DIY Instrument Lead Mini-Tutorial

[Marcel]

For those wondering why the Cotton is there and why that we just cut it off flush - The Cotton is just filler to help the overall cable maintain its circular shape. It also helps in minimising scuffing of the centre wires when the cable is flexed during use. In the connector it serves nil purpose so can safely be removed.

[Guvna19]

Great thread Doc, and all the input from the members!

going to be a down the track project for me.

thanks Guv

[Simon Barden]

For those that haven't done it before, a quick explanation of how you strip the external insulation off the cable first would be good.

[DrNomis_44]

Ah....sorry about that oversight, I blame that on me not having fully woken up due to insufficient coffee in me.

[Simon Barden]

It's easy to overlook as you already know how and it isn't hard - but for a comprehensive guide it needs to be there.

[DrNomis_44]

It's easy to overlook as you already know how and it isn't hard - but for a comprehensive guide it needs to be there.

Sorted....

[DrNomis_44]

(Addendum):

To strip the insulation off the Jaycar WB-1530 cable I'm using to make the new DIY Instrument lead, I measured roughly about 20mm from the end and used the thumbnail on my left-hand thumb to put a slight nick in the insulation, after doing that I bent the cable back on itself where the nick was and then used a craft knife to carefully cut through black plastic sheathing of the cable, making sure not to nick any of the strands of the braiding, bending the cable back on itself helps to avoid nicking the braid underneath the outer sheathing.

Here's what the cable looked like after making a nick in the outer-sheathing with my thumbnail:



Here's what the cable looked like after bending it back on itself where the thumbnail nick was placed:



While holding the cable bent back on itself in my fingers, I used the craft knife to cut through the outer-sheathing of the cable, exposing the braid underneath it, while at the same time being very careful not to nick any of the strands of wire in the braiding:




After making the cut in the outer-sheathing with the craft knife, I proceeded to continue cutting the sheathing all around the circumference of the cable till I got back to where I had started from, this enabled the excess sheathing to be easily pulled off the end, exposing the braiding underneath:

[DrNomis_44]

And as a bonus, here's how to test your newly-made DIY Instrument lead with a Digital Multimeter to ensure that it is a good one, note that I'm using a short blue pedal patch-lead for demonstration purposes, if your new DIY Instrument lead passes all of the following tests, then you have a good working lead:


First of all, set your Digital Multimeter to either a low ohms (say 200 Ohms) range setting, or, if your Digital Multimeter has one, the Diode/Continuity Test setting (I've shown it set it to Diode/Continuity Test):



For the first Continuity Test, touch the tip of one multimeter probe to the sleeve of one plug and the tip of the other probe to the sleeve of the other plug as shown in the pic, if you get a low reading and an audible beeping sound, then your lead has passed the first test:




For the second Continuity Test, touch the tip of one of the multimeter probes to the tip of one plug and touch the tip of the other probe to the tip of the other plug as per the pic, if you get a low reading and an audible beeping sound, then your lead has passed the second test:



For the third Continuity Test, touch the tip of one of the multimeter probes to the tip of one plug and touch the tip of the other probe to the sleeve of the other plug as per the pic, if you get a high reading and no audible beeping sound, your lead has passed the third test:




If your lead has passed all three tests then it indicates that you are getting continuity where you should be getting it, from one sleeve to the other, and from one tip to the other, therefore you have a good lead and it is ready for use, if you get different results with any of the above tests then that means something is wrong and it needs fixing.



You can also use an Analog Multimeter to do the three continuity tests on your newly-made DIY Instrument leads, on an Analog Multimeter continuity is indicated by the meter needle moving and then stopping over the zero mark on the meter-scale when set to a low-ohms setting, no continuity is indicated by no needle movement.

[Rabbitz]

Arrrrgh, I hate cleaning the soldering iron tip with "a damp cloth" or "a damp sponge".

It's messy, smelly and can damage plated tips with the sudden cooling.

Get yourself down to the supermarket and get hold of one of the gold coloured or stainless steel pot scourers. The ones that look like spirals all balled up. (see here - https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/p...-steel-scourer ). That one pack for 89 cents will be a life-time supply.

Bin your damp sponge, place the scourer next to your solder station, when the iron is up to heat, plunge the tip in and out of the scourer once and hey presto, all sparkly clean.

[Marcel]

Arrrrgh, I hate cleaning the soldering iron tip with "a damp cloth" or "a damp sponge".

It's messy, smelly and can damage plated tips with the sudden cooling.

Get yourself down to the supermarket and get hold of one of the gold coloured or stainless steel pot scourers. The ones that look like spirals all balled up. (see here - https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/p...-steel-scourer ). That one pack for 89 cents will be a life-time supply.

Bin your damp sponge, place the scourer next to your solder station, when the iron is up to heat, plunge the tip in and out of the scourer once and hey presto, all sparkly clean.

Must be the iron & damp sponge technique.... I have irons that have tips that are +20yo and one that is almost 40yo and I've only ever used the supplied sponges slightly damped with water ...

Only reason the sponge or scourer is there is wipe away any excess solder.... not for deep scrubbing away any burnt or burning flux...