Copper Shielding - To solder or not to solder

Muckaluck · #1 09-08-2010, 07:44 AM

Hi,

I just ordered a bunch of copper shielding tape off the 'bay. I notice that some people place a small drop of solder at the seams of each piece of tape while others just lay the tape without the solder. The people who do solder say it ensures an electrical connection between all pieces of copper tape. The people who don't solder say not soldering helps to keep from forming a ground loop.

Please help! Should I place a small drop of solder at the seam of each piece of tape or just lay the tape down?

Thanks.

mech · #2 09-08-2010, 08:20 AM

If the adhesive on the tape is electrically conductive and the seams overlapped, there is no need to solder.

If the adhesive on the tape is not electrically conductive, solder.

The strips of tape MUST be electrically connected to each other.

mech

Eublet · #3 09-08-2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muckaluck

The people who don't solder say not soldering helps to keep from forming a ground loop.

These people don't know what they are talking about. If the shielding strips are all soldered together, then the form a single conductive unit. If that conductive unit is then soldered to the output jack, then that provides the exit path for any interference.

walterw · #4 09-08-2010, 08:26 AM

whenever someone starts talking about ground loops inside basses, just stop listening to them entirely.

Eublet · #5 09-08-2010, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

whenever someone starts talking about ground loops inside basses, just stop listening to them entirely.

+1

JLS · #6 09-08-2010, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

whenever someone starts talking about ground loops inside basses, just stop listening to them entirely.

What about shimming the neck? Won't that help?

Eublet · #7 09-08-2010, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JLS

What about shimming the neck? Won't that help?

Maybe, but that you can't do that if it's the best bass for metal.

**line6man** · #8 09-08-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eublet

+1

+2.

Like Mech said, the pieces MUST be electrically continuous at 0 ohms. If your adhesive is conductive, there is no need to solder, but it won't hurt to do so anyways. If the adhesive is not conductive, you MUST solder.

The idea of getting a ground loop if the shielding is not interconnected is ****ing insane!

If you don't ground the shielding, it won't do anything.
It's just pieces of copper in the control cavity.

ReidK · #9 09-08-2010, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

If the adhesive is not conductive, you MUST solder.

Not always. Often (usually, IME), there is a pickguard or cavity cover that has a copper or aluminum sheet laminated to it. If all of the shielding pieces contact that sheet when it's installed, it provides continuity. There are other methods, too. There's a tool (the name of which escapes me) that punches through the layers of foil, connecting them electrically. I haven't used one, but it's pretty commonly known among radio techs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

If you don't ground the shielding, it won't do anything.

Again, not always, If you don't ground the shielding, it may well make things worse, by acting as an antenna. Strictly speaking, it always acts as an antenna, but when it's not connected to ground, the noise it picks up gets coupled to the amp input instead of being shunted away.

BTW, I think this is in the wrong forum.

Muckaluck · #10 09-09-2010, 05:51 AM

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go ahead and put a small drop of solder at each seam. How do I measure the impedance of the shielding? Do I just lay the bass down and test each strip with a multimeter?

mech · #11 09-09-2010, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muckaluck

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go ahead and put a small drop of solder at each seam. How do I measure the impedance of the shielding? Do I just lay the bass down and test each strip with a multimeter?

Yep.

mech

mid_life_crisis · #12 09-10-2010, 06:33 AM

It would require careful layout work, but if you didn't want to solder them for whatever reason, you could always fold the edges so they interlock like when metal workers crimp sheetmetal to make the edges lock together. That would ensure direct copper to copper connectivity. It wouldn't have to be the entire length of the contact edges either, just enough edges to connect all the pieces somewhere.

jazzblade · #13 09-10-2010, 08:59 PM

I like the idea of a few solder spots just to make sure there is good contact. Why do all that work and not take a few more seconds to have the backup in place in case?

C.Linton · #14 09-10-2010, 09:04 PM

Yah, me too. I would solder tham anyway, just to be sure. I'm paranoid that way.

Muaguana · #15 09-10-2010, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muckaluck

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll go ahead and put a small drop of solder at each seam. How do I measure the impedance of the shielding? Do I just lay the bass down and test each strip with a multimeter?

You're measuring the resistance between the strips, not impedance. Impedance is for AC currents, and includes both resistance and the phases of the alternating currents relative to each other. Multimeters use DC current to test for resistance.