Hi David: You wrote:
Yes you can solder the odd ones or twos (ok Ron, yes you solder them all), but I found I was having to be very careful not to let solder run up to the contact part. -------------------- You fixed that with a good crimp tool. For those who solder the terminals the way to avoid getting solder on the contact is to hold the wire with the contacts upwards. A small vise or just propping the stripped wires up against a book or something works that holds the stripped ends steady pointing upwards works FB. Set each connector on the stripped wire with the contact UP, adjust the position so they are both aligned to slip into the shells easily, then apply heat to the metal terminal and feed solder through the holes near the terminal end until it flows around the inside and into the wire and connector *away* from the contacts. (I included that hint right on the instruction sheet.) It takes me perhaps 1 minute to attach two terminals to the stripped wires. Still, if I were doing a LOT of them I'd probably crimp them (with the expensive tool), especially if I were doing most of them "in the field" away from the bench. My point in posting to the thread was that it's not *necessary* to use a crimp tool nor does Elecraft recommend one do so over soldering. That's why the power cable kit assembly instructions say, "Unless you have a high-quality crimping tool and experience using it, we strongly recommend you solder the terminals." Wayne and Eric added a suggested crimp tool to the connector assembly instructions for people who did not want to use a soldering iron regardless of the expense. Even so, it's important to know how to use the tool correctly. Ron _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
