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Soldering jamma connectors without hating everything about the world?

buffi

buffi

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So I have some adapters and other stuff I’ve designed and have been meaning to put up for sale… but it requires soldering jamma edge connectors to pcbs and holy shit is that the worst thing in the world or what?

Takes time, a lot of solder, a lot of fumes and is mind-numbingly boring. Is there some secret trick to doing this quickly, cause I just hate it so much.
 
It's soul crushing, there's nothing you can do about it. Put some music on loud enough to be heard over the fume extractor you definitely want to be running.
 
Well yeah you definitely need something for the fumes. I have this cheapo one that uses carbon filters and works better than nothing at least (old pic)

93731BAB-922C-4686-B1EE-42570DD506E8.jpeg
 
jassin000 said:
get high as hell (bong rips) and really zen out to it man.
Take my time, crank some good music and breath that burning flux in deep.
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As you may see from the whisky and beer bottles in image above, I have other vices for boring work like this…
 
Is that in a garage? I only ask because (not sure how true this is) I've read its best to still have some kind of air circulation even with a fume extractor.

+1 the Hakko, I use that with one of those small cheap Honeywell fans in a cramped workbench.
 
-Dazed said:
Is that in a garage?
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Basement, but i do have an exhaust-fan at groundlevel close to the ceiling of the room, so theres _some_ circulation. Most stuff should probably end up in the carbon filter though
 
I have the exact same fume extractor and it works OK for the price :P JAMMA edges are pain only at the beginning because you need to angle and tilt them to make sure you get them straight. What I like to do is solder them from each end first and make sure they are about straight and pins are not that bend on either side. After that its just flux and easy breezing through the rest of the pads mindlessly. I also like to have music around and get in to the "zone".

But yeah, doing 5 or more in a row is still numbing and I don't do them more than that in one sitting.
 
I have a hot strategy to pre-bend the pins, so that I am just going down the line and soldering them without having to bend each one inwards, or tolerate a huge gap. The rest of the splitfire is assembled in the factory, but due to various circumstances it ended up being impractical to do anything except install the JAMMA connectors myself. After over one hundred of these, it was a necessity to become fast at it.

When I am doing this kind of thing, I either put on energetic music, or shuffle longmont potion castle. The only vice needed is milk tea and a nalgene of water.
 
Hatsune Mike said:
When I am doing this kind of thing, I either put on energetic music, or shuffle longmont potion castle. The only vice needed is milk tea and a nalgene of water.
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buffi said:
As you may see from the whisky and beer bottles in image above, I have other vices for boring work like this…
Click to expand...

Would strongly recommend not keeping any food or open beverages in a soldering work area, and especially not eating or drinking while working, but I'm paranoid about that shit.
 
benime said:
Would strongly recommend not keeping any food or open beverages in a soldering work area, and especially not eating or drinking while working, but I'm paranoid about that shit.
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I dunno, if having a beer or whisky while soldering is what eventually causes my demise, then I’ve avoided far worse outcomes. Seems unlikely to be the end of the world
 
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