Please Help (Mech Eng or Elec Eng)

[swill]

I am not sure if anyone here has experience working with these, but I wanted to see if anyone here could answer this.

Below is a panel mounted DC power socket/jack.  The Neg and Pos on this would be the tall wire connection strip and the center piece. 

My question is: How do you utilize that center stem?  How do you make a connection to it?  I doubt I can solder to it.  It does not look to be threaded.  Anyone ever seen/used one of these and know how that center connector works???  Thx...

[kmiller8]

You solder it.

http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/Soldering

[tp4tissue]

tall one is ground.. center is signal..  and solder.

[swill]

You solder it.

http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/Soldering

Show Image

That is a different connector though.  That one has two tabs with holes through them.  This one, the center one is cylinder with half of one side cut out and no hole.  Would you still solder it?

[kmiller8]

That is a different connector though.  That one has two tabs with holes through them.  This one, the center one is cylinder with half of one side cut out and no hole.  Would you still solder it?

yep, just stick the wire in the part of the cylinder and solder awayyyy

[JBCNC]

Definitely solder it. It's shaped like that to create a 'cup' which holds the solder.

[swill]

That is a different connector though.  That one has two tabs with holes through them.  This one, the center one is cylinder with half of one side cut out and no hole.  Would you still solder it?

yep, just stick the wire in the part of the cylinder and solder awayyyy

Ok thank you.  Just wanted to be sure because I had never seen that type of connector before.  Thanks for the help.

[tp4tissue]

That is a different connector though.  That one has two tabs with holes through them.  This one, the center one is cylinder with half of one side cut out and no hole.  Would you still solder it?

yep, just stick the wire in the part of the cylinder and solder awayyyy

Ok thank you.  Just wanted to be sure because I had never seen that type of connector before.  Thanks for the help.

there is usually a hole in the center stem, where u stick the wire through / tie.

[erest]

It depends on the polarity of the charger or the polarity on a pcb board you are connecting to, usually the barrels have 3 seperate conductors you can tap into

[swill]

It depends on the polarity of the charger or the polarity on a pcb board you are connecting to, usually the barrels have 3 seperate conductors you can tap into

I bought two different versions.  One has three connections and the other only has two.  The one that has 3 connections has a lot of plastic on it and this is being installed in a relatively hot environment, so I want to remove as much plastic as possible from the equation.

The one I am replacing only has two connections.  It is implemented as a very low tech heater.  Basically power comes from the jack and goes directly through a 5W 20Ohm resistor.  That resistor is installed in a heat sink which warms up...

Here are some images of the setup.


Another question:  I believe that resistors do not have polarity, so it should not matter which orientation the resistor is installed in right?  I forgot to document that when I was taking it apart because I knew it was a resistor and I didn't think it mattered.  Well and I knew if it did matter I could figure it out after and it was really hard to get apart. 

[kmiller8]

Another question:  I believe that resistors do not have polarity, so it should not matter which orientation the resistor is installed in right?

Yes, resistors do not have polarity, you can install them either which way.

[Oobly]

That connection point is the same as you get on the back of a standard DB9 connector (and many others):


I have soldered to them many times. I find it helps to put a little piece of solder into the hole and melt it in place to "tin" the socket. Then "tin" the wire, put it in the socket and solder together. Usually makes a really good joint, with the wire held in solidly.

Another question:  I believe that resistors do not have polarity, so it should not matter which orientation the resistor is installed in right?

Yes, resistors do not have polarity, you can install them either which way.

^^ +1.

[erest]

That connection point is the same as you get on the back of a standard DB9 connector (and many others):

Show Image

I have soldered to them many times. I find it helps to put a little piece of solder into the hole and melt it in place to "tin" the socket. Then "tin" the wire, put it in the socket and solder together. Usually makes a really good joint, with the wire held in solidly.

^^^+1 I wish I would have figure that out a while ago, DB-9 connectors always made me frustrated! Thanks for the tip on that one!

[smknjoe]

It's called a cup terminal.

[erest]

It's called a cup terminal.

Thats so weird that my Electronics classes all missed that! But thanks for the video! 

[swill]

It's called a cup terminal.

I love those PACE videos.  Good shots usually and easy to understand descriptions.  I watched a whole series on soldering because of a link in the "living soldering thread" a couple months ago.

Another question.  I have some of this wire which I was hoping to be able to use since I do not want an insulated wire in this case.  I know in plumbing, you can not use steel and copper pipes together because the metals will corrode where they touch.  When it comes to soldering sockets like this, do I have to worry about the different types of metals which will be in contact?  I would expect the solder to  insulate that interaction, but I am not really sure how that exchange works.  Are wires tinned for this reason or maybe something else?

Next question.  Would this same wire work for creating bridges on a PCB where the traces are broken?  What size wire would be ideal for that sort of repair?

Thanks for all the good information everyone...

[smknjoe]

"do I have to worry about the different types of metals which will be in contact?" - no
"Are wires tinned for this reason or maybe something else?" - They are tinned to facilitate a better solder connection. Solder will adhere/bond to a tinned wire better and easier than a non-tinned wire.
"Would this same wire work for creating bridges on a PCB where the traces are broken?  What size wire would be ideal for that sort of repair?" - It's up to you as to what works best in your application. As long as you're not potentially shorting something out with the un-shielded wire you should be okay.

...and yes the PACE videos are great. I highly recommend them to anyone who is new to soldering or those who just want to brush up on or improve their current technique (which is not always that good in the first place.)

[swill]

"do I have to worry about the different types of metals which will be in contact?" - no
"Are wires tinned for this reason or maybe something else?" - They are tinned to facilitate a better solder connection. Solder will adhere/bond to a tinned wire better and easier than a non-tinned wire.
"Would this same wire work for creating bridges on a PCB where the traces are broken?  What size wire would be ideal for that sort of repair?" - It's up to you as to what works best in your application. As long as you're not potentially shorting something out with the un-shielded wire you should be okay.

...and yes the PACE videos are great. I highly recommend them to anyone who is new to soldering or those who just want to brush up on or improve their current technique (which is not always that good in the first place.)

Thank you.

Ya, the videos are a good resource for pretty much anyone.