Is there a big difference between the Teflon and Amphenol PL259 connectors, other than the Amphenol being more expensive? I believe they both resist high temperature.
LoneWolf TN
LoneWolf TN
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PL259's; Teflon or Amphenol
- Thread starter LoneWolf TN
- Start date
Amphenol is a COMPANY that makes connectors.Teflon is simply a MATERIAL used in those connectors.Amphenol makes connectors that use Teflon as the centre insulator as do other manufactures of good quality connectors.I prefer Teflon as an insulator regardless of who makes the connector.
PL-259 AMPHNOL? OR NO NAME-TEFLONvsbrown composite
Yea I know I cant spell! Ive installed thousands of RF connectors and the You get what you pay for I like the Brown
compsite insulator does not melt or move around,the teflon are ok If your careful about the soldering the braid,but may still melt! and move inside the body.I buy my RF connectors at Radio Works in N.H. 100 at a time or 25 at a time and you get a good deal,you can get plain ss,silver or gold bodies.Ive got Amph.connectors Ive used over 3 or 4 times and still going,the teflon you must trash. 73
DE-K8PG-PAUL CW LIVES
Yea I know I cant spell! Ive installed thousands of RF connectors and the You get what you pay for I like the Brown
compsite insulator does not melt or move around,the teflon are ok If your careful about the soldering the braid,but may still melt! and move inside the body.I buy my RF connectors at Radio Works in N.H. 100 at a time or 25 at a time and you get a good deal,you can get plain ss,silver or gold bodies.Ive got Amph.connectors Ive used over 3 or 4 times and still going,the teflon you must trash. 73
DE-K8PG-PAUL CW LIVES
So can someone please give me a step by step on soldering this way with torch. Wont it melt the coax jacket?
AP
AP
propane torch
propane torchs and rf connectors dont mix almost blew my radio due to a melted pl259
propane torchs and rf connectors dont mix
almost blew my radio due to a melted pl259
Don't know if they still have it, but the old Bernz-o-Matic torch kits had an attachment in the form of a heavy copper tip that I used a few times in the field for doing PL-259s. Took a bit of practice, but I got to where I could regulate the heat based on outside temperature and wind, and the connectors worked just fine. Wouldn't care to try it now, after 35 years or so...at least not without more practice.
SOLDERING PL-259s
Dont use a torch,your correct it will melt the jacket/center insulator.Get a Good 35/50 watt weller soldiering pencil and look in any old ARRL Hand Book for installation instructions or do a Google on them you will find it,I only soldier 2 of the shield holes,1 on each side with silver soldier-40/60 mix.Hold the tip in vise grips gingerly ,and heat the work first,then let the soldier flow by cappulairy action. Good luck OM .73
DE-K8PG-Paul -CW LIVES
Dont use a torch,your correct it will melt the jacket/center insulator.Get a Good 35/50 watt weller soldiering pencil and look in any old ARRL Hand Book for installation instructions or do a Google on them you will find it,I only soldier 2 of the shield holes,1 on each side with silver soldier-40/60 mix.Hold the tip in vise grips gingerly ,and heat the work first,then let the soldier flow by cappulairy action. Good luck OM .73
DE-K8PG-Paul -CW LIVES
Um, for starters, if it melts, its NOT teflon. Teflon, also known as "PTFE" or Polytetrafuoroethane ( I think) does NOT melt at soldering-iron temperatures.
If you touch the tip of your soldering iron to a white plastic, and it's teflon, nothing will happen. If you touch it to a white thermoplastic like the one in the pic below, the iron's hot tip will sink into the plastic as it melts.
This one is NOT teflon, even though the plastic was white before the explosion.
If you're wondering where that metal center-pin contact went, it was blown out the rear of the plug by the expanding gases created by a very large, hot arc. He thought this socket would be good enough for a 3CX3000 tube. Not quite.
Teflon is the material of choice when running more power than this kind of plug is meant to handle. Remember, if your soldering-iron tip will melt the surface of some white plastic, IT'S NOT TEFLON....
