Soldering Cat5 cables to the SS controller

[bcstuff]

I am not having much luck with getting the Cat5 cables soldered to the SS controllers.

I tried the solder through the insulation idea, and it is kind of messy and I am not to sure it is actually making good contact.
I am also starting to melt my insulation further up the wire, probably because I am keeping the iron on there longer to make sure it has good contact and burning away the insulation.

I know someone else mentioned they were stripping and tinning the ends of the Cat5, but this is a pain to get lined up correctly and adds considerably to the process.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to make this go more smoothly.


Thanks,
Brian

[JoeFromOzarks]

Hi Brian,

Here’s how I’ve been doing it:

1. strip off the outer jacket (after poking it through the PVC end cap!)
2. cut the wires at different lengths (optional, see below*)
3. strip the insulation off each conductor using Klein strippers on 24ga
4. twist strands and tin each conductor.
5. poke the wires into the PCB strain relief holes
6. solder each conductor

For me, the easiest way is to poke and then solder the two center wires (whi/grn and blu) then work outwards.  (I do {essentially} the same thing when punching down CAT5 to the female connectors but with those I start with whi/blu blu.)   â€˜Course, I really have to pay attention since I’m not following the natural 1 to 8 or 8 to 1 order.

*To make you really crazy, I actually make the two center wires a tad shorter, the next towards the ends a little less shorter, and finally, the outer two (org/whi and brn) left the original “stripped jacket” full length.     Horseshoes and hand grenades.

After I poke the insulated wires through the “strain-relief” holes on the PCB, I use tiny needle-nose pliers to right-angle the conductor so it’ll pop right into the solder holes.  Pre-tinning makes the conductors easier to form into shape, plus you don’t have to worry about the stray strand mating with an adjoining hole.  After the first two, I solder one alternating conductor at a time finishing with whi/org and finally brn.

Note: I’m running both the 3-wire AND the RJ45-female out the same PVC end cap, two holes (7/32” and 1/4" holes) because of my own requirements and SSC positioning.

It helps if you have the Cardinals at Reds (or your local MLB baseball) game on the television.   Com’on Redbirds!  (grin)

joe

I am not having much luck with getting the Cat5 cables soldered to the SS controllers.

I tried the solder through the insulation idea, and it is kind of messy and I am not to sure it is actually making good contact.
I am also starting to melt my insulation further up the wire, probably because I am keeping the iron on there longer to make sure it has good contact and burning away the insulation.

I know someone else mentioned they were stripping and tinning the ends of the Cat5, but this is a pain to get lined up correctly and adds considerably to the process.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to make this go more smoothly.


Thanks,
Brian

[bcstuff]

Joe,
Thanks for the response.
I am following the method you outline almost exactly, but was looking for an easier way.

One thing I found that helps to make the different length wires all line up is to push all the wires through the PCB strain holes as far as they will go. With the PCB face up press it to the counter so it holds the Cat5 wires in place. Then Trim all your wires at the same height/length (about 1/2"). When you remove them from the PCB and strip and tin the ends, they will all be the correct length.

Thanks,
Brian

[JoeFromOzarks]

Hi Brian!

That’s a good idea of yours!

But here I am again, wishing to retract a statement I published on the Internet.

Do NOT build SSC’s while watching baseball.  Pujols banged out a homer to put the Redbirds up on the Reds 5 to 4.   I jumped up and cheered Albert’s home run and went back to soldering, next, the 3-wire connector.  Good solder job, good wire alignment and lengths, then noticed I forgot to shove the wires through the PVC end cap.

So, maybe it’s not so good watching baseball while soldering SSC’s. 

joe

[bcstuff]

Ok, so for the benefit of others, I found another way that is a little simpler.

1) Push the unstripped wires through the strain relief holes and press the PCB down on the counter (lynx logo up).
2) Clip you wires so they are all even.
3)Bend the wires towards the solder holes and one at a time stand one up and strip it.
4)twist the wire ends and put them through the solder holes.
5)Bend the unsoldered twisted wires back towards the cat5 female end (see pics below).
6) this will hold them while you solder.
7) Place your flush cutter at a 90 degree angle to the board and snip off the excess.

