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<blockquote data-quote="thylantyr" data-source="post: 2200175" data-attributes="member: 560358"><p>Making audio cables is easy, some people complicate the process. Once you have everything in your hand it all makes sense.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tools</strong></p><p></p><p>Soldering iron, I prefer higher wattage 40W-60W.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.radioshack.com" target="_blank">http://www.radioshack.com</a></p><p></p><p>Solder {60/40 rosin core}</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.radioshack.com" target="_blank">http://www.radioshack.com</a></p><p></p><p>I use these cutters;</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.pcpolyzine.com/0202feb/cutter.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.pcpolyzine.com/0202feb/cutter.jpg</a></p><p></p><p>I use these strippers;</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.zenithair.com/kit-data/ra/images/elect11.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.zenithair.com/kit-data/ra/images/elect11.jpg</a></p><p></p><p>Find one that strips the awg wire size you choose.</p><p></p><p>I use these plyers;</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/510930/2/Pliers.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/510930/2/Pliers.jpg</a></p><p></p><p><strong>Audio Cables</strong></p><p></p><p>Lets use the Belden 8760 as an example. That cable is 0.222" thick and it has 18 awg wire. It's beefy and when</p><p></p><p>mated with Tech Flex and these connectors below, the fit</p><p></p><p>is nice and the cables look professional, perfect fit without</p><p></p><p>heatshrink. Now if you choose smaller audio cables you</p><p></p><p>will have a gap between the cable and housing and that is fine but it doesn't look as sweet. There is no electrical issues with smaller diameter cables, just cosmetic issues</p><p></p><p>and maybe reliability issues with very thin wires, ie if the strain relief is not done well the constant plugging and</p><p></p><p>unplugging of RCA's can weaken the wires.</p><p></p><p><strong>RCA plugs </strong></p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&amp;DID=7&amp;Partnumber=091-1265" target="_blank">http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&amp;DID=7&amp;Partnumber=091-1265</a></p><p></p><p>For about $2 each, these are nice.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tech Flex</strong></p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&amp;DID=7&amp;WebPage_ID=161" target="_blank">http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&amp;DID=7&amp;WebPage_ID=161</a></p><p></p><p>This is optional, it's a jacket that you slide the cable inside</p><p></p><p>to make the cable pretty and look cool. If you want to make</p><p></p><p>DIY cables to sell to people, this would raise the bar on eye candy. Comes in different colors and sizes. I think I used the 1/4" size for the 0.222" cable.</p><p></p><p><strong>Stripping wire procedure</strong></p><p></p><p>There is many ways to do this, wire is cheap so experiment by cutting, stripping off wire until you get the hang of it.</p><p></p><p>First thing I do is to cut off about 1" of the cable jacket</p><p></p><p>using those strippers. The reason I use these instead of</p><p></p><p>ordinary wire cutters is because it just happens to have</p><p></p><p>a sharper and finer cutting blade. I use the cutter portion</p><p></p><p>of the tool {not the wire stripping portion} to score the</p><p></p><p>diameter of the jacket by gently squeezing and turning</p><p></p><p>the cable. If you pinch too hard you penetrate the inner</p><p></p><p>conductor insulation. Practice makes perfect. After scoring,</p><p></p><p>I use the regular wire cutter to peel the jacket away.</p><p></p><p>You can use any method to cut the jacket off.</p><p></p><p>Next, peel off the foil because you don't need it. You should have 1" of jacket material removed and you should</p><p></p><p>see two conductors of wire.</p><p></p><p>What you do know is unscrew the RCA plug to reveal the inside and you need to 'size it up'. Place the cable on the</p><p></p><p>RCA to see how much wire you need to trim off, you cut 1"</p><p></p><p>to examine how you will fit the cable inside the RCA.</p><p></p><p>What you are are looking for is to have some jacket material on the RCA cable clamps because later you will</p><p></p><p>use the plyers to pinch those clamps against the jacket material as it serves as a strain relief for the cable.</p><p></p><p>Pick one conductor for HOT {signal} and one for GND {shield}. In the example of 8760 cable, they are colored</p><p></p><p>black wire and clear wire. I use the black wire as GND and</p><p></p><p>the clear wire as HOT {signal}.