Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

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Lee Dickinson

Sophomore
Jan 11, 2011
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Richmond, VA
www.avp-ric.com
Hi Guys - been too busy to post in a long time!

So, at a strike the other night, I had a new guy strip the cables from the speaker rig. Didn't even ask him to coil them. What could go wrong? Here's what: He could break EVERY SINGLE in and out speakon on EVERY SINGLE CABINET by using two hands to wrench the speakons out without pulling the release tab.

No one saw it happen; didn't discover it until the next gig when half the cables dropped out of the air during sound check.

These are old all-plastic NL4s, before Neutrik added little metal plates to the locking channels.

So, now I've got twenty cabinets that need new NL4 and NL8 jacks, times two. We have a nice Hakko soldering station, but would like to complement that with a desolder pump for this project. Anyone have a favorite? What do you think of bulb type vs. the electric pump type?

Thanks. Keep an eye on your newbies.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Wow, what an oversight on that guy's part. For smaller gauge wire, like you might find inside a speaker cabinet, I prefer to use desoldering braid. It just works for me. Heck, I even try to use braid on larger wire too. Just "tin" the soldering iron, then place a clean section of braid between the iron and the connection you want desoldered.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Chris Davis said:
Wow, what an oversight on that guy's part. For smaller gauge wire, like you might find inside a speaker cabinet, I prefer to use desoldering braid. It just works for me. Heck, I even try to use braid on larger wire too. Just "tin" the soldering iron, then place a clean section of braid between the iron and the connection you want desoldered.
Click to expand...

That would be cheap and quick probably, but on my Nexos the NL4 are soldered to the input panels with huge globs of solder. I think I'm going to go through a mile of braid.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Lee Dickinson said:
That would be cheap and quick probably, but on my Nexos the NL4 are soldered to the input panels with huge globs of solder. I think I'm going to go through a mile of braid.
Click to expand...

I've had good luck with the plunger type desoldering irons similar to this one: Tenma Vacuum Desoldering Iron | 21-8240 (218240) | Tenma

With one of those I can replace 33 motorized faders on an LS9 in under an hour. Might take a couple of slurps on each NL4 but it should do it. You might also consider getting a regular plunger sucker and use it with your Hakko.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

A "sodovac will be fine for wire that big. It's what we use. For an electronic/air based desoldering system we use OKI/Metcal. Pretty expensive though but pays for itself the first time you don't torch a board with the sodovac or using wick. We use a bunch of wick as well, but for delicate/smaller the OKI and for larger (xlr, 1/4 long frame, etc) we use the sodovac.

Amazon.com: SOLDER SUCKER DESOLDERING PUMP DESOLDER REMOVAL VACUUM: Home Improvement

Welcome to OK International - Soldering, Rework and Fume Extraction System
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Milt Hathaway said:
Dumb question: Why do you need to desolder them? Cut the wires, toss the bad connectors, and use whatever favorite connection method to the new connectors.
Click to expand...

This is your default answer. You will probably find that trying to remove the wire with whatever solder suckers is just a big waste of time. Just clip them and start over. I prefer fastons and I like to solder them to the Neutrik and then do the heat shrink thing to at least a few of them. Cabs that get bounced around a lot in a trailer have been known to loosen a faston or two when they're just stuck on with no solder and plain solder to the tab will once in a blue moon have a cold solder joint that falls off but when you solder a faston to the terminal they always stay put.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Just a quick question and don't take it the wrong way but...
how does someone who doesn't know how to handle a speakon wind up working for you? Seems to me that's pretty basic.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Milt Hathaway said:
Dumb question: Why do you need to desolder them? Cut the wires, toss the bad connectors, and use whatever favorite connection method to the new connectors.
Click to expand...

Because on the Nexo Alphas, the NL4 are soldered directly to PCBs on the back of the input panel. The PCBs link the speakon jacks (nl4 and nl8) and hold the Connectors for the drivers.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

mark anderson said:
Just a quick question and don't take it the wrong way but...
how does someone who doesn't know how to handle a speakon wind up working for you? Seems to me that's pretty basic.
Click to expand...

Since speakon connectors are quite unique, that is what you get when you use casual labor. It is not that common that casual labor destroys a bunch of connectors in a row though. That's talent! :twisted:

My take on it is that casual labor gets embarrassed or frustrated that such a simple thing will not "follow through". So they put all their might into it, not considering for one moment that there may be a better way to do it. I have had a good chuckle or two watching engineer friends of mine try to figure out how to unplug a Speakon. They are smart enough not to force it to the point where it breaks, but boy they do get frustrated!

On the flip side, most people don't know to twist a Speakon when it gets plugged in either.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Chris, Yeah, pretty much. The guy came in as a camera operator after being recommended by one of our usual guys. Cameras got packed up quickly, so I gave him a list of simple tasks.

I purposefully broke one yesterday to see how hard it was. It takes two hands, but isn't too hard after that. It just sheers off about 2mm of plastic, and the connector never locks again.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Lee Dickinson said:
Chris, Yeah, pretty much. The guy came in as a camera operator after being recommended by one of our usual guys. Cameras got packed up quickly, so I gave him a list of simple tasks.

I purposefully broke one yesterday to see how hard it was. It takes two hands, but isn't too hard after that. It just sheers off about 2mm of plastic, and the connector never locks again.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Well to add to my last post, I think that people don't ask in the first place because they are afraid of looking stupid. Looking back, the people who have broken my stuff mostly had pride issues or anger management problems.

I remember way back when I handled my first Speakon connector, and it wouldn't unplug. I tried it a little harder, but when the plastic connector plate on the speaker flexed a little I gave up. I realized it was better to ask around than to be a dick for breaking something. Some people don't have that type of thought process going on in their heads.
 
Re: Desolder Rig / Unbelievable Hamhandedness

Lee Dickinson said:
Because on the Nexo Alphas, the NL4 are soldered directly to PCBs on the back of the input panel. The PCBs link the speakon jacks (nl4 and nl8) and hold the Connectors for the drivers.
Click to expand...

if it's just a PCB for the connectors and speaker leads (no crossover bits) then it might be worth getting a quote on the entire replacement part. time and new desoldering machine costs taken into account..

Jason
 
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