Aaaarrrrrgg!! XLR connector

Evoforce

10 kW
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Mar 8, 2010
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Fountain Hills Arizona
I've been able to conquer almost everything life throws at me but soldering these 5 pin mini xlr connectors infuriates me! You would have to know me to know that I am calm, collected, and methodical when working on things even when things don't go as expected. 99% of the time I do not get angry. But these little things and I have a bad history.

Today (and tonight) I had all 13 sailor words escaping from my soul. I bought a couple of controllers that had other flat connectors for the hall sensor wires and I needed to change them back to match all of my other equipment to xlr. To start with I am swamped with so many other things so that pressure is riding on my shoulders also. Anyway, I had a previous fail with the only connector I had in stock where I attempted to use a little heavier gauge wire from old computer power supplies. That attempt was a fail because the outer shell of the connector would not ultimately slide over the wires without nicking them. That was back then, and I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the Coast Guard back then because surely a ship of sailors somehow wrecked on my property back then. Well, call back the Coast Guard cuz them sailors musta had their buried treasure stolen... Same 13 words being tossed around. Almost had this adapter cord together and it fell apart! Grrrr what a waste of my flipping time. Some of my soldering equipment had worn out so I replaced it with cheap stuff and am paying the price. I hate the little solder points on these xlr's and the small crimps on these other flat connectors. My crimps for these other connectors are cheaply made so they don't like to slide into the housing after crimping. f#$#% Feel free to contribute your angst to my thread so I can feel better! Pleeeeese!!
 
I've never been a fan of the regular XLR since the came into use with low impedence microphone cables. My main gripe is that Ampeg used them for speaker jacks on their bass amps even before that, so you couldn't easily swap cabinets with other brands. During the transitional period we regularly had to use adapters to hook up the new mics to the old PA mixer board. The inline adapters often got lost or broke, thus you ended up eventually having to get a whole new mixer. I still have a B15 flip-top portaflex amp which uses the XLR for the speaker connection, and an old Shure high-impedence bullet mike with the 1/4" phone jack cable; both collectors items to some people. Now they use speakon connectors for speaker cables. What next? :x
 
I don't have much experience with XLR connectors, but I do have experience with the joys of 'connectors, soldering, and swearing' as an activity. :D

I think that's one area where every ebike enthusiast will eventually have some frustration and thus begin his/her list of "connectors I hate and why".

Don't worry about the end goal too much. Think about the experience and skills you are gaining. (Unfortunately, the experience might come in the form of adding XLRs to your 'hate list').
 
Have you considered using a "third hand" soldering tool? One with a magnifier might be especially useful if you're working with small parts.
 
FWIW, this kind of heartache is one reason I now just solder all my phase and hall wires...I just plain got tired of puttng onnecttors on and deailing with various contact failures and whatnot.

It makes swapping stuff out harder, but once it's in there, at least I know it's good.
 
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Just so you have some ideal what it's supposed to look like. If you've worked in TV anything serious you've learned to solder, eventually. Seems like the more pins you put on those XLR's the smaller the cup gets and the harder it is to solder.

Are you using too small of a tip? How small is too small? If you find a tip recommended for SLR cables you'll see it's bigger than what came on the soldering iron.

Are you using the right solder? I understand the XLR pins can be several different materials, the wrong solder isn't going to hold.

You want a little solder in the cup and a little on the wire, assuming it's strands think of soldering them together but not making the wire bigger 'round.

how-to-solder-v35-65-728.jpg
 
I only have 1 mic with it's own power supply. Without these XLR connectors, it and many other models wouldn't work at all. In addition to the shielded sound signal, they conduct low voltage power to the microphone as required. Most higher quality recording and more recently stage performance vocal and condenser mics require phantom power to operate. :wink:
 
Dauntless said:
Just so you have some ideal what it's supposed to look like. If you've worked in TV anything serious you've learned to solder, eventually. Seems like the more pins you put on those XLR's the smaller the cup gets and the harder it is to solder.

Are you using too small of a tip? How small is too small? If you find a tip recommended for SLR cables you'll see it's bigger than what came on the soldering iron.

Are you using the right solder? I understand the XLR pins can be several different materials, the wrong solder isn't going to hold.

You want a little solder in the cup and a little on the wire, assuming it's strands think of soldering them together but not making the wire bigger 'round.

