Zap DIY TRRS User manual

DIY TRRS
Cable Kit
Guide
1.0
Zap Cables Instructional Series

STEP 1
Prep
For TRRS connectors, you will need a cable with three internal
conductors for the tip and ring signals (T, R, and R), and a layer of
shielding for the ground/shield (S). The cable we include in our kits has
four conductors, you can discard one. Assign the wires in whichever
order you like, just make sure to do them the same on each side.
Note: The conductors can get crowded in the plug (which can lead to shorts), so be diligent
and try to keep your work as neat as possible.
1
Trim/position your cord to expose an
inch or so of cable. More is okay, you can
cut it shorter later.
3
Retain as much of the outer braided
shielding layer as possible. If you end
up stripping most of it away, cut the
stripped section o and try again.
5
Trim away one of the insulated
conductors (only three conductors are
needed).
4
Fold the shielding back and trim away
the mylar foil.
6
Inspect your work. Make sure you didn't
accidentally cut or gouge one of the
conductors or damage the insulation.
Trim away any small bits of loose mylar
foil, frayed cord, or rogue shielding
strands.
2
Strip outer cable jacket.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

7
Important! Before you start attaching the connector,
make sure you have slid the outer barrel onto the cable.
If you forget, you will need to re-do a lot of work later!
10
Place the connector onto the cable with the clamps
making solid contact with the gathered shielding. The
shielding needs to make physical contact with the clamp
tab for proper shielding/grounding.
8
Along with the barrel, remember to slide the heatshrink
onto the cable. You won't need the barrel and heatshrink
right away, so feel free to slide them further down the
cable and out of the way.
11
Using a pliers or wire stripper, crimp the clamps down
as securely as possible. Make sure the clamp is gripping
both cable and cord sleeving. Avoid crimping in only one
spot. Crimp, rotate a little, crimp again. You want the
clamps to hug the cable as much as possible.
9
Make sure the shielding is folded back, and gather/twist
it together on one side of the cable.
12
Inspect your work. Trim away any loose strands of
shielding. If they touch the other tabs/conductors later
it will cause a short. Gently fold the tabs up/out to make
inspection (and soldering) easier.
Note: If you bend the tabs harshly, or too many times, they may
crack or break o.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

STEP 2
Solder
For good solder joints, make sure you are heating up the work (the
connector tab itself and the wire) before you apply solder. A wedge-
shaped soldering tip is good for the tab-style TRRS connectors
(something roughly the same width as the tab itself). Using a soldering
tip that is too small won't eectively heat the work, making soldering
more dicult. Using solder with a flux core will also help, though not as
much as applying flux directly to the joint beforehand.
1
Strip roughly 1/4" (5mm) of insulation
o the end of each conductor. More is
okay, it will get trimmed o later. Just
make sure to leave a decent amount of
insulated conductor in tact. Don't strip
it down too far.
2
Twist each conductor into a tight braid
and tin each one for easier soldering. Do
not use excessive amounts of solder,
just a little bit will do. If you have large
globs, you've used too much.
3
Insert one conductor through the hole of a soldering tab.
Use tweezers to make this part easier. Insert it through
the back, so the wire sticks out from the front side of the
tab.
4
You can bend the stripped section of the conductor a bit
to help it stay in place. Do not allow the insulation to show
through the hole. We don't want the insulation getting in
our solder joint.
5
Repeat for each of the other two conductors.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

6
Solder each conductor/tab. With a tinned soldering
tip, apply heat to the work for a second or two, then
introduce solder to complete the joint. Avoid using too
much solder. Apply flux beforehand, if preferred, to allow
for better and quicker heating and a cleaner joint.
9
With a flush cutter, trim away the excess wire. Make
sure you don't leave sharp points or jagged bits that
may pierce through the heatshrink that will cover it.
Remember to protect your eyes! The little pieces you
trim o will go flying.
7
The finished joint should be shiny and clean. If it looks
like a round glob sitting atop the tab, make sure you are
applying enough heat to the tab itself. Many solder joint
issues can be fixed by re-applying heat.
10
Inspect your work. Make sure the joints look clean. If
you used flux, use some isopropyl alcohol to clean it up.
Make sure the conductor insulation is still in tact and
there isn't a lot of exposed wire.
8
Repeat for all conductors/tabs.
11
Wrap a small piece of electrical tape around the clamped
shielding bits. We want to make sure that no stray
shielding strands come in contact with our conductors.
Fold the tabs back down gently and make sure there are
no exposed wires touching. Use more electrical tape if
needed to keep wires safe from each other.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

STEP 3
Finish
Your kit will include heatshrink pieces you can use to insulate the
soldered work from the outer shell of the connector.
It is important to avoid sharp protrusions that may pierce the heatshrink.
An easy way to find sharp bits is to lightly feel around the finished solder
joints/trimmed wires with your fingers. If you feel something sharp, try
and trim it with a flush cutter or use a small file to gently grind it down. 1
Trim away the excess shielding that is
sticking out from under the clamp.
3
Slide the heatshrink that you applied
earlier back up the cable and position
as shown. Make sure not to cover the
threads.
5
Slide the connector barrel that you
applied earlier back up the cable and
screw it onto the plug.
4
Use a heat gun or hair dryer to secure
the heatshrink tightly to the cable and
soldered tabs/conductors.
6
All done! Nice work. Give it one last
inspection. Make sure the connector
looks straight, and that the barrel is
tightened fully. Repeat all steps on the
second connector and then test your
new cable!
2
Make sure you don't leave sharp or
jagged ends. Trim it further or grind it
with a metal file if necessary.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

