Is it worth repairing cable ?

[no66]

Tried to repair cable this morning with cheap solder kit and gave up after 1 hour of trying to get solder and wires all in same place at the same time ......should i just buy cheap cable and carry on in this way or should i try and repair ?

[waleross]

Try LIVE WIRE ADVANTAGE INSTRUMENT CABLES...10',15' or longer....These have Blue ends so they are easy to spot......You reminded me that I need to start repairing my other cables.....later......................

[Lo-E]

It's well worth learning to solder. It's a skill that's useful not just for repairing cables, but for maintaining all of your equipment. It's also a good idea to have a spare cable.
Buy a spare and then continue to practice on the old one until you get the hang of it.

[Von Felgenhauer]

I stopped buying cables a while ago. I just buy orange cord and good plugs and solder away. Learning to solder is a skill I think musicians should know so you aren't stuck paying a $50 fee for a minutes Work. Just keep practicing and it gets easier.

[Session1969]

Yeah, just take it slow and solder each wire, one at a time. It's well worth it if you want to save twenty to fifty dollars.

[john grey]

30 watts or better, rosin core solder, clean surfaces, makes a puddle that's clean and hot, don't move the tip while the two sections heat. Trim the old sections back until you have a clean wire to work with (unless you have a hot enough soldering tip to get a very clean puddle). You want the soldering puddle to be shiny & bright; not rough and dull. Tin the leads prior to soldering, clean the surface with light sandpaper or thin steel wool, use flux; work on it. It IS really true that th still will be used for many differing issues.

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by Lo-E

It's well worth learning to solder. It's a skill that's useful not just for repairing cables, but for maintaining all of your equipment. It's also a good idea to have a spare cable.
Buy a spare and then continue to practice on the old one until you get the hang of it.

This is an excellent idea!

Please review this: http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm. Even if you know some things about soldering, this will help you.

This site has specific info about soldering connectors, and some excellent close-ups of the work: http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...-cables-2.html

[no66]

thank you to all.

[lowfreq33]

I have a thing that's a heavy base with two alligator clips on moveable arms. I think it's called a Helping Hand. Makes it much easier to hold things in place.

[Primakurtz]

+1 - the helping hand is about $4 at Harbor Freight, and makes cable soldering so much easier.

[Otter]

Another thing to remember. Sometimes it's not the connectors on the cable ends, it's the conductor or the dielectric some where along the cable itself. If you don't see any obvious issues with the connection at the connector you may be wasting your time.

[runmikeyrun]

I've found the wires like to break down inside the cable right where they exit the plug. This is from all the bending the cable does at that point. Even if the wire is broken right at the terminals inside I still like to cut the cable back past the point it enters the plug and then solder on the plug.

[fdeck]

^ This has happened to me too. Taking care of my cables has helped, but still, repairing a cable is a great way to learn basic soldering skills.

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by no66

Tried to repair cable this morning with cheap solder kit and gave up after 1 hour of trying to get solder and wires all in same place at the same time ......should i just buy cheap cable and carry on in this way or should i try and repair ?

You can repair almost any cable but you need to use correct technique when soldering. The wire and the part it's being soldered onto need to be hot enough to melt the solder in order for the solder to flow into position, then everything needs to be held steady until it cools enough that it's solid. If the wire moves, it fractures the solder joint and it cools in that position. This is called a 'cold solder joint' and won't work well because the joint will provide resistance that you don't want and the circuit doesn't need in order to operate properly.

The new solder doesn't have much, if any, lead. It's usually tin and silver, which have a higher melting temperature, so technique is even more important now than when solder was 60%-90% lead. You need to use resin core solder too, and thinner is better. Radio Shack, Parts Express, etc have it if what you bought isn't the right stuff. Use some scrap wire to practice.