[TowerTalk] re Soldering PL259s (Rob Atkinson, K5UJ)

[Jim Lux]

At 06:01 PM 11/7/2006, Bill Turner wrote:
>ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
>
>On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:00:17 -0800, Jim Lux <jimlux at earthlink.net>
>  wrote:
>
> >if you are making thousands of joints
> >and are in the business of making joints (like building an airplane)....
>
>------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------
>
>I built airplane electronics for many years before retiring and I can
>assure you soldered pins in connectors are ABSOLUTELY forbidden, at
>least where I worked (a supplier to Boeing). Solder is notorious for
>cracking due to metal fatigue. Solder should only be used in places
>where the entire connection is held rigidly in place and vibration is
>not an issue.

I think soldering is primarily a materials problem in a vibe 
environment (work hardening, I believe).  I'm not sure it's a problem 
in a low vibe, thermal cycling environment where there's 360 cycles 
per year..e.g. the typical amateur installation, although I don't 
know that I would mechanically load a soldered joint.

In any case, I'm a big believer in machine made connections, whether 
they are crimped or flow soldered.  It's the "workmanship" that bites 
you every time, and any time you can have part of the process 
"automated", even if only by a crimper with dies that crush the 
connection "just the right amount" every time, you're ahead of the game.