On 22 May 2011 03:19, Reuben Martin <reuben.m(a)gmail.com> wrote: I'd rather not. Especially as I already have one. A few years ago I used the ancient (found in parents garage around twenty years ago, and it was ancient then) beast to solder a 2.5mm stereo jack to twin 1/4" mono jacks. The 2.5mm jack was so fiddly I had to buy extra of them because I kept melting the plastic sleeves inside the plug itself. When I managed not to melt anything, the lumps of solder were too big to get the outer casing on. Eventually I do believe I got something which worked. It lasted less than a year. Perhaps I need a new soldering iron? James.

On 5/22/11, Simon Wise <simonzwise(a)gmail.com> wrote: Since I don't have any kit with mini-xlr, James, I can't answer your original question, only a bit more on soldering. You might want to look for a temperature-controlled soldering pencil iron. I have a little radioshack one that switches between 20 & 40 watts, & has a few different size/shaped tips. Handy for solder jobs like custom cabling & other audio DIY. Don't recall what I paid, but think it was pretty cheap. Besides audio stuff, I feel like I more than made up the cost a few years ago re-soldering a bad joint of the Main Relay causing my car to intermittently not start when hot. There are other variable temperature control designs too, allowing more exact temperature adjustments, but I've never used these. Also, look at a good online soldering how-to. -s

On 23 May 2011 11:53, andy baxter <andy(a)earthsong.free-online.co.uk> wrote: Thanks for all the tips everyone. I've gone for an 80w Weller soldering iron and will use a "twin 1/4" mono jacks to 3.5mm stereo jack cable" and cutting the 3.5mm stereo jack off and replacing it with a mini xlr. Hopefully this will improve the audio quality just by the reduction of connections (the coupler gives very fuzzy connection). Thanks, James.

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 6:56 AM, James Morris <jwm.art.net(a)gmail.com> wrote: James- My guess is that the TA3 connectors are what you are referring to when you say 'mini-xlr'? I do a LOT of work on TA4s and the like for wireless bodypacks and mics, and to be honest I tend to carry one of the small battery powered soldering irons in my toolbox these days to work on those. These irons get just hot enough for that size of work, heat up decently quick(Which is good since you are generally stuck there holding the button till they do) and have a small enough tip to work on these. Not to mention the irons themselves are cheap enough to be considered disposable as needed. All that being said, I generally order tips for the soldering iron matching manufacturer is all. I treat the battery powered irons as disposable(Because by the time the tip is gone for me the iron itself isn't in great shape due to cheap plastic) but I have my temperature controlled iron that I order tips for for when I am doing a stretch of work. Seablade

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, James Morris wrote: Another factor to deal with is how thick the solder is that you are using. The thicker the solder, the more heat it takes, causing plastic to melt. Get really fine solder and it takes much less applied heat to melt it. I use a model like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882577001 Helping Hands are helpful and handy :) http://www.amazon.com/TEKTON-7521-Helping-Hand-Magnifier/dp/B000NQ4Q4C And you will want a spool a solder similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-Core-Solder-Spool/dp/B00068IJX6 -Reuben

Hi, Just in case anyone finds this useful: I purchased an 18w soldering iron with a 2mm tip, and this time got leaded multi-core solder instead of lead-free (which is more difficult to work with). This made my life so much easier, this time the smaller tip allowed me to get the pins hot before I had a chance to melt the plastic. Just to recap, 18w soldering iron, leaded multicore solder, some solder-wick in case you fluff up, a wet sponge for keeping the iron clean, helping-hands/clamps, sharp knife for wire-stripping, and you're good to go ;-) James. On 26 May 2011 01:33, Thomas Vecchione <seablaede(a)gmail.com> wrote: