Originally Posted by mingoglia

Been there, done that.

Originally Posted by Jmuck69

A pot of coffee and Ron Burgandy would have helped you in that situation...

Originally Posted by the incubus

For a clean soldering job you want to have something to hold the leads for you as you heat up the solder joints and as well maintain their position until they solidify. Also you must tin the wire properly (see below if you're not sure how to properly do so) to ensure the connection is secure. Use an iron that is 60 watt or higher as it will require less time to melt the solder on both the exposed lead and the solder point. What I do is heat them both simultaneously so that my tip is on the solder point and the wire on top of my iron's tip and then I slide the iron off and bring down my lead and apply another it of heat to ensure it's as liquified as possible and then hold until it solidifies.


Proper Tinning

Most people do not know how to properly tin wire and they simply fill their tip with solder and then proceed to try and transfer as much of it onto the wire. That's not correct. What you want to do is hold the exposed lead onto the soldering tip and then feed solder onto and then into the wire. the best way to achieve this is to begin applying the solder just under the sides of the wire and once it melts and the rosin begins to sizzle, slide the solder over the top and allow the wire to absorb just enough of it so it's coated. Now, here's another mistake people make. Although it looks thoroughly tinned, turning the wire over will will reveal that the solder did not make it's way all the way through so you need to do the same on this side as well. Again, just enough to coat the lead. Once this is done you can then proceed to mate it with the solder point and do as I described above.


Thanks to Mr. Williams (wherever you are), for teaching me so much in your class. Electrical Engineering was one of the most fun classes in high school! Somewhere out here in the world your world's smallest violin and record player are still playin' My Heart Cries For Ya! and don't worry, I'll Dock 'em for you too!!! LOLOL

Originally Posted by thecman26

Fwiw, it is gonna be quite a dramatic change going from an SCTE to a 4.2. Just get as much track time as possible! I made the same transformation but ended up selling my SCTs because they just ruined my driving skills (didn't have much to begin with!).

After about 2 months of practice I think I am back up to a novice plus level, hang in there!