There seems to be a lot of guys making their own RCA interconnects, so I thought that I would create a thread on how to make your own aux cables (3.5mm).
Items Needed- Dual lead cable with drain wire
- 3.5mm connectors
- Soldering iron and solder
- Wire strippers
Optional- Hot glue
- Techflex
- X-acto knife
- File
First, cut the cable to length. Then cut about 1/3" of the outter jacket off. Separate the two interior leads and drain wire. Strip just enough cable off of the black and red leads to be able to feed them through the soldering holes on the connectors pins. The pins on the connector can be bent outward for a little more clearance. Just remember that the pins are fragile and can break off, and be sure that you leave enough space for barrel to be screwed on without interference.
Next, solder. Here is a pic of my most recent cable. It does not matter which the color lead goes to which connector pin,
as long as they are the same on both sides!
The next step is optional. If you choose to use a techflex, then cut it to length and slide it to the connector. To be sure that this will stay on, I slid it all the way up to the strain relief of the connector and pinched it shut. If you are not using techflex, the cable should still be pinched with the strain relief.
Once they are soldered and secure, I cut and filed the access solder from the connector pins to make room for the barrel. Then i tried to space the cable leads as far apart as I could underneath the connector to make sure there won't be any shorts of any sort. And to furthor make sure of that, I put a dab of hot glue inbetween the leads.
Now, hot glue can make a mess, and it is surely too thick for the barrel to slide over it. Just shave it down with an x-acto knife or something similar. Once that is all nice and cleaned up, then slide the plastic sleeve over the pins of the connector (this keeps anything from shorting out on the barrel), and then slide the barrel to the connector and carefully screw it on.
And there you have it!
