those wires should be tinned before trying to attach them to the plug or jack.

as chuck said, strip and twist them tightly.

then apply a bit of solder to the wire and let it wick in. this is "tinning." do the same for all the conductors.

"dry fit" the wire to the jack, so that you can see how some of the wires must be longer than the others. you want all three wires to pull simultaneously on the plug/jack terminals, distributing the stress of yanking on the cord. fan out the conductors so that they are straight.

with a sharp pair of diagonal cutters, trim the conductors about 2mm longer than they need to be to reach the terminals. for this gauge wire scissors should work too. the tinning will prevent any fraying or flyaways from occuring.

take a small pair of needlenose pliers and put a 180* hook at the end of each conductor.

put the hooks in their proper places on the plug/jack terminals.

with the needlenose, clamp down on your 180* hooks so that they flatten while around the terminals, holding them in place.

finally apply a little bit of heat and solder to fuse the joint. the joint should be smooth and shiny, not dull and lumpy, and you do NOT need a lot of solder.

a properly done soldering joint does NOT need the solder to function properly.. the mechanical connection is what's doing the work, conducting electricity, and providing strength. the solder's purpose is to hold things in place and prevent oxidation/corrosion.

you MUST use a good flux to solder properly. most solder comes with flux in the core, but not all fluxes are created equal. if you're having trouble with adhesion first make sure all metal parts to be soldered are hot enough, then look at your flux.

hth
ken

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

The only trick was figuring out which "pole" was which on the female end but I found it online in one of the links above.

hey, discussions of "poles" and "female ends" belong on another board, guy.

frigging pervert.