Part 2: The 3.5mm plug

Now for some hands on action.

There are 2 ways to start making the LOD. Most people actually start from the dock connector side. I prefer to start from the plug. Just read my guide from the back if you are more comfortable with that.

Before you start, you got to take a hard look at the connector and figure out which are the ground, left and right pins. The picture below uses Neutrik as the example. It is roughly the same for all plugs. The tip leads to the left channel, ring leads to the right, and sleeve leads to ground.

Shown below are some pictures i took when making a connector. Solder the wires one by one. The trick to hold the plug and wire in place is to use blue tack. In the picture i also use a old socket to hold the plug. Its a good alternative for those without a bench vice.

Generally, i solder the ground first, then the left and right. You do not have to worry about the wire and solder protruding at the back. You can file it off later using the needle file so that it fits into the screw cap. However, for those without files, exercise care not to let the wire and solder protrude too much at the back. The cap may not fit because of the protrusion. 

Edit* i have stopped using this method already, because of problems withe silver/copper dust. I now use a technique that fuses just the tip of the wires with the plug. It makes the whole thing much neater. 

Your plug should look like that after you are done soldering. 

Right now i do not have pictures to show, but i recommend a few things after the soldering is done.

1) Use a heat shrink to wrap up the wires at the clamp area before squeezing the clamp shut. Be careful to use the right sized heat shrink, if not the clamp may not be able to even close. In some cases, the bundle of wires would be too big to even fit a heat shrink. 

*Update with the picture above:

2) I use epoxy resin to seal off the gaps between the insulation and wire to reduce oxidation. It is a pretty common problem among owners who use exotic materials (silver) for their LODs. This should reduce the problem.  

3) Another thing is please do no apply pressure to the plug itself using a piler or something. 

 

The picture above shows me testing and labelling the wires. It is not very obvious but the bulb is actually lighted, indicating a live connection. This method saves you from buying a multimeter to test hear the “beep”.

After checking that all the solder joints work OK, its time to move on to braiding the wire.