How to Use CCC Wire and CC solder

Wire Spools – The CCC wire is wound on large diameter cardboard tubes. This prevents the wire structure from being damaged by bending it in the small radius found on normal wire spools.

Every Ľ” width of wire turns is over 10’ in length. The best way to unwind wire off the spool is to use two strips of Scotch “Transparent Tape, place at 180 degrees, across the winding. Leave the “width” of wire you plan to unwind untaped. If this isn’t done, you may end up with a tangle of great wire you can’t use.

1. Work Area and Tools - Proper installation of CCC hook-up wire requires the correct tools

Never use pliers, holding fixtures, clamping devices, or bending tools with sharp corners or serrated jaws. These devices will damage the insulation film and stress the wire. This stress randomizes the crystalline structure. Cover the "gripping" surfaces of your smooth jaw tools and fixtures with adhesive backed copper foil tape. This minimizes any contamination of the wire. Don't use these tools for anything else.

Use a "soldering station" that has an adjustable temperature control. A 1/8" wide chisel tip works well for "point to point" soldering. If you don't have a temperature control soldering iron, use a 35 or 50 Watt iron. The copper content solder will require a lightly higher temperature than the 60/40 lead/tin solders.

CCC wire has a very thin tough 0.0001" insulation coating. Wire "strippers" will not work. You can not use a soldering iron to burn through the insulation. A solder pot that reached a temperature of 700 degrees Fahrenheit is the best device to use. It allows you to tin all your component leads as well.

Your assembly work area requires excellent illumination and excellent air ventilation. Use a magnifying lamp or the flip type magnifying goggles used by gunsmiths and watchmakers to facilitate proper execution and inspection.

2. The Benefits of Practice

Practice cleaning, tinning and soldering the wire connections before you start actual construction. Use the same terminals, wire and solder selected for your construction project. During the practice sessions, determine the proper temperature setting for the soldering station. Record these settings to ensure proper soldering during actual construction. Do not take any short cuts and practice all the steps.

The use of a "checklist" during assembly will help ensure each step of a process is completed. Develop the mind set you are a surgeon in an operating room. Your gear and ears will appreciate it. Besides you will not have to spend a lot of time troubleshooting your work to try to find your mistake/s.

3. Parts Preparation

All component lead wires and terminals should be prepared before installation. Remove any corrosion or contamination on terminals and component leads. A "Scotch Brite" abrasive pad, emery board or jewelers file works well. Clean the part with a sponge or cotton swab and a good contact cleaner.

Tin the lug with a soldering iron and the same type of solder used for the joint. "Rap" or fling any excess solder off the terminal. Install and make your solder connections as soon as possible.

The traditional construction technique used in point to point wiring wraps the wire tightly around the terminal. This provides a tight mechanical bond prior to soldering that ensures a low resistance connection. If the wire is not in contact with the terminal, current flows through a solder bridge and performance will suffer. Wrapping CCC wire in tight bends may fracture the wire's crystalline structure. This minimizes the benefit of the Continuous Cast Copper wire. Bending the wire into a "hook" and pinching the hook on the terminal will minimize wire damage.

There is a better method to use to achieve a tight mechanical bond. Use a "tinned" thin wall round copper ferrule about 6 mm or .25" long. Slide the ferrule on the terminal and insert the prepared wire parallel to the surface of the terminal. Crimp the ferrule to achieve the mechanical bond of the wire and terminal. You can also use copper ribbon or foil to form a ferrule.

4. Soldering Connections

Determining the correct wire length for each connection is important for proper performance and appearance. A helpful tool is a measuring gauge made from a solid core wire with white Plastic insulation. You form the wire gauge to duplicate your planned wire connection. Include additional length for wrapping the wire if you prefer that method. Mark the exact length required on the gauge with a grease pencil. Use the gauge to cut the wire to the required length. Remove the grease mark before using the gauge to measure the next planned wire connection. If your final layout does require bending the wire, use the largest radius bend you can. Use large diameter wooden dowels or plastic tubing as a "bending tool". Form the wire by gently wrapping it around the "bending tool".

