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Hello there,
I just used some NOS Tek ceramic terminals to build up a project. These are
the ones found in the 500 and 560 series scopes. I was surprised at how
much heat was required to install components! I have a decent Hakko
soldering station but it was taking 30 seconds on each trough to get solder
to flow. Did Tektronix have some super soldering iron on the production
line? It seems like it would have taken an age to wire up one of the old
scopes.
And a follow up...
I sketched out the wiring diagram to go from schematic to parts layout on
the ceramic strips. It did not take that long for my simple circuit, but I
was wondering about optimization, and particularly for a more complex
layout. Did Tektronix have some algorithmic way of doing the layout most
efficiently, with the fewest jumpers and most sensible parts arrangement?
Or maybe just some of their genius engineers were good at that sort of
thing?
Thanks!
--
=Randy=
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Randy,
Just a side note.
I don¡¯t know if you are aware of a soldering issue involved with those terminal strips. The silver plating is very fragile and use of standard solder will leach the silver out of the strip resulting in little or no possibility of use. This is often stated in the Tek manuals for equipment utilizing these strips.
Those little rolls of solder Tek included inside each product is a ¡°silver bearing¡± solder to be used when repairing the unit. Since it contains less silver than normal ¡°silver¡± solder it will melt at a much lower point.
Greg
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Some (most?) of the manuals for equipment that contains those strips have a section that shows the proper way to solder those.
Barry - N4BUQ
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Randy,
Just a side note.
I don¡¯t know if you are aware of a soldering issue involved with those terminal
strips. The silver plating is very fragile and use of standard solder will
leach the silver out of the strip resulting in little or no possibility of use.
This is often stated in the Tek manuals for equipment utilizing these strips.
Those little rolls of solder Tek included inside each product is a ¡°silver
bearing¡± solder to be used when repairing the unit. Since it contains less
silver than normal ¡°silver¡± solder it will melt at a much lower point.
Greg
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I will 2nd Randy's question regarding having issues of soldering on Ceramic Terminal strips. If anyone has knowledge on the best way and/or equipment (does it need a very large soldering iron to impart a large amount of heat to the joint quickly?) to solder/resolder things on those strips, I would be very appreciative.
73, Gordon KJ6IKT
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Gordon,
When I repaired a couple of Tek 500-series ¡®scopes, I used a Weller 60-watt
iron. It¡¯s the type that plugs directly into the 120VAC line - no power
supply for regulating power/temperature. I used it with the medium-sized
tip (they were interchangeable). I used the small coil of the solder that
was in the ¡®scope. I had to replace a couple of resistors but each of the
soldering recesses on the ceramic terminal strip that I was desoldering
(remove the burnt out resistor) had one other component lead or
interconnecting wire soldered in there so there was not a lot of
heatsinking from component leads. The soldering went fairly smoothly and
the ¡®scope worked fine when powered back on. My recollection (this was >25
years ago) was that the contact of the soldering iron tip with the terminal
strip recess was not very long, probably about 10-15 seconds.
I still have that Weller iron. Still works fine, but I had to replace a
couple of the tips They developed pits - possibly from my using the iron
with acid flux when non-electronic soldering.
Good luck!
Oh, I think the current version of this Weller iron is the W60P3. It sure
costs more now than when I bought mine. Well, I also bought it new with the
metal case and multiple tips at a hamfest. The seller must have had 20 of
them on his table.
Steve H.
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On Fri, Mar 1, 2024 at 12:58 Gordon, KJ6IKT <gfsmith@...> wrote: I will 2nd Randy's question regarding having issues of soldering on
Ceramic Terminal strips. If anyone has knowledge on the best way and/or
equipment (does it need a very large soldering iron to impart a large
amount of heat to the joint quickly?) to solder/resolder things on those
strips, I would be very appreciative.
73, Gordon KJ6IKT
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You definitely want to use a silver bearing solder (about 2-3%), if you want to preserve the contacts. In an emergency repair, you can use use regular solder, but it will degrade it almost immediately, and the Ag will lose its bond to the porcelain. It's not the end of the world - as long as the part leads are all in place, they will solder together and work just fine, but lose some of their mechanical support, and it looks ugly.
The iron needs to have enough power (around 40-60 W is good), and a chisel tip thin enough to go into the slot, like a screwdriver. Don't pry on it of course, since the porcelain can easily chip or crack. Feed the solder to the flats on the tip and the slot at the same time. Be aware that even with the right solder, if you overheat it enough, it will degrade too. You have to know when to ease up and let it cool, then try again. Practice makes perfect. I think all the old scope manuals should have a section on the right stuff to use, and proper techniques, so use that for reference. I think it's basically as I described.
I have lots of the ceramic strips salvaged from old Tek gear, a couple old-school 50 W irons and tips, and a couple pounds of Ag-solder, all set aside for only this kind of work. But, I wouldn't use the strips for routine circuit construction - too much grief. It's only for repairs on existing gear, or building high voltage or high temperature circuits.