</p><p></p><p>I cut the HOT wire to length so it fits on the RCA center</p><p></p><p>pin for soldering. I strip off a small portion of insulation</p><p></p><p>and I also strip off the all the black wire insulation starting</p><p></p><p>near the jacket end and twist the drain wire to the black</p><p></p><p>wire. Don't trim the drain/GND wire yet. Do it later.</p><p></p><p>When you dry fit the cable inside the RCA connector, the</p><p></p><p>jacket should be next to the strain relief metal clamps, the</p><p></p><p>HOT wire should have insulation but only a small bit on the end stripped off to reveal the actually wire and you should have the drain wire twisted to the stripped off black wire.</p><p></p><p><strong>Soldering</strong></p><p></p><p>I use a procedure called reflowing for soldering. The idea</p><p></p><p>is to use flux based solder like the one I mentioned and you pre-tin all the connections ahead of time and then later</p><p></p><p>you reflow the connections together by applying heat. It's makes soldering much easier than other methods.</p><p></p><p>Pre-tin the HOT wire, place the soldering iron on the wire and add some solder until you have good flow and don't leave the soldering iron on the wire for too long as it will start to melt off the insulation. Do some experiments to get</p><p></p><p>the hand of it. You don't want gobs of solder, just enough</p><p></p><p>to coat the wire and get good flow into all the tiny strands.</p><p></p><p>Usually this takes seconds with a hot iron.</p><p></p><p>Pre-tin the ground and drain wires that you twisted. This takes longer because the wire is thicker and it takes longer</p><p></p><p>to tin the wire. If you take too long you start to melt the plastic on the jacket and insulation.</p><p></p><p>Let the wires cool off and cut most of the drain/GND wire</p><p></p><p>so there is only a small piece there, long enough to solder</p><p></p><p>to the RCA clamp.</p><p></p><p>Pre-tin the RCA center conductor and the area in which you</p><p></p><p>plan to solder the GND/drain wire too.</p><p></p><p>Next, I place the cable near the RCA plug and solder the</p><p></p><p>HOT wire to the center RCA. I place the wire there and heat</p><p></p><p>both areas at the same time, add a tad of solder to get some flux and the wires should reflow together and it's done. Do the same for the GND wire.</p><p></p><p>Use the plyers to bend the RCA clamps on the cable jacket</p><p></p><p>as a strain relief.</p><p></p><p>On the other side of the cable, insert the Tech Flex {optional} tubing and bring it all the way to the RCA</p><p></p><p>end.</p><p></p><p>Insert the RCA cover and screw the RCA back together.</p><p></p><p>Repeat this step for the other side but insert the RCA</p><p></p><p>cover first because you can't do it later //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif</p><p></p><p>If you want to make directional cables where the source</p><p></p><p>end only has the shield {drain wire} connected to ground,</p><p></p><p>then you need to label the cable so you know which end is</p><p></p><p>source {preamp} and with end is the destination end {amplifier}.</p><p></p><p>Tip: If you are a noob you might get frustrated with the</p><p></p><p>8760 cable as it is a tight fit and 18 awg is pretty big</p><p></p><p>for a tiny RCA, you might want to use the 8762 that is</p><p></p><p>slightly smaller in diameter and 20 awg.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="thylantyr, post: 2200175, member: 560358"] Making audio cables is easy, some people complicate the process. Once you have everything in your hand it all makes sense. [B]Tools[/B] Soldering iron, I prefer higher wattage 40W-60W. [URL="http://www.radioshack.com"]http://www.radioshack.com[/URL] Solder {60/40 rosin core} [URL="http://www.radioshack.com"]http://www.radioshack.com[/URL] I use these cutters; [URL="http://www.pcpolyzine.com/0202feb/cutter.jpg"]http://www.pcpolyzine.com/0202feb/cutter.jpg[/URL] I use these strippers; [URL="http://www.zenithair.com/kit-data/ra/images/elect11.jpg"]http://www.zenithair.com/kit-data/ra/images/elect11.jpg[/URL] Find one that strips the awg wire size you choose. I use these plyers; [URL="http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/510930/2/Pliers.jpg"]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/510930/2/Pliers.jpg[/URL] [B]Audio Cables[/B] Lets use the Belden 8760 as an example. That cable is 0.222" thick and it has 18 awg wire. It's beefy and when mated with Tech Flex and these connectors below, the fit is nice and the cables look professional, perfect fit without heatshrink. Now if you choose smaller audio cables you will have a gap between the cable and housing and that is fine but it doesn't look as sweet. There is no electrical issues with smaller diameter cables, just cosmetic issues and maybe reliability issues with very thin wires, ie if the strain relief is not done well the constant plugging and unplugging of RCA's can weaken the wires. [B]RCA plugs [/B] [URL="http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1265"]http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=091-1265[/URL] For