Oh Boy....lots of different good ways to solder a PL 259...
I've done them many ways, and encourage all to do them in
the way that works for you... That said, I use an ancient, American Beauty
100 watt
iron with 3/8" dia solid copper tip, chiseled to a 4 side pyramid that just
fits the holes.
($5.00 at ham flea markets; $50.00 or more at stores)
in the PL 259. My bet is that the stored heat energy in the massive tip and
heating coil housings pour heat at a much higher rate than the rated 100
continuous watts of the iron.. Just as a power
supply dunps huge watts from its filter caps, when seeing a low impedance
load.
By the way, In my opinion, big irons seem outrageously priced...is it
justifiable? Lots of precious metals, or ceramics? Or just supply and
demand, and big margins?
I don't tin the shield anymore as when I did, the near perfect, round,
thinly tinned shield ran along the inside of the barrel, not touching it.
When the hot iron was applied, it first heated the complete connector
barrel, but the heat did not immediately heat the cold, tinned braid.
In most cases, with good coax, the untinned shield could be dressed in such
a way that it was thick, and pressed up against the inside of the holes.
Extra caution, (incl not nicking the shield when cutting away the jacket)
easily prevents pieces of shield wire, from being scored, fracturing,
drifting, and causing center to shield shorts. The untinned shield
presents a lot less mass to heat, that accepts the applied solder through
the holes.
The Iron tip, chiseled properly, is firmly applied straight down, into the
center of each hole. You can see a tiny gap into the hole and shield wire
below through each of the chiseled planes.
If you tin the iron tip liberally, the fresh, molten solder makes a perfect
contact seal around the hole, and very quickly flows down into the untinned
shield wires. In most cases, from room temp to melt/flow the solder, takes
only 5 seconds or less, per hole with a big iron. It only has to heat a
very small mass of shield wires, compared to touching a fully tinned shield,
which sinks the point contact heat away rapidly, and begins to cook the
dielectric. You dont necessarily need to hit/fill all four holes. I use
a wet rag, hanging over the cox, once I have soldered the barrel, (each
time for each hole) draped over the rear of the shell, causing steam to
rapidly cool the connector.
73, DX, de Pat AA6EG aa6eg@hotmail.com;
Skype: Sparky599
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Rob Said:
>From: "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>
>To: towertalk@contesting.com
>Subject: [TowerTalk] re Soldering PL259s
>Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2006 18:21:31 +0000
>
>ur problem is that the connector is so massive, it's sinking all the heat
>out of ur iron. U need a lot of heat to quickly heat up the connector, and
>get the solder flowing and get off it before the dielectric melts and the
>center migrates. Even a soldering gun isn't enough because the tip is so
>small relative to the connector, the connector sinks out the tip heat and
>the gun can't keep it hot. You need something like either a Wahl 150 w.
>iron that has a big massive blade tip (like a big flathead screwdriver) or
>a
>small torch. The prob. with the wahl iron is it costs around 100 bucks and
>takes about 30 min. to heat up and cool down. I'd go to someplace like
>Lowe's and get a small hand torch. Instant heat, right into the braid
>holes. It may take a few tries to get the hang of it but after that it's
>fast. Plus you can solder with it anywhere, even outside in cold wx. The
>usual torch safety precautions apply. You'll probably get 50 responses as
>everyone has their own way of doing this. If ur uncomfortable with a
>torch,
>get a big watt iron (however not everyone sells them so they may be a bit
>hard to find).
>
>rob / k5uj
>
>p.s. another handy item to have is a small high speed fan or blower to put
>the connector in front of & get it cooled down real quick when ur done.
>
>
>***************************************
>
>I used to know how but lately I cant seem to get it.
>
>Using standard Soldering pen (you know the black with the long copper
>tip). Ive always
>tinned he braid. Cut it with a tubing wheel and then strip and
>solder. But for
>some reason this stuff isnt sticking. Using silver ceramic connectors.
>Ive for almost all my 30 years been able to d a connector up right.
>Now I cannot.
>
>the Coax is RF Products 9913 double silver braid with foil under.
>
>HELP
>
>I have a Solder gun avail, but really hate to zap the coax braid and
>connector with that.
>
>Scotty W7PSK
>10-10 33700
>Everett, Washington
>Found on 14.070 or 28.120 PSK31 most times.
>
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