Way faster, looks clean, and I know it is a good connection.

Don't forget your PVC caps, I was so excited for this one that I forgot the cap. 

[Corey872]

To adding to the 'more than one way to skin a cat'....

1.  Cut the outer cover, strip, and tin the wires on the cat 5
2.  Push the wires through the strain holes, make a nice arch then back through the solder holes.
3.  Solder the bottoms and clip the ends flush.

Done

If you really want to, you could work the wires back through the strain holes to get them to lie flush on the board, though I figure the extra loop will be a bit more strain relief, plus provide a bit of a visual indicator if the wires are getting pulled too tight.

[lboucher]

Thanks, i find this method works great.

Ok, so for the benefit of others, I found another way that is a little simpler.

1) Push the unstripped wires through the strain relief holes and press the PCB down on the counter (lynx logo up).
2) Clip you wires so they are all even.
3)Bend the wires towards the solder holes and one at a time stand one up and strip it.
4)twist the wire ends and put them through the solder holes.
5)Bend the unsoldered twisted wires back towards the cat5 female end (see pics below).
6) this will hold them while you solder.
7) Place your flush cutter at a 90 degree angle to the board and snip off the excess.

Way faster, looks clean, and I know it is a good connection.

Don't forget your PVC caps, I was so excited for this one that I forgot the cap. 

[taybrynn]

bcstuff, I wanted to thank you for this excellent advise ... this is a much better way of doing it and it really worked well for me and was so much cleaner.  I nominate that this photos could be potentially added to the SSC manual eventually, because its quite helpful, esp. to a more novice soldering folks.  Thanks again !!

I find the hardest part now is getting those wires twisted and then its still sometimes hard to get through the soldering hole with snagging, so I did put solder on a couple of the wires to aid in this.

I also find the soldering of the other side very very easy, since its using those nice 3 pin quick connectors from ray wu which already have nice soldered wire ends on them.

[bcstuff]

This is the great part about this community of Blinky Flashy Addicts.  We each provide and gain useful information from each other.
I know many of you have given me great information, so I am glad I was able to help others.

We are like a huge Blinky Flashy Collective gathering and consuming information while also building massive displays.

We are DLA.
You will be Assimilated, and become an addict
Resistance is futile, but you'll really enjoy it.

Brian 

[taybrynn]

Since I did this twice yesterday and nearly put in a recall on my brain ...

(1) Put the cords through the caps FIRST ... DUH !!!

(2) Make sure you put at least side through the PVC tub before
     connecting the second side .... DUH !!!

I know others have done this, but it really gets me made (at myself) when I do it
and then do it again ... slow learner I guess !

LOL

[mykroft]

how long have you been cutting your tubes?

[taybrynn]

You know, I made a prototype, then made the others just a tad larger ... so used the prototype as my cutting guide.   IN other words, didn't measure.  I could measure later if you want me to.

I'd say its about 2" longer than the SSC PCB, and sets inside the tube about 1" or so on either side.

I then put 3 small 4" zip ties on the upside (to SS item) to serve as an additional strain relief, esp. when used with say SS nodes on a megatree.

I also found that HD didn't enough of the PVC caps, so I had to use 4 square caps (instead of the more rounded ones) ... about the same cost.

I found a use for these, I'm differentiating my MODULE wired SSC's from the NODE, FLEX, RIGID wired SSC ... and just so happens I needed (4) SSC(s) wired to the module standard and I'm putting one square cap on each of those, and maybe that'll help me know they are different, I also write the RGB mapping to + - data on all of them, just in case.

[mykroft]

ok, the 2" extra part is what i was curious about, didnt want to cut mine too short so i could not get the pcb if I had to...

Ya I used HD also and purchased all of their round caps as well.  Nobody here in Montana carries the Schedule 20 pipe, so I had to use the Schd 40 - overkill - but nothing i could do about it..

Thanks!
Myk

[RJ]

I like 4.5 inches, works well for me.

RJ

[taybrynn]

Mine are 5.5" ... the SSC is 3.5" long