# Repairing Socapex Cables - Solder Connectors



## rphilip (Jul 23, 2014)

I've got a socapex cable where wires have come off the pins. It's a LK branded connected with soldered pins. Both pins appear to have had cold solder joints but it's hard to say for sure.

Any specific things I need to watch out for in re soldering this? I've got a Metcal soldering iron I use for "normal" work, will it have enough power to get a good solder joint?

See the attached pictures.

Thanks



Philip


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## Footer (Jul 23, 2014)

You have to get the pins very hot... much hotter then dealing with an XLR connector. If you can get one of the "gun" style irons those tend to work better for this type of thing. More heat=less heat spreads where it does not belong. I would probably go through the whole connector though, it 2 have gone... you know the rest art not far behind. @ship might chime in here, he deals with more of these things then anyone around. Best bet would be to send it to lex and have them put their cool injected molded ends on it... but I don't think you want that.


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## techieman33 (Jul 23, 2014)

Footer said:


> You have to get the pins very hot... much hotter then dealing with an XLR connector. If you can get one of the "gun" style irons those tend to work better for this type of thing. More heat=less heat spreads where it does not belong. I would probably go through the whole connector though, it 2 have gone... you know the rest art not far behind. @ship might chime in here, he deals with more of these things then anyone around. Best bet would be to send it to lex and have them put their cool injected molded ends on it... but I don't think you want that.



I hate their molded connector. It doesn't mate well, especially with other brands of connector.


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## Les (Jul 23, 2014)

Try adding some flux to the pins using a flux pen or similar before re-soldering. It will help clean any oxidation and ensure that the solder flow better. Footer is right about the heat. Those pins are bigger and have a higher thermal capacity, so you need more heat.


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## ship (Jul 24, 2014)

Les said:


> Try adding some flux to the pins using a flux pen or similar before re-soldering. It will help clean any oxidation and ensure that the solder flow better. Footer is right about the heat. Those pins are bigger and have a higher thermal capacity, so you need more heat over a longer period of time.



Got an alert when I checked into the website about this. Creative Stage Lighting should have a full warranty and I would have them pay for shipping both ways so as to correct this. LK is only sold by them and while you can do the heat shrink over terminals as necessary, it is easier to send it back. A training type of thing in properly terminating Soco cable in solder style. More expensive start up but I use crimp terminals if not the molded from Lex or TMB. Interesting note about harder to mate the Lex molded, have not heard that yet. Onto if you have to repair... as best I can help.

More heat over a longer period of time is a bad thing in melting stuff other than what you need to heat up with other than a cold solder or burnt conductors. I started with a soldering gun.... no, retire it in not working best or dependable.

Flux pen, perhaps not a bad idea, but unless cutting all the conductors and starting over, the flux or acid in your solder should be sufficient, and the flux won't help in re-attaching partially tinned wire back to a terminal. In general a 0.050" acid core solder should be fine to solder a 12ga stranded wire to a 12ga pin. This if you have the right tools and technique.

In general a 0.050" 63/37% acid core solder should be fine to re-solder a 12ga stranded wire to a 12ga pin, or refresh it in re-soldering it properly. There is already solder on the wire, need to re-fresh it with new solder and the acid core is needed for the attachment so as to properly refresh what you are doing. The flux won't do this in making a good flow and doing the soldering of partially tinned or cold solder to the pin.

This also if you have the right tools. I have a Weller WES51 60w iron at home and a even more powerful one at work. Don't use the tip of the pen... you are not painting or doing electronics, you are trying to transfer heat to a larger gauge of cable and it requires surface area that the side and much thicker part of the iron will better convey. This means both more or less the side of the stock tip or a like 3/32" wide screwdriver tip in use. - Not some pointy electronics tip. Add fresh solder to it so as to help further transfer the heat in surface area and acid flow to activate or re-activate the old solder. Soldering Iron goes up to about 850 degrees, you should max it out for this wattage of iron in use on that size of wire.

After that, how you hold the solder, the iron etc. is amongst many styles and for those I train I train them, send them to someone else, than send them to someone else yet in learning various techniques so they can develop their own style. Until you can both heat with application with some solder, and add some more properly - but not too much, those in training get inspected on everything they do. Had a large project a few weeks ago for some lamp bar types that used solder reinforced grounding rings on the Soco plugs. Pulled in everyone from the shop that was trained for soldering for it, including military trained people. Soldering 12ga. isn't something one normally is trained to do and should require some professional instruction before you attempt. Plus it took them over double the time to even get ok at doing it.

