Bob, G3VVT wrote: I would recommend holding the RFC15 leads next to it's body with fine needle nosed pliers and then bending the free end of the lead to the required shape. That way strain is kept off the component. Some disagree with this method, but it does work successfully for me at least. There are other components in the K2 that benefit from such gentle treatment. ---------------------------
That's an excellent point. I wince when I see someone grab lead with the needle-nose pliers next to the part body and make a sharp bend by rotating the pliers. If those pliers happen to touch the body while they're being rotated, they act like a lever and can exert literally pounds of strain force pulling the lead out of the part while only a few oz. of force is applied rotating them. Cracked part bodies, pulled-out leads and broken connections are very common when leads are bent that way. I'm a great believer in "finger bending" leads. That is, I hold the part in one hand and use a finger on my other hand to bend the lead, with no tools at all. That almost always produces the correct radius for the part to drop into the board with minimal force on the body. If the bend must be tighter, I can usually do it by simply pressing on the bend toward the body of the part to make it a little tighter. That way the force is toward the part, not away from it. Bob's approach is even more gentle, provided one doesn't move the pliers in relation to the part and there's room for the width of the plier jaws before the bend starts. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