Ed
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Depending on what you're working on, IMHO, the squig technique is viable. (Cut the leads as close to the component body, bend the lead so they're pointing out, make a squig on the new component leads, place over the old leads, solder with regular solder.) See: For more (not my) details. On Fri, Mar 1, 2024 at 3:03?PM Ed Breya via groups.io <edbreya@...> wrote:
You definitely want to use a silver bearing solder (about 2-3%), if you want to preserve the contacts. In an emergency repair, you can use use regular solder, but it will degrade it almost immediately, and the Ag will lose its bond to the porcelain. It's not the end of the world - as long as the part leads are all in place, they will solder together and work just fine, but lose some of their mechanical support, and it looks ugly.
The iron needs to have enough power (around 40-60 W is good), and a chisel tip thin enough to go into the slot, like a screwdriver. Don't pry on it of course, since the porcelain can easily chip or crack. Feed the solder to the flats on the tip and the slot at the same time. Be aware that even with the right solder, if you overheat it enough, it will degrade too. You have to know when to ease up and let it cool, then try again. Practice makes perfect. I think all the old scope manuals should have a section on the right stuff to use, and proper techniques, so use that for reference. I think it's basically as I described.
I have lots of the ceramic strips salvaged from old Tek gear, a couple old-school 50 W irons and tips, and a couple pounds of Ag-solder, all set aside for only this kind of work. But, I wouldn't use the strips for routine circuit construction - too much grief. It's only for repairs on existing gear, or building high voltage or high temperature circuits.
Ed
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hey randy,
A cheap soldering iron (<40w) and a slightly dirty tip will take an eternity to do anything constructive on the old ceramic strips. I use an 80w with temp control, and a clean chisel tip that bottoms out in an empty ceramic strip slot. By that i mean with no components in the slot the tip can bottom out and not press against the sidewalls. I usually have the temp set around 825-855 deg. Melt time is around 10 seconds.
I honestly think some of the "DONT USE MODERN SOLDER, THE STRIP WILL DICINTEGRATE!" warnings are a bit embellished. Now I'm not saying anyone is incorrect here...as I have TONS of Tek manuals and they ALL give warnings on the type of solder to use...but I have never witnessed a problem, compromised strip, separation of terminal and ceramic, etc... In all the years of fixing boatanchors. The ONLY issue I have laid witness to was of my own doing and that was cracking a ceramic strip in half. I was soldering at a bad angle in relation to the terminal strip and inadvertently pried against the terminal walls. *TINK* cracked right in half. Spent a weekend rebuilding the entire rear section of a Type-W.
I have a few 500 series scopes and tons of plugins for them that I have done work on with 60/40 or 63/37 rosin core solder. I have only ever ADDED a little solder to the strip and have never soldered one that was bone dry. IF I were to work on a bone dry terminal I most certainly would use silver bearing solder, I may be thickheaded but not stupid enough to completely ignore the warnings...
Also - someone correct me if I'm wrong - I believe that are atleast two different type of ceramic strips. The difference being the size of each terminal, the thickness of the silver in each terminal, and the spacing between each terminal slot.
My $0.02
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There¡¯s an excellent video on YouTube that is an old instructional video from the 1960¡¯s made by Tektronix:
That being said, I personally use WBT 4% silver solder and a Hakko adjustable temperature soldering iron with a small chisel tip and I¡¯ve had no issues. I do turn the heat up to 650 degrees and put a little dab of solder on the tip of the iron to get things to heat quickly then it¡¯s in and out and done. Love the ceramic strips, it¡¯s the absolute best way to do point to point wiring in my opinion.
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Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest some ham has a bushel basket or two full
of these strips and their holders and a few rolls of
the Sn62 Pb36 Ag2 Tek solder.
I bought a 1lb roll of it in 1980 from Tek for about $15.00. I'd hate to
think what a roll of that costs today!
I just wonder what happened to the basement and barn full of Tek parts and
etc. that Deane Kidd had. I was there once in the 1990's and was amazed by
what he had collected. I would bet that under one workbench he had $500K
worth of spectrum analyzers alone. He was quite a nice and knowledgeable
guy.
Sam Reaves
ARS W3OHM
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I have definitely ruined a few ceramic terminals due to silver depletion. It only took four or five heatings with standard solder. I was using the same model Weller WTCP that Tek issued me when I started there. I wound up replacing the strip. The oldest strips have a triangular cross section. Later ones are rectangular and come in at least three sizes.