Here is the thing about solder Soco's. If soldered correctly, they will work perfect and for ever. It doesn't take like $500.00 thru $750.00 and above in buying tools to crimp them properly and insert/removal tools for working on them. Just over $100.00 proper soldering irons and technique to make them work. Pneumatic version of the crimp tool is like three times more expensive but is worth it if doing bulk - love it.
On the other hand, should you get a voltage spike/lightnight spike or something like a cold solder, you could wind up with a pin or many of them that get overheated in resistance to current flow. This resistance could heat up enough that the solder begins to flow again. (Got lucky that the wire just removed itself from the pin - probably pins like 11 or 12 inner core conductors with "cable stretch" in your situation with the rest on the cable suspect.) It happens a bad lot for cable, but also happens - this resistance heat buildup cold solder or even proper solder if a good spike in making for "liquid electricity" inside the plug - and could happen anywhere in your system where it finds a cold solder or soldered plug in adding resistance. Could be 40' up in the grid, a plug with a bit too much solder about it's terminals, or something near with a cold solder, or any combination.

Once the solder begins to flow in getting hot enough due to high resistance current or especially current surge, it flows by way of gravity. Reason for the heat shrink is to prevent wires / debree inside the plug / pin tops or too far stripped or pulled back wire from touching, but only some to prevent solder from melting between pins. Solder hot enough, heat shrink is gone and solder is a liquid in finding gravity.. Still though het shrink is the proper thing to do.

I use adhesive lined heat shrink. It's only hot glue and doesn't bond well with the conductor jacket, but any help for insulation on cable stretch is a good thing.

Only reason I do soldering on Soco is for the grounding ring if not working on a old serviceable plug that I surpervise soldered pins to. I always do the soldered reinforced grounding ring - always. The grounding ring is reinforced by a ring of copper foil between the pins inside the grounding ring. As little as needed to in solder bond the ring to the pin. Again the liquid electricity thing.

Repairing Soco cable properly is not for other than trained in doing so and proper tools. I recommend sending it back for warranty and engauging with a company even them for proper training and buying the proper tools.


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## JD (Jul 24, 2014)

Hot and fast on that type of connector. Best is a 300 watt soldering gun. flux both sides, set the wire in the cup and hit it. As soon as both the cup and the wire go wet and meld, remove the heat. 
Although there are plenty of solder cup connectors on the market, I hate them! Solder has a higher resistance than the wire or the pins, so it can become a hot spot under high current and unsolder itself or worse. As long as it is fully bonded (proper solder) it will be reliable. 
My favorite connectors- Crimp type! Once crimped, I solder. Metal-to-metal connection, with the solder filling the gaps and adding adhesion.


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## rphilip (Jul 24, 2014)

ship said:


> ... Creative Stage Lighting should have a full warranty and I would have them pay for shipping both ways so as to correct this. LK is only sold by them and while you can do the heat shrink over terminals as necessary, it is easier to send it back. ...



I don't know the history of this particular cable as I purchased it used some years ago. The other end has a Socapex brand connector. Do you think that there still might be a warranty on the LK connector when I don't know who installed it?

Thanks

Philip


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## ship (Jul 25, 2014)

rphilip said:


> I don't know the history of this particular cable as I purchased it used some years ago. The other end has a Socapex brand connector. Do you think that there still might be a warranty on the LK connector when I don't know who installed it?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Philip



No, you cannot be sure someone didn't install it later.

Crimped and soldered connections, I would be concerned the now tinned wire gets brittle but it certainly won't come loose. I just use the Astro Tool M22520/1-01 4-pin indent crimp tool with Veam turret head spacer or the (forget who makes) AF-8 same tool. As long as the gauge is set correctly, I have never had one fail. If the wire gauge isn't set correctly, it will fail.


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## MikeJ (Jul 26, 2014)

The LEX and LK connectors that you solder and then have 700 different pieces that thread together to complete the connector and they always come loose, even if you use lock-tight and pipe wrenches! They are both junk, as are the off brand equivalents.
....And I mean they are garbage, absolute garbage and I would be ashamed if I sold those products.

You can fix it, Don't use a Gun. A Weller WES50/51 with a screwdriver tip at about 8-850 degrees works great, just Like Ship posted. I would remove the old solder first though; makes it easier.

I would cut off that connector and use an Amphenol Socapex instead, they are solid. Sometimes the outer housing tabs break off, but you can just replace the housing, and it is cheap. the connectors last a long time.

The LEX and LK connectors have too many different parts that come loose, and eventually the internals of the connectors, will spin causing misalignment of your connectors.
I have several NEW LEX and LK connectors that will never be used because they are absolutely worthless. I have had BRAND NEW ones spin before the first use. It is a bad design. 

The molded LEX connectors are nice and Guaranteed for life, but they have a deeper collar than other connectors, and will bottom out on some panel mount Soca connectors before fully tightening. 