MISC
Stacked Tabs
Not all of the TRRS connectors have the same kind of tabs. Some of the
angled connectors have "stacked" tabs. Many of the steps for attaching
them are the same, but the process is a bit dierent.
Note: In this example, we will solder the shielding through the hole on the longer clamp tab.
This approach is a little more work, and doesn't perform any better.
1
Prep the cable as covered previously.
After you slide the barrel and heatshrink
onto the cable (don't forget!), twist the
shielding into a tight braid and tin it
with some solder as you would a normal
conductor.
3
Using a pliers or wire stripper, crimp the
clamps down as securely as possible.
Make sure the clamp is gripping the
cable and the cord sleeving.
5
With a flush cutters, trim away the
excess shielding. Make sure you don't
leave sharp points or jagged bits that
may pierce through the heatshrink that
will cover it.
4
Solder the shielding to the tab. With a
tinned soldering tip, apply heat to the
conductor/tab for a second or two, then
introduce solder to complete the joint.
Avoid using too much solder. Apply flux
beforehand, if preferred, to allow for
better and quicker heating and a cleaner
joint.
6
Inspect your work. Make sure the joints
look clean. If you used flux, use some
isopropyl alcohol to clean it up.
2
Align the connector over the cable and
insert the shielding through the hole on
the clamp tab.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

6
If you haven't already, trim away one
of the insulated conductors (only three
conductors are needed).
9
Trim the excess wire and inspect your
work. The joint should be clean and free
of sharp protrusions, and the insulation
should be in tact.
7
Strip the first conductor, twist the
strands into a tight braid, and tin.
10
Strip, twist, tin, and solder the second
conductor to the middle tab. Trim and
inspect.
8
Start with the bottom-most tab and
work your way up. Insert the conductor
from the back, so the wire sticks out
of the front side of the tab. Solder the
conductor to the tab.
11
Strip, twist, tin, and solder the last
conductor to the top-most tab. Trim and
inspect. This one may be a little trickier.
If the black tab insulation is in the way,
you can try and slide it up for easier hole
access, or simply cut a little of it away.
12
Slide the heatshrink that you applied
earlier back up the cable and position
as shown. Make sure not to cover
the threads. Apply heat to secure the
heatshrink.
13
Slide the connector barrel that you
applied earlier back up the cable and
screw it onto the plug. Congratulations,
you're done with this connector!
Watch out for little
protrusions like
this. They may
poke through the
heathsrink once
you apply heat (and
possibly short against
the barrel).
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

MISC
Stacked Poles
Not all of the TRRS connectors have tabs. Some of the connectors have
stacked "poles" to solder to. Many of the steps for attaching them are
the same, but the process is a bit dierent. 1
Prep the cable as covered previously.
After you slide the barrel and heatshrink
on to the cable (don't forget!), Place
the connector onto the cable with the
clamps making solid contact with the
gathered shielding. The shielding needs
to make physical contact with the clamp
tab for proper shielding/grounding.
3
After you get them all tinned, inspect
your work. Make sure the plastic isn't
covering up the tinned soldering poles.
Cut away any loose "hairs" of melted
plastic.
5
Using tweezers, hold the conductor in
place and solder to pole. Keep in mind
you can heat this bottom pole from the
underside as well.
4
Strip, twist, tin, and trim the first
conductor. Start with the bottom-most
soldering pole. You will likely want to cut
this one relatively short to keep things
tidy. (Longer than shown here is fine.)
6
Inspect your work. This conductor was
worked a bit too much and lost some of
its insulation, but should still function
just fine. Watch out for exposed wire
like this making contact with other
exposed wires.
2
Tin each section of the pole. You will
likely melt some of the black insulation
plastic, but don't worry. Depending
on your soldering iron, the pole-style
connectors may require a higher heat
setting.
The poles are a mirror
image of the plug. The
bottom-most pole
connects to the tip.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

7
For the middle soldering pole, prep the wire like before
and solder it to the pole from the side. This will make it a
bit easier, and help keep the wires away from each other.
10
Slide the heatshrink that you applied earlier back up the
cable and position as shown. Make sure not to cover the
threads. Apply heat to secure the heatshrink.
8
For the top soldering pole, prep the wire like before and
solder it to the pole from the opposite side than you did
the previous one. Even if the soldering job gets a little
messy, this will help prevent shorts.
11
Slide the connector barrel that you applied earlier back
up the cable and screw it onto the plug.
9
Trim o any excess shielding and make sure not to leave
sharp ends.
12
This connector is all done! Give it one last inspection.
Make sure the connector looks straight, and that the
barrel is tightened fully.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide

MISC
A Note About
Double-
Sleeving
If your cable has double-sleeving, we recommend sliding the double-
sleeving down and out of the way while you are attaching the connectors.
Follow the same steps as we describe previously, but before you attach
the heatsrhink, scootch the double-sleeving back into position, as shown
here.
The clamp on the TRRS connector will likely not be big enough to fit
nicely around the cable with two layers of sleeving, so by only clamping
around one layer of sleeving it will have a better hold. The Techflex or
MDPC-X double-sleeving layer has enough stretch that the heatshrink
and barrel will be enough to hold it in place.
Zap Cables Instructional Series DIY TRRS Cable Kit Guide