back to 25ft 10ga power drops

5. exact steps:


- gather PP housings, drift pins, PP45 contacts, kapton tape, 3/4" 3x shrink marine heat shrink, kester rosin
- mate red and black housings, install drift pins
- cut enough 3/4" long pieces of heat shrink for each end
- using a small phillips screwdriver as a form, reshape PP45 wings into a circular form, with a 2mm gap
- measure out and cut sky-high #10 into correct lengths (make sure to cut conductors clean and parallel)
- split ends of twin leads 1.5" down
- strip all ends (as #10) using PP45 as a guide, so that copper wire ends between rounded wings and wire crimps
- fit contacts on wires one at a time, crimp with pliers 1/2 way, adjusting, and crimping the rest of the way
- make sure that contacts are facing correct direction
- use flush cutters to remove any strands trapped between wings
- before second crimp, compare contacts to make sure both are identical length
- wrap 3" of kapton tape to the end of wire jackets, include pull tab on the end for easy removal
- make sure the first turn of the kapton tape is very clean and not wrinkled, as the jacket will conform to it
- turn on soldering iron at max heat, wet sponge, gather solder
- select a wire end, verify contacts have not moved and are still at equal lengths
- chuck up an end in a panavise, with wing seam facing you, pointing up at a slight backward angle
- apply 6 drops of kester to each contact just above the wire strands, so contact neck is coated and wire wicks
- slowly melt 4 daps of solder at contact neck above wire, wait for neck to wet
- apply 4 more daps of solder, wait a few seconds for signs of wicking all the way down the crimp seam
- repeat for other contact
- remove and allow to cool, move on to next end
- when all ends are soldered, turn off iron and give tip one last wipe with sponge
- take a cool end and remove kapton from both leads
- use pliers to flatten soldered wing area of contact slightly
- using a metal-jawed panavise, compress both contacts so width is 4.5mm (it should now be slightly square)
- install contacts into housings
- repeat for remaining ends
- use a nylon stick to verify all contacts are springy, and verify individual contacts mate well
- install and shrink heat-shrink onto all ends




last updated 12/11/2023 at 11:46:02 by make_www_index.command version 2023.12.09.A