People who don't know how to solder will tell you to but a crimping tool, people who know how to solder, will tell you to learn how to solder.


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## Wood4321 (Jul 26, 2014)

The new lex connectors are my go to. They have metal fingers into the rubber preventing spinning. KC and soca have the consistent problem, the reg tab is too small and shears off, these spin much more often than the lex or LK. I moved to the new lex and thus replace less and less connectors every year.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## LilLace (Aug 5, 2014)

Howdy! I was given the task to fix a socapex. The issue is that I am unsure of how to take the head of it apart. One channel out of six does not work. I tested it on multiple break ins and break outs but it still doesn't work. The socapex is a lex product LSC 19 series. If you have any suggestions please let me know! Thanks!!!


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## WooferHound (Aug 5, 2014)

There is not much that can go wrong with connectors that have multiple conductors, there is a connection or not.
The 6 circuit connections are
1 - pins 1 + 2
2 - pins 3 + 4
3 - pins 5 + 6
4 - pins 7 + 8
5 - pins 9 +10
6 - pins 11 +12
Some connectors have solder connections and some of them crimp. The inside circle of connections are ground. To take it apart you generally just unscrew it, but they are often assembled using Locktite and the threads are reversed more often than not.


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## ship (Aug 6, 2014)

Such plugs/cables as per another similar topic recently are at times warranty and if this cable is from Lex products and has not been modified, you should check your records in sending it back instead of attempting to open it up and fix it first.

I suspect your one channel bad is on circuit 6 as normally the case with a 12/14 cable. [HASHTAG]#12[/HASHTAG] wire gauge, 14 conductor. If the case, it's from something called "cable stretch." Basically you have ten conductors wrapped with a 1/4 turn twist per foot around an inner core of four conductors that are also twisted but in overall length not as long or might even be counter twisted in not staying the same length once the cable gets twisted and pulled a lot over the years. This is a normal thing for cable. Once the outer conductors stretch say more parallel - the ground wires and those of circuit six are not as long with use and with use will pull free from the pin, or pull the pin out with the wire.

First check is easy, are pins 11 and 12 recessed into the plug and more common the connector body? If not, than the wires if solder type had a bad solder connection to the socket or pin and pulled free. That's dangerous in having open conductors inside a plug. A cold solder is a clear warranty thing as in general if it came from Lex without modification.

If this cable cannot be sent back to who you bought it from by way of warranty, the next best option is to send it to a Lex authorized dealer/repair shop or them to fix. Such plugs are not as per a stage pin or XLR cable where in general anyone can fix once trained and reading the instructions, such plug types are designated to be worked on by trained personal in their repair. Sorry and no intent or statement on your own abilities or experience, but if you need to ask you were not professionally trained in working on them and that could be dangerous. What is a cold solder for a 12ga pin if solder type, and or did you do the grounding ring properly?

At work I currently have a summer worker being trained in doing Soco by one of my assistants. This is at my own work table next to my desk where I'm doing other things and my assistant is doing a really good job of training him for soldering and assembling Soco. Eight hours in training and fixing and he almost has soldering correct and mastered for 12ga wire and in our case a solder reinforcmed grounding ring as the Lex grounding rings as with all brands suck. Soco plugs is something that if it isn't done correctly will go bad in a melt down type of way. This requires proper training and if possible, sure in repairing this cable check into if you can go to where it is getting repaired for training. This learning is an important thing that will be as important as learning some light board or moving light if not at times more important, but with fixing it comes great responsibility for doing it properly.

Beyond that, if crimp type plug you were to fix, it's possible to solder them if well trained and with the proper iron, but otherwise you have like $500.00 worth of tools on the cheap side to do a crimp pin and over a buck a pin for replacement. If crimp type or even solder type if cable stretch, normally if in this condition you have to cut down for length all pins 1-10 in circuits 1-5 say 1/4" shorter than the inner core conductors in allowing for a little more stretch. Than re-pin the other conductors that were not a problem for getting those with the problem long enough.

If not the case that cable stretch was a problem inside one of the plugs - normally the female, or another circuit than six, than you if not cold solder inside a plug have a conductor broken inside the cable problem. Very rare but happens. First step once the plug is un-assembled - cord grip first in normal right hand thread and denatured alcohol helps to slide it, reverse left hand thread on the plug head to the body. Now that the body of the plug is off, first take a Linesmens pliers and pull on the bad conductor. Be really careful that your arm is oriented in pulling so that should that conductor come free, the pliers won't smack you in the face - it does happen if you don't do it properly. Conductor don't pull free, it's somewhere in the cable, this goes back to warranty you might have just voided in taking apart the cable or now in making something useful out of the bad cable. Can feel the cable for a suspect area but otherwise as happens it is somewhere in the cable.


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