[Elecraft] K2 build question

[Don Wilhelm]

Tim,

First, use a small flat screwdriver or similar tool to form the wires 
adjacent to the crystal case - the wire and the crystal should be in 
contact with each other before you start soldering.

The crystal cases wick away the heat from the iron quickly.
Use a larger tip if you have one and turn the heat on your soldering 
station up to 800 deg F.
Lay as much area of the tip as you can against the crystal case and melt 
a small amount of solder between the iron tip and the crystal case - 
then position your solder on the crystal case near the point where the 
iron and wire contact the crystal (but not right on either the iron or 
the wire).  When the solder melts, the crystal can should be hot 
enough.  A bit of flux should run out of your solder - pass the iron tip 
over the area where you just added the flux and it should be done.  All 
those steps should take 3 to 4 seconds if your soldering tip is big 
enough and the heat is high enough.  If not, let the crystal can cool 
and try again - too low heat for a long period of time can create 
damage, where a higher heat for a short period will not cause damage.

73,
Don W3FPR

Tim wrote:
> Ladies and Gents,
>
> I am in the process of mounting the crystals on my K2 RF board (Page 54 of the manual).  I'm having difficulty in getting a good solder joint on the grounding wires for crystals 7 - 11, the ones that are to be grounded on the sides of their cases, rather than the tops.  If I were to do it over, I'd solder the wires to the cases before installing the crystals on the board, but it's too late for that now.  Are there any tricks to attaching the grounding wires?
>
> Thanks es 73,
>
> Tim - KX3H
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