Mechnically connecting parts and wire on eyelet board?

[Joost]

What's your favorite technique for connecting parts and wire on an eyelet board? I've seen people twist parts together, I've seen people hook parts and wire around the eyelet and use the solder to connect the parts and I've seen people bend a 180 degrees hook on everything MIL spec and hook the parts and wire together and solder.

So, how do you do it and why do you think this way is best?

[selloutrr]

twisting gives the most reliable connection, but keep in mind if you have to repair or modify the circuit untwisting the soldered parts it a royal pain in the neck. Usually ending in just cutting them and starting over.

Turret lugs:
I like to 90 degree insert and pool or half circle wrap and solder to the outside.

Eyelets:
If building from scratch insert and bend so the wire makes contact and holds it'self inplace. If it's a repair I'm just happy to find room for it to fit, bend it back against the bulk of whatever is sharing the hole and snip off the excess lead.

wrapping the wire on the point to point terminal strips eyelets makes for a nice clean solid connection but it's again hard to work on if you hope to restore that part.

In any case the trick is to get in and get out keeping the heat to a minimum. alligator clips are handy for transfering heat from components

[selloutrr]

examples

[Joost]

So if one eyelet contains wire and several parts, do you connect those together or let them make contact with the eyelet and solder separately?

[paulster]

In eyelets I prefer to bend each lead back through 180 degrees independently so that each component can self-support itself, and the solder then locks it in place. Just like the last picture posted.

Then you snip off the excess afterwards.

It's still a real pain to remove components because they are in there so tight, but it can be done, so repairs and mods can be undertaken.

The minute you twist leads together before putting them in the eyelets you have written off the chance of pulling out and replacing a component without having to snip wires.

And it shouldn't be necessary if you've already bent the wires back to get some mechanical integrity in the first place.

[selloutrr]

So if one eyelet contains wire and several parts, do you connect those together or let them make contact with the eyelet and solder separately?

Tin the eyelet first then as Paulster said insert the component leads and bend them to make contact how ever many need to share that eyelet and fill the hole with solder.

The component's stay in place because you bent both ends. If you need to remove a component later all you need to do is reflow the solder joint and pull the lead toward the component and wiggle it free. pretty easy to service.

The worst part of twisting components besides having to cut the lead to remove the part is that it still takes up space int he hole so it could be difficult to find room for the new part you are trying to install.

[Noel Grassy]

What's your favorite technique for connecting parts and wire on an eyelet board? I've seen people twist parts together, I've seen people hook parts and wire around the eyelet and use the solder to connect the parts and I've seen people bend a 180 degrees hook on everything MIL spec and hook the parts and wire together and solder.

So, how do you do it and why do you think this way is best?

NASA has well regarded guidelines[Doc. #613] re: Wiring terminals. Including the acceptable length of remaining insulation and it's distance from the wire that
it adjoins to the soldering point. Most of the rules are obvious common sense or are related to stresses that provoke circuit failure by flexing or
otherwise destroying the stranded wire & solder bond.

To answer your question Nasa prefers the 180degree soldered loops too! See the free Neets guidelines for through-hole soldered terminal posts.

I hope it'll help,

Noel Grassy.

[Lonely Raven]

I learned from the NASA guidelines (and a military guy), both of which instruct that solder is *not* glue, and you need a solid mechanical connection before you flow the solder.

That said, it is a PITA when you have leads looped through and you need to replace a component. But then again, the guys I learned from were so nutty about details, they stocked more de-solder braid (for repairs) than solder!

[selloutrr]

I've never had as great of luck with solder wick / braid as I have wished. I've felt I've had to over heat the component to make the solder transfer to the wick. I bought a rework station... now that's the ticket! heat and vacuum clean.

[Noel Grassy]

I've never had as great of luck with solder wick / braid as I have wished. I've felt I've had to over heat the component to make the solder transfer to the wick. I bought a rework station... now that's the ticket! heat and vacuum clean.

I'm in the same situation re: solder braid. I actually thought it was the fault of a neglected roll of braid that had maybe become oxidized over time and
this made lifting the molten solder impossible. I became effective with the
solder sucking plungers and never dragged out the braid in 10 years or more. Do you find the station's disposable filters to be a value after a few hours of work? I meant do those filters get renewed more than twice an hour under heavy rework? One hopes to avoid protracted "huff fests" with
nature's bounteous oaf of the heavy metals. but those stations look like your health is a big concern.

I'm envious of your luxurious life with a dadblame re-work station. The current crop of Fender [amongst many others] look like their densely loaded PCs require a tech to approach their repair with nothing less than a well appointed solder station if your not repairing them under warranty. Noel Grassy.

[selloutrr]

My wife forced me to buy a fume hood, something about sperm and lead I found a labratory grade fume hood at a government auction for $50. making fumes no longer an issue. I also have a window I can open when it's not 120 degree's outside to let in natural light and fresh air. I've noticed the natural sun light lowers eye fatigue after a long day at the bench.

I use the Solder sucker and Digital weller the most often. followed by the rework station, a must have for an IC or PCB work. The rework station is very handy it can go all day no worries once the solder is sucked it's collected and cooled so fumes aren't a concern. It puts out less fumes then keeping heat on the solder braid and trying to get it to transfer.

It was an expensive piece of equipment to add to the bench, but it makes working on PCB's possible without causing more damage to the board or neighboring parts.

The rework station is my favorite. I can remove a PCB mount stereo Cliff jack in 10 seconds. Heat.. Pull. Done. 80% of the time the holes are clean if not the manual solder sucker can get the rest.

[fopoman]

what kind of rework station is it?

[selloutrr]

I use the hot air blower from this kit but I still haven't unpacked the reworkstation, bought it back in '07. It's the backup / mobile unit.

http://www.howardelectronics.com/cgi-bi ... esult.html

This is my main bench rig. I'm a huge fan of Weller, because they just work.

http://www.howardelectronics.com/weller ... RS7000.jpg

[Lonely Raven]

Wow, great gear! Way out of my pay grade.

[selloutrr]

The Xytronic is a really nice setup for pretty low $$$ it does everything the weller does. I'd make sure I gave it time to cool and probably wouldn't leave it on and forget about it for a couple days like I have done with the weller on more then one occation.
Even with a Master OFF switch I get pulled away in the middle of a project, lose focus, and get side tracked, thinking I shut it all down and come back to find out I didn't.
Luckily the Weller digital soldering station has auto temp cut in the cradle so the tip doesn't burn up.
Everything else just raises the electrical bill.