Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions pics of my speaker wires

Nice work,

Could you explain the soldering process to those of us that don't have a clue.

I ordered from Cableorganizer as well. I chose the cheapest delivery possible and in one week it was up here in Canada. Good company to deal with.

In reply to:

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Could you explain the soldering process to those of us that don't have a clue.

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Ummm... one wire to each banana jack terminal.

Bren R.

I think he's looking for a little more specifics about the actual soldering...

All I can tell you is heat the metal, not the solder. The solder should melt onto the bit you're soldering, not the soldering iron.

thanks kcarlile
In addition to heat on the plug do you also heat the wire? Plumbing I can do but this is all new to me.

Ya know, I really don't remember. I don't think so. I think you sort of put the two together (if there's a little hole you can feed the wire through on the connector, it's easier) then heat. Then apply the solder to coat the join. It's been a long time since I've done it, and I really don't know how good a job I did. Also remember that copper is an excellent conductor of heat, so be careful if you're heating the wire! (been caught on that one...)

Ford... repeat to yourself... heat the joint, heat the joint... same as plumbing... you want to heat both sides, solder runs to the hot side. With electronics, shiny is good, dull is a cold joint, and unlike plumbing do NOT unnaturally quick-cool the join (like with a wet rag)... and use rosin-core or straight solder for electronics - not plumbing acid-core.

Bren R.

Sorry it took so long, but we've had some sweet storms over here today. Anyway, costwise: (I'm guessing a bit here) $28 for 32 feet of the Axiom cable (I liked the black sleeving), about $15 for 30 feet of the braided sleeving from Cableorganizer.com (luckily they did not require a minimum order), $18 for 4 pairs of banana terminals from Radioshack, $2.40 for assorted shrink wrap from Radioshack (pretty scketchy quality, and not very 'shrinky'), and some electrical tape, solder and wire clippers. So, a little over $60 bucks for the whole thing.

As for the solder, all answered.

A couple of tips: make sure you have all the wrap and plug covers on before you solder. I made one mistake, and it's hard trying to get a cover on once the terminal is on. In regard to the braided sleeving - if you are using Axiom's stuff, or any cable that is flatter versus rounder, make sure both the cable and the sleeving are situated so that they mate all the way through the length. If it gets twisted, it gets ugly real quick, and you'll have to back-track. I also had that problem. Next time I'll use circular cables I think, so that'll be easier.

Hope this helps and is not too much of a bore. Have fun.

I was getting ready to do my cables, and I've realized that I'm not sure how to do the heatshrink ends. Did you put the heatshrink entirely over the banana plugs? I know that my design is a little different, but if anybody's got any tips on this...

I'm doing these, surprise, surprise...

I was thinking about heatshrinking the bananas to the twisted pair of wire, then heatshrinking the two leads together a little further down before they go into the jacket.

kcarlile,

I didn't have the right wrap to do the clips. I would have, just to clean it up a bit. Those cables look cool in that article. Here's where I think I'm going to get my wrap for the next set:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=73

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-768

You could wire your entire house with that. Good luck.

Mapleshade Clearview Double Golden Helix Plus Speaker Wires.