back to 25ft 10ga power drops

3. soldering 3. soldering:


I squeezed 8 drops of kester 186 onto the wire before starting, to make sure the solder soaked in quickly.
I have them held with a PanaVise clamp, positioned vertically to encourage the solder to flow down into the
contacts, and also to prevent overflor rosin from running down the contact and needing to be cleaned off the
electrical contact area.

Even with the kapton tape, I didn't press my luck on the heat, getting the contacts soldered as fast as I could
while getting the solder to soak fully into the contacts. After letting them cool, I removing the kapton tape
and checked the jackets - they were in really good shape with no expanding or shrinking. This is important
because they just barely fit into the powerpole housings, and any deformed jackets would need to be trimmed
back prior to assembly.

I got the contacts plugged into the housings on with a pretty minimal amount of effort. A few required minor
adjustments, such as giving the soldered part a little squeeze to flatten it out a hair more. Other than that,
they all went in pretty easily with a satisfying click. I tested them all for good connecting with other
powerpoles. It's important to make sure the contacts are raised up by the spring and easily visible in the
housing, as well as free to rock down when being plugged in.

I finished them by adding some squares of 5/8" marine heat shrink. This stuff has a 3:1 shrink ratio, and
includes a sealing glue that does a great job of keeping the ends from shifting. I shrink with my rework
station set at 230 degrees C. Lastly, I finished them by bundling with some velcro cable ties.


  DSCN6652 (Kester 186 in a needle bottle is super-helpful with soldering)  
   DSCN6653 (contacts look good after soldering, but will need to cool before untaping)  
   DSCN6655 (kapton tape is off, jackets are looking good)  
   DSCN6657 (contacts went into housings without much of a fight)  
   DSCN6662 (adding some heat-shrink tubing to strain-relief and protect the connectors)  
   DSCN6663 (I warm the heat shrink using my SMD hot-air rework station)  
  DSCN6652 (Kester 186 in a needle bottle is super-helpful with soldering)     DSCN6653 (contacts look good after soldering, but will need to cool before untaping)     DSCN6655 (kapton tape is off, jackets are looking good)     DSCN6657 (contacts went into housings without much of a fight)     DSCN6662 (adding some heat-shrink tubing to strain-relief and protect the connectors)     DSCN6663 (I warm the heat shrink using my SMD hot-air rework station)  
  DSCN6664 (heat shrink makes these housings a lot more comfortable to handle)  
   DSCN6666 (I think they also look a bit more professional this way)  
   DSCN6669 (four finished coils - just over 2 pounds each)  
   DSCN6672 (velcro cable ties will keep them from making a mess)  
  DSCN6664 (heat shrink makes these housings a lot more comfortable to handle)     DSCN6666 (I think they also look a bit more professional this way)     DSCN6669 (four finished coils - just over 2 pounds each)     DSCN6672 (velcro cable ties will keep them from making a mess)  


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