Hints on soldering IC's

What I know about this is that, if you want to do it yourself, you should not try to solder with the iron plugged in. That is, heat the iron first, unplug it, then use residual heat to do the work. My understanding is that stray current fields will harm the IC. I'd consult a pro if I were you...

Hey, Anubis, get thee over to Audio Asylum's cable forum or Jon Risch's DIY interconnect page. I think they don't use voodoo to make their IC's. If you have the right soldering iron and good silver solder (not Radio Shack), it should be fairly easy to do the terminations yourself. Have fun!

Anubis: What kirk mentions on heat is important to bear in mind: silver content solder requires higher temperature to melt. So try applying the solder to the heating element tip and let it flow where required. Fast high heating for a shorter period of time works better than longer heating times.....as Talmadge suggest Risch pages could provide good pointers

First tip - strip back the insulation on the conductor to reveal fresh wire. Second tip - to make a lasting solder connection first heat the junction of the conductor and connector with a hot iron, then feed the solder into the desired junction, NOT onto the iron. Third tip - have patience. When you begin, if your iron doesn't seem to be hot enough, it sometimes helps to condition the tip of the iron with a little solder before heating the parts. You can do it!

My experience ditto's that of Rockvirgo. As for the above, I find that it would be very hard to attempt to place to solder directly on the iron and have a good joint without heating both the conductor and the connector. Or maybe I'm not understanding sol322's post. Anyway, it is not brain surgery.

Guys most times you think faster than you type. I meant "heating with the heating element tip and..." Sorry