[Milsurplus] Solder Joints

[Thomas Adams]

I went to a vocational high school where gospel was make the connection mechanically secure FIRST
(I can STILL do a pretty decent Westrern Union splice!!!). The waatchword...  Solder isn't GLUE.

Many years later at Wisconsin Public TV... I was treated like some kind of an uncivilized Neanderthal 
for applying those principles to XLR plugs!

But then, UW Extension people always considered the Educational Communications Board folks to be
their inferiors...  ;o)


Mr. T.

  
-----Original Message-----
From: sbjohnston at aol.com <sbjohnston at aol.com>
Sent: Jun 23, 2025 2:46 PM
To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Solder Joints

 
One downside to the "make a strong mechanical connection before soldering" is that sometimes equipment makes it through testing and quality control with unsoldered joints that later prove to be a problem for the customers/users.
 
A tight mechanical connection allows the device to function for testing and initial deployment but after a little time (plus movement and metal oxidation), the joint stops conducting reliably.  I've have found unsoldered joints in equipment that failed some time after installation.  Clearly the person responsible for soldering at the factory missed that connection, but it worked OK for testing and my initial operation of the unit and only failed later.
 
There would be less chance of this particular failure mode if the connection was just a tack or a simple hook rather than a tightly twisted mechanical joint. 
 
Consider that bazillions of PC board connections have been considered perfectly fine for reliability. Through-hole connections offer a bit of mechanical support, and  surface mount components might have a drop of glue -  but the solder connection is doing most of the work.
 
I am not arguing against making a tight mechanical connection, just offering this observation.  And I admit I might be justifying my many tacked or hooked connections over the years.
 
 
Steve WD8DAS   



 
 sbjohnston at aol.com   


http://www.wd8das.net/  

http://af4k-crystals.com/   
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