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#235073 - 27/09/2004 01:20 flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
I finally got off my duff and replaced my original Mk2 sled with my spare Mk2a sled. Several of the crimps on the Mk2 sled had apparently gone bad, and I'd have speakers coming in and out, power going in and out, etc. Enough of that. My dad and I wired everything together with the never-before-used Mk2a sled, and everything's been working great for the front channels but the rear is flakey. If you wiggle the rear channel wires where they come into the wiring harness, the rear channels pop in and out. We tried all the usual process of elimination, and it's clearly a problem with either the crimp or with something at most 1cm beyond the harness.

What's the fix for this? Is the wire harness end-user servicable? Do I just need to drip a bunch of hot solder into the appropriate crimp areas? Other ideas anyone? The whole point of this upgrade was to finally have all my connectors stable, so I wouldn't fear driving over bumps in the road. *sigh*

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#235074 - 27/09/2004 02:19 Re: flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled [Re: DWallach]
mtempsch
pooh-bah

Registered: 02/06/2000
Posts: 1996
Loc: Gothenburg, Sweden
See this FAQ about fixing bad crimps - including video...
_________________________
/Michael

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#235075 - 27/09/2004 10:20 Re: flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled [Re: mtempsch]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
Hmmm... push the relevant pins out, solder the wires to the pins, and reinsert. I suppose that could work, but is it possible to just buy new pins and redo the crimps properly? Are the pins, themselves, a standard part?

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#235076 - 27/09/2004 11:16 Re: flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled [Re: DWallach]
tman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
Yeah. The part number for the pins is in the big part list.

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#235077 - 27/09/2004 13:08 Re: flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled [Re: DWallach]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
Quote:
Hmmm... push the relevant pins out, solder the wires to the pins, and reinsert.

Right, couldn't be simpler, and the cost to you is zero, you can do it immediately without having to wait for the parts to come in, and the reliability of the result is 100 percent.

Quote:
I suppose that could work, but is it possible to just buy new pins and redo the crimps properly?

*BOGGLE*. Why would you want to do that? First of all, the crimps are meant to be done with a certain kind of tool that you most likely don't have. And even if you did have it, or even if you were very good doing it with a pair of pliers, your crimp might come undone just like the last one. The whole point of soldering is so that you're certain the crimps won't come undone.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#235078 - 27/09/2004 15:17 Re: flakey rear audio connector on Mk2a sled [Re: tfabris]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
Quote:
*BOGGLE*. Why would you want to do that?


I seem to recall an old conversation where the idea of crimping vs. soldering came up (perhaps in the context of why the Mk2a wire harness was an improvement over the Mk2 harness), and the reason in favor of crimping was that you has some amount of give, whereas a solder joint is more brittle and prone to failure.

Anyway, there are plenty of EE's around campus. I just need to buy somebody a beer and get one of them to help me do the soldering. Most likely, the solder joint will still outlast my Z3, given the Z3's less than stellar track record.

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