about $2 each, these are nice. [B]Tech Flex[/B] [URL="http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=161"]http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=161[/URL] This is optional, it's a jacket that you slide the cable inside to make the cable pretty and look cool. If you want to make DIY cables to sell to people, this would raise the bar on eye candy. Comes in different colors and sizes. I think I used the 1/4" size for the 0.222" cable. [B]Stripping wire procedure[/B] There is many ways to do this, wire is cheap so experiment by cutting, stripping off wire until you get the hang of it. First thing I do is to cut off about 1" of the cable jacket using those strippers. The reason I use these instead of ordinary wire cutters is because it just happens to have a sharper and finer cutting blade. I use the cutter portion of the tool {not the wire stripping portion} to score the diameter of the jacket by gently squeezing and turning the cable. If you pinch too hard you penetrate the inner conductor insulation. Practice makes perfect. After scoring, I use the regular wire cutter to peel the jacket away. You can use any method to cut the jacket off. Next, peel off the foil because you don't need it. You should have 1" of jacket material removed and you should see two conductors of wire. What you do know is unscrew the RCA plug to reveal the inside and you need to 'size it up'. Place the cable on the RCA to see how much wire you need to trim off, you cut 1" to examine how you will fit the cable inside the RCA. What you are are looking for is to have some jacket material on the RCA cable clamps because later you will use the plyers to pinch those clamps against the jacket material as it serves as a strain relief for the cable. Pick one conductor for HOT {signal} and one for GND {shield}. In the example of 8760 cable, they are colored black wire and clear wire. I use the black wire as GND and the clear wire as HOT {signal}. I cut the HOT wire to length so it fits on the RCA center pin for soldering. I strip off a small portion of insulation and I also strip off the all the black wire insulation starting near the jacket end and twist the drain wire to the black wire. Don't trim the drain/GND wire yet. Do it later. When you dry fit the cable inside the RCA connector, the jacket should be next to the strain relief metal clamps, the HOT wire should have insulation but only a small bit on the end stripped off to reveal the actually wire and you should have the drain wire twisted to the stripped off black wire. [B]Soldering[/B] I use a procedure called reflowing for soldering. The idea is to use flux based solder like the one I mentioned and you pre-tin all the connections ahead of time and then later you reflow the connections together by applying heat. It's makes soldering much easier than other methods. Pre-tin the HOT wire, place the soldering iron on the wire and add some solder until you have good flow and don't leave the soldering iron on the wire for too long as it will start to melt off the insulation. Do some experiments to get the hand of it. You don't want gobs of solder, just enough to coat the wire and get good flow into all the tiny strands. Usually this takes seconds with a hot iron. Pre-tin the ground and drain wires that you twisted. This takes longer because the wire is thicker and it takes longer to tin the wire. If you take too long you start to melt the plastic on the jacket and insulation. Let the wires cool off and cut most of the drain/GND wire so there is only a small piece there, long enough to solder to the RCA clamp. Pre-tin the RCA center conductor and the area in which you plan to solder the GND/drain wire too. Next, I place the cable near the RCA plug and solder the HOT wire to the center RCA. I place the wire there and heat both areas at the same time, add a tad of solder to get some flux and the wires should reflow together and it's done. Do the same for the GND wire. Use the plyers to bend the RCA clamps on the cable jacket as a strain relief. On the other side of the cable, insert the Tech Flex {optional} tubing and bring it all the way to the RCA end. Insert the RCA cover and screw the RCA back together. Repeat this step for the other side but insert the RCA cover first because you can't do it later [IMG]//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif[/IMG] If you want to make directional cables where the source end only has the shield {drain wire} connected to ground, then you need to label the cable so you know which end is source {preamp} and with end is the destination end {amplifier}. Tip: If you are a noob you might get frustrated with the 8760 cable as it is a tight fit and 18 awg is pretty big for a tiny RCA, you might want to use the 8762 that is slightly smaller in diameter and 20 awg. [/QUOTE]
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