Soldering is still a relevant technique

[Jammer]

Thought the command mic for my Standard Horizon radio had failed. Bought a new mic, nope, didn't help, must be the connector. The mic comes with the mating connector. Installing a new cable all the way to the nav desk would have involved hours of taking panels off and pulling and tying in the new cable.


So I cut the connectors off and soldered the new one in place. Works great, with much less effort.



With small, stranded wires like these there is no other effective and reliable means of splicing.

[thomm225]

Most of us old techs have a soldering iron and solder onboard.

Last problem I had was my ancient port side bow running light wouldn't work.

So I replaced the bulb. Still not working.

Check voltage good. About 12 volts.

Tried second bulb. Still no good.

Did check on both bulbs for continuity. Both bulbs good.

Also cleaned the connections in the socket.

Was about to order light but figured I'd crawl forward and do visual check on the wires which are the original from 1974.

I had voltage with no load but didn't know if there was voltage under load.

Got up there and saw various connections with everything still connected, but before I backed myself out, I gave the wires a push side to side.

One wire just fell off from a splice.

So removed some insulation and twisted the wires together. Light now works.

Soldered connections put heat shrink over it.

[Iron E]

Yep. I've repaired a couple of boards. Soldering is still relevant.

I like tools with multiple uses, and I found that my old portable Snap-On Butane soldering kit works for many projects. I can solder with it, and its multiple tips allow for various size soldering projects.
It also has a little blower type tip that I use on Heat Shrink and/or sealing line fray and a blade that I use to cut materials like Sunbrella and/or any other material that requires heat sealing when cutting.