Tutorial: Making Your Own SOLDERLESS RCA's

[donpisto]

I posted this in my thread, but figured it can be used in the tutorial section, so here it is.

Currently there is a tutorial for making your own RCA ends by NaamanF, which is a great thread. I ended up going the solderless RCA route and got numerous headaches from it, till I found the simplicity of it. So here it is to share with you all. If you would like to see the thread, it is located here: http://diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32176. This same tutorial begins on Page 3.

Wire by itself, 12" long...cut whatever length you would need.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1294.jpg

Cut a short amount, I did about 0.25"

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1295.jpg

You will end up with something like this:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1296.jpg

Pull back the braided wire

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1297.jpg

Simply put the connector over the wire and push down

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1299.jpg

Screw in the darn screw :D

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1300.jpg

If you were to pull it out (after unscrewing), you will see the hole...this hole is where the screw goes through the braided wire, but does not touch the center conductor, thus the ground.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1302.jpg

If you look closely, there is a hole by the center conductor, that is where the pin on the RCA end went through. Since choosing the wire size is crucial, the conductor will touch the pin on the RCA and that is the positive.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1304.jpg

Here are two pics of what it looks like finished.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1305.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1306.jpg

Then do the same thing to the other end.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1308.jpg

Now make another one so you have a left and right

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1309.jpg

Pic of them together:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1310.jpg

Now, when I was taking one of the ends off, I realized this

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1312.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1314.jpg

What does it mean? There is NO need to make ANY cuts EXCEPT for the length of the wire you need. How much SIMPLER can this get?! And all this time I was pulling hairs get frustrated....frustrated to the point where I wanted to through something like the time when I couldn't right click, then found out I was using a MAC and not a PC :p Go figure.

So, I decided to make them look purrty. All I had is blue heat shrink in 3/8" size, so I put it just under where the screw would go in fro the RCA end.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1320.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1321.jpg

Next, I heated them. Make sure you leave enough room so you can move each wire around so it would be easier to plug in. I did about 3.5 or 4 inches, but I recommend a tad more. 5" is what I would recommend to be honest.



http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1322.jpg

Both ends and wires:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1330.jpg

Now for the tech flex

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1328.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1328.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1331.jpg

Then I put a little bit more of heat shrink around the tech flex to cover it. I used 3/4" for this. Make sure to cut out the length you need first.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1331.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1329.jpg

Completed RCA's

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1333.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1334.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1336.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1339.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1340.jpg

Installed on the amp. As I mentioned, I would really recommend putting the tech flex and heat shrink at least 5" from the tips, because I had a bit of a difficult time getting them in.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1341.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1343.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y178/donpisto/Tara%20RCAs/IMG_1344.jpg

Some notes:
You must make sure the wire will have little to no gap when putting in the RCA. If there is quite a gap, the center conductor on the wire will not be touching the center pin on the RCA and you will not have a functioning RCA. Also, remember, at least 5" from the tip is where the heat shrink to begin/end, however you see it. This is to make it easier when you plug them in.

Alas, I can relax.

Now, as for costs. I highly DO NOT recommend the way I went because of the cost. I bought these solderless ends from Tara Labs because they were nice and I really like them. They cost $4.50 per RCA end. I ended up getting a little discount sine I got 30 of them along with a 4 meter optical cable.

The wire itself is a hefty price as well. $3 per foot. I am going to find something else that will work just as well. As long as the outer diameter is the same size, I will be fine. I wouldn't mind paying $3 per foot if money was not an issue and if I didn't need a long length. All my amps (five of them), will be next to the processor and four of them will be daisy chained so I will need some VERY short lengths. Max length I'll have is 1.5 - 2 ft.with some as small as under 6". I will need a 15 ft. length that goes from this unit I bought for my Blackbird connected to the dock to make it work by having audio since I have the processor. It will go directly from that unit in the glove compartment to the processor, so I would need about 40 - 50 ft and I'm not going to spend near $200 on wire. I'm sure I can find 50 ft. of wire for under $50.

My suggestion, if you want something easy when making your own wires and don't want to solder, get some solderless RCA ends that you like, and some good wire, not something that has an RG6 jacket since it is not flexible, but something like an RG59 jacket. I will be ordering the wire soon and see how it goes. I'll then state which wire I went with. This is really beyond easy and IMO, nicer than store bought RCA's. And then, you can tell people you made your own RCA's and more than likely, people will be shocked and amazed, yet they won't know the simplicity to it :D.

*EDIT: Total cost of this 1 ft. length RCA cable = $24.50. So not worth it and would be better off buying the wire from them and not worry about the hassle. But as mentioned, when you use other ends and other wire, cost will be MUCH lower and I would recommend it...it's fun..very fun :D

[Megalomaniac]

cool :D thanks for the tutorial

[t3sn4f2]

Prretty but me no likey. Bare copper on ANY end (power wire connector, speaker connector, RCA plug) will corrode eventually.

http://www.cast-lighting.com/art-tin-coat.html

The is a quote from the above link which is for lamp wiring, same thing as wire in your trunk basically.

