Getting rid of wire wraps

[c.coyle]

I'm fixing a piece that has a really hard-to-access board that is hooked up with solid wire and wire wrap posts. Long story short, I got good and frustrated one night, cut the board out, and finished it in the vise.

Now I have to hook it back up. I can't stand the idea of splicing and soldering all that solid wire, for aesthetic and electrical reasons, so my plan is to use stranded wire, ditch the wire wrap posts, and wire straight into the board holes.

Any reason this is a bad idea?

 

[bwaslo]

Nope. A good idea, actually.

 

[ZOOM]

Good idea. Vintage wire wraps are no good, a common source of problems, especially if they've ever been touched even by a slight puff of air. Sensitive things!

 

[catrafter]

Good idea. Vintage wire wraps are no good, a common source of problems, especially if they've ever been touched even by a slight puff of air. Sensitive things!

My experience over the past 40 years has been much different than yours. I have maintained and restored much equipment that used wire wrap connections, some large systems had thousands of them.
In the many Marantz restorations I have done, there have been only a few problems with original, unmolested wire wrap connections.

My 2 cents,
Tom

 

[c.coyle]

My experience over the past 40 years has been much different than yours. I have maintained and restored much equipment that used wire wrap connections, some large systems had thousands of them.
In the many Marantz restorations I have done, there have been only a few problems with original, unmolested wire wrap connections.

My 2 cents,
Tom

Right. I am looking to replace them because I want to avoid lots of unsightly and potentially troublesome mid-wire splices. If that's the plan, soldering directly to the boards, as opposed to getting a wire wrap tool, seems like the better way to go. My choice has nothing to do with any inherent reliability issues with wire wraps.

Tom, it's a 2252B. Just a clumsy, clumsy layout with the one board, the filter caps clamped underneath the board, and the switch arms.

 

[Sam Cogley]

I usually just solder the wires to the wrap pins.

 

[catrafter]

The 2252B is not one of the easiest ones to work on, but I don't think I've ever broken a wire or had to re-do a wire wrap while restoring one. To gain access to the amp/power supply/protection assembly, I generally remove the two screws that hold the speaker switch extenders that are accessible through the square hole in the board near the switches themselves, the output devices, the screws holding the voltage regulator clamp and the bias sensing devices, then the four screws holding the board to the heat sink. Once you slip the heat sink and brackets out, you can then remove the screws holding the rectifier heat sink and the filter capacitor bracket from the chassis. You should have pretty good access to both sides of the board now. This is also a good time to replace the filter capacitors.

Tom

 

[2manyspkers]

Soldered wire wraps done correctly will be just as reliable as soldered to board connection provided you don't overheat the connection too much and de-solder the pins from the board.

If soldering to the board is the only way to avoid mid-span splices due to wire length that should be fine but I personally wouldn't be afraid to use wire wraps.

Of course that is taking into consideration that I have wire wrap / unwrap tools and have done thousands of them wiring telephone and data circuits over the years.

 

[zebulon1]

I'm for leaving the wraps alone. Not one time did I have to remove any wraps to access a board. I also like to keep the factory look. Haven't run into connection issues as yet and it's been over 150 different sets.
I do have a set of wrapping tools and they do get used. Only to replace the damaged wraps. Once the pin is soldered you can not use the wrap method. Soldering the connection is the only option.
I you insist on soldering you can run the wire into the whole and solder it as normal but when there's several wires that share the same post/pin it could present a problem.
Stranded wire is a mess and will look nasty and give no real benefit. Use solid core hook-up wire and replace the entire wire (From pin to pin).

 

[rothwellaudio]

Good idea. Vintage wire wraps are no good, a common source of problems, especially if they've ever been touched even by a slight puff of air. Sensitive things!

Many years ago I used to work for British Aerospace and was told that the company had done extensive research into the quality and reliability of electrical connections. They found that wire wraps were the best!

 

[Papatewks]

Sounds like there are good views on both sides of this topic, to each his own! Personally, I remove all the wire wrap as soon as I neee to get deep into a problem. For me, it just gets in the way and wires directly attached seems more neat…

 

[GChief]

Dang zombies