How to secure soldered wires?

[Randolph]

Hi, I'm kinda new to this electrical and soldering stuff so please forgive what may be a basic question for most.

I finished soldering wires to a gamepad and want to secure the soldered points for fear that a slight tug will disconnect the wire. In my limited experience with electronic components I recall seeing these little globs of rubbery material whose purpose seemed to be to increase the strength of the connection.

Is that glob the best way to secure connections and if so are there tips somewhere for doing so? If not, what's the recommended way to accomplish this?

[electricd]

The solder should be strong enough.  I used to have the same fear, until I became more confidant in my soldering skills...the solder joint is suprisingly strong!  But if you are worried, even a glob of hot glue will work fine.  Just a pain to get off later

[hyiu]

I soldered a psx pad and after testing (carefully) that all my soldering points are solid, I pour those white glue on the circuit board to help hold the wires....

I do got a pic somewhere... but its too late at night... cannot find it....

I use those white general glue that I got from home depot.

IMPORTANT !!!!... when the glues are wet, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT plug it in !!!!.... cos the wet glue might short out everything..... leave it for a day or so.... those "white elmer glue" (I think that's the name...) will dry out and becomes transparent... then you can plug and try again.... with the glue's help, I'm much more confident... (although I would still avoid yanking the wires.... of course...)

keep in mind, when I hack a sidewinder, I did not use those glues... with the testing holes, I'm quite confident with my solder... just my psx pad contacts are kinda weak cos the circuit board is quite hard to solder.....

hope it helps....

ps: if I find the pic.... maybe tmw night..... I'll post a link again if you need....

[SNAAAKE]

get a hot glue gun from 99C store.that works perfect.

[Dave_K.]

Even though your solder joints should hold, there is still the possibility of lifting the entire trace out of the pcb (given enough force on the wire).  It happened to me.  I have since used obscene amounts of radio shack's "silicone rubber sealant"  to coat the connections and wires into a giant snot like ball of dried goo.  

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F005%5F010%5F000%5F000&product%5Fid=64%2D2314

[mattv]

If you were a truly sad little man you could painstakingly drill a tiny hole in the middle of each trace, pass the wire through from the back, fold it over and solder it down.

That would make the connection nice and strong without any need for glue. It would also take about 2 hours to do each game pad this way. Not that I'd know... uh, a friend told me that’s how long it took him, yeah, that’s it... a friend. Not me.

[SNAAAKE]

If you were a truly sad little man you could painstakingly drill a tiny hole in the middle of each trace, pass the wire through from the back, fold it over and solder it down.

That is EXACTLY how I do it.100% perfect solder everytime.Its worth the hassle of drilling tiny hole with 1/32 drill bit.believe me(lot less headace then wires comin off every couple of days).

[Analog-X]

Hot Glue is what I use and not too terrible to remove if needed.
 
Or you can do what mattv.....err....what he's friend did  

[gnateye]

i agree drilling the holes is a must! it makes for a way stronger joint, plus it makes the job easier, the wire is held in place while you work!


goto the trouble and take your time...

[Brax]

The second best option to drilling holes is to de-solder the pad you want to connect to. Then make a loop at the end of your wire. Place that loop on the pad and put a nice bead of solder over the whole thing. Works better than just using the tip of the wire.

[liche]

Glue, ahhhghhgh ! ! !
If you ever have to remove it, you could seriously damage and lift some traces / pads from the PCB board.

Best thing to do, which is commercial / and / military standard is simply to add a small loop (service loop) once the wires come out of the board and then to attach the other end of the loop using some wire ties which will act as a strain relief for those wires.

Unless you are just tacking down some jumper wires across a bare section of PCB board, you SHOULD NEVER apply glue over any exposed traces or pads.

Also, glues can be conductive and may cause high resistance shorts between adjacent pads as well.

[Darkstalker]

If you really want a good way to do it, just go buy some flux from your local Radio-Shack type store.  Just a little bit (Key word is SMALL amount, it doesn't take much) on the wire your going to solder and it won't go anywhere.  I think you can get a small tube for $5 or so...

Glue is nice, but on the off chance you need to replace a faulty component, that will make it a pain, not to mention it can be a conductor.  For flux, you just re-heat the solder joint and the wire comes right off.

If your new at this, please don't make the mistake of tapping the side of the iron on a bench/table to get the excess solder off the end, use a damp sponge...

[liche]

>If you really want a good way to do it, just go buy some >flux from your local Radio-Shack type store.  Just a little bit >(Key word is SMALL amount, it doesn't take much) on the >wire your going to solder and it won't go anywhere.  I >think you can get a small tube for $5 or so...

No, do NOT use flux like this.  The absolute worst thing you can do is to leave flux on a printed wiring board.  When flux ages, it becomes very corrosive and conductive as well.  It is especially bad when it gets trapped underneath components.

This is the reason boards are subjected to soaking and bathing in 100% isopropyl alochol baths.  The flux must be removed.  Flux should only be used in the aid of the soldering process itself to help wet the solder.

Solder itself is also mixed with flux and must be cleaned after you are finished soldering.  This is that sticky, amber colored residue left on the board or wires.  Since 100% isopropyl alcohol is not readily available in your local pharmacy and is quite expensive, you can just use regular supermarket isopropyl alchohol which is something like 70-80% i think.  This is fine.  Just clean off the area with a Q-TIP and use an air compressor or dry Q-TIP to remove excess alcohol etc...