Oh, and the key to getting a PL-259 soldered without destroying it is a gun that's big enough. 250 Watts minimum. Any smaller than that, and the (long) time it takes to reach soldering temp will cause the wire insulation inside to liquefy before you have a proper solder bond. The bigger gun gets the PL-259's body up to soldering temp faster, before the plastic coax insulation can deteriorate.
73
If you touch the tip of your soldering iron to a white plastic, and it's teflon, nothing will happen. If you touch it to a white thermoplastic like the one in the pic below, the iron's hot tip will sink into the plastic as it melts.
This one is NOT teflon, even though the plastic was white before the explosion.
If you're wondering where that metal center-pin contact went, it was blown out the rear of the plug by the expanding gases created by a very large, hot arc. He thought this socket would be good enough for a 3CX3000 tube. Not quite.
Teflon is the material of choice when running more power than this kind of plug is meant to handle. Remember, if your soldering-iron tip will melt the surface of some white plastic, IT'S NOT TEFLON....
Oh, and the key to getting a PL-259 soldered without destroying it is a gun that's big enough. 250 Watts minimum. Any smaller than that, and the (long) time it takes to reach soldering temp will cause the wire insulation inside to liquefy before you have a proper solder bond. The bigger gun gets the PL-259's body up to soldering temp faster, before the plastic coax insulation can deteriorate.
73
I don't know why you'd want a soldier to flow... :?:
But don't use "silver solder", just use regular tin/lead, in a 60/40 ratio. I've never seen "40/60 silver soldier (solder?)", but with a 40% silver content you'd be hard pressed to melt it.
Finally, and I know others will say otherwise, don't use a gun of ANY size (wattage and tip temperature don't compensate for a small thermal mass). Use a good iron, at least 100 watts, with a chisel tip that fits the groove of the connector.
But don't use "silver solder", just use regular tin/lead, in a 60/40 ratio. I've never seen "40/60 silver soldier (solder?)", but with a 40% silver content you'd be hard pressed to melt it.
Finally, and I know others will say otherwise, don't use a gun of ANY size (wattage and tip temperature don't compensate for a small thermal mass). Use a good iron, at least 100 watts, with a chisel tip that fits the groove of the connector.
Here is one way to do it if you are making a lot of jumpers..and you know what you are doing !....I've made 1,000's of them this way...I use a couple of 240 watt weller guns depending on how I feel.....one of them has the regular heavy duty tip on it and the other gun has the regular heavy duty tip on it too except I took my wire cutters and cut the end of the tip into two parts,then I bent the two tip parts close together so that the body of the pl-259 will fit between the to tip parts then I take the regular 60/40 solder and melt a little where the two wires of the tip touch the sides of the pl-259
...the body of the pl-259 completes the connection between the two tip wires...let the solder flow untill you have a nice and even solder connection ......in less than a minute and without melting the foam,you are finished....I leave the center conductor soldering for last.....typing this takes me longer to do than it takes me to solder both connections.....just be sure to watch your heat...
BTW I have also soldered coax connectors using a propane torch or a Acetelyne torch without melting the coax.. also when I am finished soldering the connection,I DO NOT blow on the pl-259 to cool it off...I just hang it where it cools off by it's self...if you cool it off too fast,the solder connection will get a dull look to it...
...the body of the pl-259 completes the connection between the two tip wires...let the solder flow untill you have a nice and even solder connection ......in less than a minute and without melting the foam,you are finished....I leave the center conductor soldering for last.....typing this takes me longer to do than it takes me to solder both connections.....just be sure to watch your heat...
BTW I have also soldered coax connectors using a propane torch or a Acetelyne torch without melting the coax.. also when I am finished soldering the connection,I DO NOT blow on the pl-259 to cool it off...I just hang it where it cools off by it's self...if you cool it off too fast,the solder connection will get a dull look to it...
Well I am going to give it a try, I got the newer 9913F7 coax, it has foam dialetric instead of the air as the original so there should not be any water problems and soldering should be a little easyer.
AP
AP
You may want to check out this article on soldering PL-259s from eHam. I found it very informative.
PL-259 tips
PL-259 tips
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