Technique for soldering leads together... with heatshrink...

[eddie25]

Just curious, how do you guys solder leads together when there's no turret involved and your gonna be heat shrinking it (swamp resistors for example)? I usually will 'hook' the two leads together for strength then solder, but then when it comes to heat shrinking I have trouble getting it over the joint without tearing the tubing wherever I've clipped the leads. Usually it gets done and is strong, but mine have a little bulge in the tubing, while the pictures I've seem here are much cleaner looking.

Thanks!

[thousandshirts]

I made a post on this here: http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=26471" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NitroLiq]

I usually will 'hook' the two leads together for strength then solder, but then when it comes to heat shrinking I have trouble getting it over the joint without tearing the tubing wherever I've clipped the leads.

Weird. This is how I do it and never have a problem. I'll create J-shaped hooks, then crimp them together so the connection is pretty flat, then shrinkwrap. Have you tried stepping up the size of the tube shrink you're using?

[eddie25]

I usually have trouble getting the tubing to shrink enough around the non-bulbous part of the leads, so I haven't tried bigger tubing. I'll probably try the lap splice technique next time, and maybe even go down a size on the heat shrink. It's not like these connections are ever getting pulled on or anything, so it should be plenty of strength. I personally wish there was just some type of electrical tape that didn't leave nasty residue then I would probably just use that.

Thanks for the replies.

[thousandshirts]

I'll probably try the lap splice technique next time, and maybe even go down a size on the heat shrink. It's not like these connections are ever getting pulled on or anything, so it should be plenty of strength.

As you can see from my linked post, that procedure is good enough for NASA.

I personally wish there was just some type of electrical tape that didn't leave nasty residue then I would probably just use that.

Brush on electrical tape will work. Try eBay. I have some in black and in red and it comes in mighty handy for
around the house projects; less so inside amps.

[Structo]

Historically the old Western Electric splice has been a good one.

I think it was developed way back during the telegraph days.
It tends to be a little more streamlined than the two hooks.

Then heat shrink as usual.

[thousandshirts]

Historically the old Western Electric splice has been a good one.

For solid core, it's great.