[Elecraft] Soldering Power Poles

[Jim Brown]

> I think cost new less than $50?

Why would I want to spend $50 (plus shipping, of course) for a crimper 
when the soldering iron I already own works really well? Some of my 
techniques:

1) The biggest inserts are the most difficult to use, so I use them only 
for the #10 wire for which they are designed. I first carefully strip 
and tin the wire long enough so that the stripped conductor will just 
fit inside the shell once the pin is inserted. That's because the 
insulation of a larger cable often does not fit inside the shell. I find 
that liquid flux applied to the wire before tinning keeps the solder 
layer thin enough to fit in the insert. I then use the pliers to fold 
the "wings" over the wire so that, when soldered, it will fit in the 
shell.  I also use a drop of flux when soldering.

2) The middle-size insert will handle #12 if carefully stripped and 
tinned, as above. Again, I use flux for the tinning, and also for 
soldering to the pin.

3) I use a lot of the smallest inserts for small diameter cables, like 
those from small accessories. I strip the conductors long enough that I 
can fold the stripped part over itself with the folded length just 
enough to fit in the pin. Again, a drop of flux helps the soldering 
process.

4) I use a nice bench vise to hold the cable to which I am soldering, 
orienting the cable upward so that the pin sits on it, and oriented so 
that the V+ cable is on the right with the lip facing away from me.

Once the pins are installed, I mate a red and black shell, put the two 
shells in the vise, then carefully orient the pins and push them in one 
at a time until the lip latches to the blade in the shell. For smaller 
cable, I use a little green Xcelite screwdriver to push the pin over the 
blade.

In general, these techniques work well for almost any connector I need 
to install, all the way up to PL259s and multipins of various sorts

73, Jim K9YC