Ah but those you pictured are easy , I think the OP is refering to the 5 pin Xlyte style hall sensor Mini XLR's . they are a nightmare, especiually as you get older and need glasses. I too ahve sworn at the damn things. Especialy when sitting onm a damp floor , trying to solder a new connector in the half evening light, to a controller that is fitted to a bike, with only 8 inches of wire out of the controller and the controller is fitted to the bike .


slh0dk.jpg
 
Yeah, those little mini XLA are rage inducing. I used to solder both XLR and those mini XLR when I worked for an AV company, and learned many new words to wilt the wild flowers.

The only real secrets to soldering them is having a good clamp, a tiny tip, and either good eyesight, or a magnifying glass.

As for tips, I never found a corded soldering iron that let me get my finger close enough to the tip, or had a small enough tip to work on tiny parts. I switched to a Weller Portasol gas iron and my soldering skills went up considerably. I still have that iron 23 years later. The modern version is equal to a 75 watt. That's still more power than most common corded ones.

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The fingers said:
I only have 1 mic with it's own power supply. Without these XLR connectors, it and many other models wouldn't work at all. In addition to the shielded sound signal, they conduct low voltage power to the microphone as required. Most higher quality recording and more recently stage performance vocal and condenser mics require phantom power to operate. :wink:

Oh, they'll work fine without XLR--just use TRS 1/4" jacks instead. ;)

(or a few other types sturdy enough for every day studio and stage use..though I grant the XLR is one of the toughest plugs out there for that use for it's price)

Though you'd have to change out the jacks on the equipment providing the power.... :)

Some equipment already uses combo 1/4" and XLR plugs, though I don't know if it puts the phantom power on a ring or sleeve of the 1/4", or not.



Drunkskunk said:
I switched to a Weller Portasol gas iron and my soldering skills went up considerably.
I have the orange one, I think it might be the first model they came out with. I even know where it is. :) But it's tip is extremely worn down and I don't use it too much. Used to carry it with me in my toolkit, with a separate gas refill can cuz it leaks a little over a few days it empties.

Also used to have a greenish one by another company (ungar?) but it's much more recently acquired, and I am not sure I still have it after teh fire cleanup. Can't remember if I've seen it since then or not.




@Evoforce: Would you mind if i merge this thread with that older one on the same subject?
 
Sounds fine to merge it. Thanks all for making me feel a little less frustrated and knowing we are all sharing the same voyage! Now, where is our Damn rum? :D
 
amberwolf said:
...

Some equipment already uses combo 1/4" and XLR plugs, though I don't know if it puts the phantom power on a ring or sleeve of the 1/4", or not.
known as "combo xlr" the usual practice by manufacturers is the female xlr is for mic level inputs and the TRS is for line level (no power on line level)
mini xlrs suck but I've never had an issue with anything other than 7+-pin xlr
(yes, Ive had to solder up 8 and 9 pin xlrs way long ago)
30w iron that uses a thin (very clean) tip (the 'normal' Weller works fine)
tin (pre-wet) the connector cup and the exposed wire with solder
hold the wire into or against the solder cup
apply heat
taa daa! (with drum roll)
-if you're over 40 invest in a 3-5 diopter magnifying lens ---lol, I use an 8 diopter lens like this:blur lens.jpg

and invest is some small hemostats to clamp the wire to the female xlr's slotted cup
-or just use the Neutrik XLR insulation displacement connectors (limited to max 20 gauge wire tho)
they also sell screw terminal versions

but mini xlrs truly suck
 
if you don't like to solder those HUGE xlr connectors i suggest trying those little SP13 connectors. 9 connectors in a circle of 5mm circle. :)

Capture.JPG
i'm turning 45 this year, and i must say my eyes got really worse compared to last year, or the year before. i could even feel it. i can't focus as fast as before, i can't focus things too near to my eye and things too far away. even the magnifying lamp posted (i got the very same *ggg*) doesn't really help.
but from a pro welder i got the tip to do delicate hand jobs *lol* in the morning. the later the day the more your hands may start to shake/move by itself. it's only minimal but it can make a clean job impossible.
and doing it without a third hand is next to impossible. also a good soldering iron with adjustable temp and the right tip does help a lot.
 
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