Both ends of the wire must be cleaned and "tinned" prior to making the mechanical connection. Limit the length of the Insulation you remove to the length needed for the connection. Use a solder pot and dip the wire to burn away the insulation and tin the exposed surface to prevent copper oxidation. Use the same type of solder in the pot that you are using to make the solder joint. "Rap" or fling any excess solder off the wire.

If a solder pot is not available, use a disposable butane lighter to remove the insulation. Hold the wire end in the flame. You will see the flash as the insulation layer burns off. Use an abrasive pad to clean the bare wire end. Tin the bare wire ends with the soldering iron using the same type of solder used to make the joint. "Rap" or fling any excess solder off the wire. Tin the bare ends of the wire as quickly as possible to minimize any oxidation of the conductor. Install the wire making the mechanical connections on both ends. Install a copper "heat sink" device to protect components that would suffer damage from excessive heat.

The secret to a good solder joint is right temperature, tip size and a clean "tinned" tip. Clean the soldering iron's tip with a damp sponge and tin the tip with solder. Rap of flick off any excess solder before applying it to the joint. Apply the solder tip and the solder to the joint simultaneously. Position the solder at a point on the connection opposite the soldering tip. This ensures the solder is "wicked" through the joint as it flows towards the heat of the tip.

When the soldering iron's temperature is correct, solder will flow to fill and cover the joint in two to three seconds. Apply just enough solder to cover the entire connection. Pull the solder and soldering iron tip off the joint at the same time. Clean and tin your soldering iron's tip. Repeat the procedure and solder the connection at the other end of the wire.

Install the next wire and make your mechanical connections, before cleaning and sealing joints you have made. This time delay allows the solder joint time to cool to room temperature. Use a small scraping tool or Stainless Steel Brush to remove flux residue. Clean the joint with flux remover and a cotton swab to complete the process.

Inspect the solder joint. It should be smooth and shiny without any discoloration or cracks. There should be just enough solder to fill and cover the joint. No trace of flux or contaminates should be present. If a solder joint is unacceptable, remove the solder from the joint using solder wick or a de-soldering iron. If you try to reheat the original solder joint the absence of any flux will cause contamination and a poor solder joint. Clean the joint and repeat the soldering process.

5. Coating the Solder Joint

After cleaning and inspection, the solder joint should be "painted" to prevent oxidation. Coat the terminal, solder joint and any exposed conductor surfaces with polythermize, Q-dope or clear liquid nail polish. This process provides a "gas-tight" solder joint. Oxides will not form and sound performance will not deteriorate over time. Since the solder joints are insulated, use tube test sockets for testing and troubleshooting. An alternative is to include tip jacks test or adjustment points in your layout.

6. Summary

Proper wire layout and soldering techniques are two of the most important skills needed to achieve reliability and performance. The best circuit and part's selection in the world will not overcome poor construction. After inspecting thousands of vintage kits and amateur construction projects, I found 80% of the improper construction errors that need to be corrected were poor solder joints.

7. Breaking in your wire and solder joints

The Continuous Cast Copper wire does need some time to sort itself out. I don't know if it's the new solder joints or the wire getting used to passing a signal with a specific voltage/current ratio. But, the wire will sound very unfocused and edgy for the first 15 to 20 minutes. After that, it starts to tell you what it really sounds like. It is very quiet and fast. You should hear better drive and focus with a lot of low level detail resolution you just didn't have before. After about 20-30 hours you are realizing 99% of "as good as it is going to get". Someday, someone is going to install it and either not hear a difference or not like the way it sounds. That hasn't happened yet, so I am going to assume you will really enjoy it.

You can spiral twist 2 or more strands to increase wire size for power and ground connections. Some customers prefer 2 strands for audio signal hook-up wire on power amps. I really don’t feel that is necessary on Tube Single-Ended Amplifiers and the single wire provides better performance.

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