Dave Wise
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On Mar 1, 2024, at 3:55 PM, Eric Boyle via groups.io <k0elb@...> wrote:
?There¡¯s an excellent video on YouTube that is an old instructional video from the 1960¡¯s made by Tektronix:
That being said, I personally use WBT 4% silver solder and a Hakko adjustable temperature soldering iron with a small chisel tip and I¡¯ve had no issues. I do turn the heat up to 650 degrees and put a little dab of solder on the tip of the iron to get things to heat quickly then it¡¯s in and out and done. Love the ceramic strips, it¡¯s the absolute best way to do point to point wiring in my opinion.
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Standard Tek Svc Ctr issue in the mid 70's was a 60 W Hexacon fpr strips and a tiny Antex for PC work.
-ls-
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What does it look like when they're ruined that way? I don't think I've ever seen that damage before.
I'm guilty of adding just a bit of regular solder to a terminal or two many years ago for a small repair. Hopefully it wasn't enough to ruin them.
Thanks,
Barry - N4BUQ
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I have definitely ruined a few ceramic terminals due to silver depletion. It
only took four or five heatings with standard solder. I was using the same
model Weller WTCP that Tek issued me when I started there. I wound up replacing
the strip. The oldest strips have a triangular cross section. Later ones are
rectangular and come in at least three sizes.
Dave Wise
On Mar 1, 2024, at 3:55 PM, Eric Boyle via groups.io
<k0elb@...> wrote:
?There¡¯s an excellent video on YouTube that is an old instructional video from
?the 1960¡¯s made by Tektronix:
That being said, I personally use WBT 4% silver solder and a Hakko adjustable
temperature soldering iron with a small chisel tip and I¡¯ve had no issues. I do
turn the heat up to 650 degrees and put a little dab of solder on the tip of
the iron to get things to heat quickly then it¡¯s in and out and done. Love the
ceramic strips, it¡¯s the absolute best way to do point to point wiring in my
opinion.
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Without the silver, the solder de-bonds from the ceramic. As Ed Breya pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean that the electrical connection between components will fail -- they can still remain soldered to each other -- but there will no longer be a mechanical connection to the ceramic.
--
Prof. Thomas H. Lee
Allen Ctr., Rm. 205
420 Via Palou Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-4070
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On 3/1/2024 5:27 PM, n4buq wrote: What does it look like when they're ruined that way? I don't think I've ever seen that damage before.
I'm guilty of adding just a bit of regular solder to a terminal or two many years ago for a small repair. Hopefully it wasn't enough to ruin them.
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Thanks all for the pointers. Yes, I knew about the silver solder thing. Have a spool of Radio Shack branded stuff purchased when there were still retail stores.
Looks like I¡¯ll have to upgrade the Hakko with something a little beefier should I get really busy with the ceramic strips.
Oh, and I don¡¯t suppose the slip-on retainers for the plastic posts are available anywhere. I use a combination of heat shrink tubing and hot melt glue. Obviously not a first-cabin method.
= Randy=
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When we closed up our assembly department, my old boss gifted me an entire box of the Hexacon stick irons shown in the video. All brand new in boxes, spare elements, the whole deal. They may not be temperature controlled, but I still believe them to be one of the finest, most reliable irons ever made.
Cheers, Art
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We Use Metcal Smartheat iron.
Use ONLY silver 2..3% solder icluded inside scope.
Check serv manual for tip temp recommendations.
DO NOT OVERHEAT!
easy to crack ceramic.
Good luck,
Jon
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The Tektronix video that David Holland linked in his post ( ) mentions a key point which is to apply the soldering iron tip to the component leads rather than trying to heat the silvered notch directly. The video does a good job of showing the process which looks quick and easy. They even say that not much heat is required. Skip to the 2:55 mark if you want to go directly to the soldering demonstration.
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I should have asked for one of those [Hexacon soldering iron] when I was laid off, in addition to the Weller and the Antex. I worked at Tek after the strip era but I remember seeing a few in dusty back rooms. Nowadays I do a lot of work on ceramic-era instruments. Dave Wise Information Display, 1980-1994 ________________________________ From: [email protected] < [email protected]> on behalf of Art S <artsamps@...> Sent: Saturday, March 2, 2024 7:03 AM To: [email protected] < [email protected]> Subject: Re: [TekScopes] about those vintage ceramic terminal strips... When we closed up our assembly department, my old boss gifted me an entire box of the Hexacon stick irons shown in the video. All brand new in boxes, spare elements, the whole deal. They may not be temperature controlled, but I still believe them to be one of the finest, most reliable irons ever made. Cheers, Art
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To confirm Jean-Paul¡¯s post, I also use a Metcal iron with no problems when dealing with these terminal strips. The ability to have the heat source right at the tip with the internal ferromagnetic element eliminates any thermal resistance between the heating element and the tip. This provides continuously regulated heat at the tip to quickly flow the solder and reduce contact time with the part.
It¡¯s also nice to be able to select the right tip size for the job.
Greg
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rivet_head
Eric Boyle
Sam Reaves
Jean-Paul
Tom Phillips