" 1. All outdoor wire is subject to 'wicking'. This is the migration of water and electrolytes under wire insulation. This moisture travels from wherever the wire has been cut including splice points, socket connections and transformer terminals. Wicking causes a progressive oxidative corrosion of the wire.

The wicking problem has long been recognized by marine engineers since moisture is constantly present in the marine environment. These engineers, working in concert with regulatory and advisory agencies, developed marine-grade standards for boat wiring. These standards require tin-coated copper wire. (UL 1309 and 1426)

The presence of moisture in the landscape makes outdoor lighting wiring more akin to marine applications than to wiring used in the low-moisture indoor environment. For this reason, CAST has adopted the Marine-Grade standard by introducing No-Ox tin-coated wire.

2. Oxidative corrosion of copper and its effect on conductivity. Electrical conductivity is a measure of a materials ability to carry an electrical current. Copper is an excellent conductor making it ideal in all electrical applications. However, in the presence of air and moisture its surface oxidizes forming a layer of copper oxides that conduct electricity very poorly. This layer is not initially a problem since the layer is very thin and actually serves to protect the underlying copper.

In an outdoor corrosive environment, however, the oxide layer progressively extends deeper into the copper strand and eventually oxidizes the entire thickness. The resultant decrease in conductivity severely compromises the lighting system. Landscape lighting wire is especially prone to this severe corrosion because it is a stranded wire with very thin strands. Lighting installers often see the devastation of this effect when they pull old wire from the ground and see the strands completely blackened and brittle.

Tin-coating the wire protects from this type of progressive corrosion and loss of conductivity in two ways.

1. Sacrificial. The tin coating differs in electrical potential from copper in a way that causes the tin to be oxidized in preference to the copper. In other words, instead of a progressive deepening of the corrosion into the strand, the tin must completely oxidize before the copper interior is subject to corrosion.

2. Greater Conductivity of Tin Oxides. While copper oxides are very poor electrical conductors, tin oxides maintain good conductivity. This benefits the long-term conductivity of the entire wire bundle. Note: the initial conductivity of the tin coating is lower than copper, leading to a slightly higher voltage loss at time of installation. This difference is offset over time since the tin coating largely maintains its conductivity while the oxidized copper conductivity significantly decreases over time.

Solderability – Differences between Tin and Copper. Landscape lighting installers use a variety of methods for making wire connections in the field. Of these methods, soldering provides the most secure, corrosion-resistant splice points. CAST teaches this soldering method at all its seminars and workshops.

Since tin solder is the preferred type, it stands to reason that tin-coated wire is the best recipient of this solder. The resultant connection provides a seamless surface of tin that extends from the solder point along the entire length of the wire.

This is critical for corrosion prevention since corrosion occurs most aggressively when two dissimilar metals are in contact with each other and exposed to the environment. A tin solder connection on an all-copper wire is an invitation for corrosion to occur at the copper-tin boundary.

Soldering can be especially problematic when old wire is soldered. This situation occurs frequently since installers are often called upon to add fixtures to an existing system. Tin-coated wire maintains good solderabilty as it oxidizes over time. Copper oxides, on the other hand, are extremely resistant to solder.

An installer trying to add new fixtures to a system with all-copper wire, may be forced to replace entire wire runs while a system with tin-coated wire may be cut and re-soldered to make the new connections."


As far as I see it, tinned wire is the only way to go on any wire for your system. Not even properly terminated (solder with gold ends or professionally crimped) copper wire will work due to the "wicking" mentioned above, the ends will be fine but where the insulation was compromised will be an area that will start to corrode and eventually fail.

[iced]

but i cant help but to say that soldering is probably the best way to go.
more solid.

as t3sn4f2 said it will corrode or rather start to oxidise the mating connections.

[Megalomaniac]

but i cant help but to say that soldering is probably the best way to go.
more solid.

as t3sn4f2 said it will corrode or rather start to oxidise the mating connections.

meh he changes his system soo much i doubt it will get time to corrode lol

[donpisto]

meh he changes his system soo much i doubt it will get time to corrode lol

Very true..and I can also swap the wires as time goes on :D

But thanks for the info guys. I actually found out about the wire when buying copper lugs. I asked for bare copper and the guy mentioned it's better to go with tinned copper because of the corroding and oxidization. I believe I found tinned copper coaxial cables somewhere online. I'm going to dig again for that and go that route.

[8tz]

very clean looking.

[rekd0514]

Looks great without the shrink and techflex. I woulda just left it like that. :)

[mike1120]

nice tutorial those look great

[Megalomaniac]

i like it with the shrink and flex

[donpisto]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I personally like the heat shrink and tech flex over not having anything because I don't like seeing the writing on the cable for one, and the blue/black combo will match the PDX's I'm running :D

[captainobvious]

Is there any disadvantage sonically to doing them this way? I would think with just a pin touching that (and not soldered)the cable would yield a lower voltage signal from one end to the other...

any thoughts on that?

They look terrific btw!

[donpisto]

To be honest, I don't know. I do know that they are in there snug and with the pins being held snug next to each other they still function properly. Is there a way to test voltage signal? I wouldn't mind checking it out (though I do have to find my DMM, it somehow escaped from me :()