrical properties of your cable the most. insulation can be any

 

 

3. shielding

 

there are 2 main types of shielding:

 

1. braid

 

literally a metal 'braid' surrounding the conductor and insulation. think of the way a shower hose surrounds the water flowing through it.

 

2. foil

 

 

 

4. jacket material

 

to a large extent, jacket material affects the obvious physical characteristics of the cable. a cable jacketed with semi-stiff pvc is going to be, well, stiff. a cable jacketed with FEP (aka teflon) is going to be a bit slippery. a cable jacketed with silicon rubber is going to be soft and pliable.

 

choose jacket material based on your needs. if you are making a headphone extension cable that is going to be run over by chairs, stepped on, etc etc, you would likely want something soft and tough like silicon rubber. if you're making interconnects in a cramped space and flexibility is what you need, dont choose semi-stiff pvc. if you're working in a high heat high risk area, use something heat resistant like flamarrest.

 

 

5. filler material

 

filler material is material that manufacturers add into a cable to give the cable added properties. for example, jute/cotton/polyester threads may be added to reduce microphonics (the phenomenon where physical movement of the cable results in [audible] current beign generated in the cable) and to prevent stretching of the cable (useful in preventing spiral foil shield from 'unwinding'). another example would be adding strands of tempered steel wire so that your cable can withstand a large tension applied to it (useful for hanging microphones).

 

filler material should be your last priority in choosing a suitable cable. IMO, filler is only a luxury and not a neccesity. YMMV though.

Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc

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CHAPTER SIX: HOW-TO - COMMON TASKS MADE EASY

 

1. join 2 wires

 

 

2. solder a wire to something

 

 

3.

Edited July 7, 2003 by adhoc