Soldering points in 1/4 inch speaker plug

[zosobozo]

Hi, I have an embarassingly simple question, so please pardon my ignorance! I am soldering up the speaker for my Weber 6a14HP kit, and was expecting to find two somewhat obvious points to solder to inside of the plug. There is an obvious solder tab/point/lug for the center/tip/white wire, but I am not sure where the black wire should attach... Anywhere else inside the casing? I tried that and it didn't go all that smoothly, so I figured I'd step back and ask for help.

I can upload a photo if need be, but you can get the jist here:
You can see the inside in the photos here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2251832116202524.html
The Weber part is this: https://www.tedweber.com/pp-rc/

Thanks in advance!

[tubenit]

I actually drill a small hole in the back of the body of the male plug and insert a wire there and solder it in place.  Not saying that's the best approach but it's what I do.


With respect, Tubenit

[sluckey]

.

[Williamblake]

Maybe i am doing it wrong, but even when soldered correctly (i guess) you can turn the tip. Also these plugs break, when you step on them.

[nandrewjackson]

No need to be embarrassed, a person's gotta start somewhere.


I can remember my first solderings, yikes. Like most things, if it doesn't come naturally, practice, practice, practice.


Keep the soldering iron tip clean, use a wet sponge, or the copper wool pad.


Some of those 1/4" jacks should be tinned with solder before the wires are attempted to be attached.


If the solder doesn't want to stick, scratch the surface of the jack with the edge of a flathead screwdriver to get through the glossy surface. That, and some flux should coax the solder to flow.


🎸🎧🎛️✝️🎸🎸🎛️

[PRR]

> you can turn the tip.

A lot of 1/4" plugs from recent decades are just crap.

Note that if you solder to the crimp on the end of the tip part, you have electric conductivity, but eventually tip-turn will break the wire.

If you don't love a connector, throw it out and get better. Life is too short to be silently standing looking at a don't-work connector when the crowd is hot and the manager has money in hand.

[glass54]

zosobozo,
+1 with PRR. Anything but the real Switchcraft "pancake" plug are crap, usually fail while you are trying to solder them.
I use the Neutrik NP2RX, fairly reliable but not a very low profile. A little expensive but substantially more reliable.
https://www.neutrik.com/en/product/np2rx
Assembly instructions in "Downloads"
Regards
Mirek

[Esquirefreak]

I once bought 20 cheap pancake plugs and thought I made a bargain. Well, I found out AFTER sitting 6 hours making patch cables, that 19 of them were junk...

/Max

[Williamblake]

Not only is the tip loose, the sleeve will soon become, too. You can solder that and start grindig away to give back the little contact they make but they are a waste of time and me personally gave away on the idea indicating instrument or speaker cable by the plug entierly. I went neutrik all the way and i can tell speker or or instrument by the thickness of the cable.

[acheld]

Well count me as a "prepper" when it comes to speaker connectors, cause I went entirely to Neutrik Speakon connectors a few years back.   Yup, they are big, nothing else is compatible, but they do not break, they never fall out, and my dog can not pull the cable out of the speaker cabinet.

Lovely overkill for amps at home but invaluable for gigging.

[Williamblake]

Pictures of your dog, please.

[acheld]

OK, off topic, but here you go.

Outside pic is herself standing proud after chasing away a fox -- in truth, foxie is not really frightened of dog, the is just an annoyance.    They often "talk" to each other at 2am . . . I'm not amused.

My last dog did indeed try to chew the speaker cable off of one of my cabs.   This current dog has no taste for cable and/or is better trained.

[zosobozo]

Incredible! I was not expecting so many quick responses, they are much appreciated. That video was very helpful. Once again, web searches get foiled by terminology conflict -- I had no idea these were known as "pancake" plugs.

BTW I read these responses over the weekend, got it soldered up fine, and completed the amp. Sounds incredible!

And finally, for completeness, I've attached a photo of Aruba (aka BDE aka Best Dog Ever) doing her thing.