Bicycle Mechanics - Sigma bc1400 cadence wire probs

Well I was given a new sigma bc1400 for a birthday a few months ago and it included a cadence kit (which i love).
The problem is the mounting point for the cadence wires is at the front of the display unit and they are tiny push on wires. With a few brushes of my hands -over time- the push on wires don't stay on any more- I have pinched them closed but with little success.
Anyone else own this computer and have you had/ fixed this problem?
Thanks in advance.

I have the BC1200 and it has the very same cadence kit. I haven't had time to do this yet, but my plan is to take the cyclocomputer off of the harness, solder the connections onto the bottom posts of the harness, reinstall the battery and it should be good to go. The other problem I see, is the need for longer wiring, so I plan to switch that out too. It seems like they would spend an extra nickel and have made a better cadence kit. I otherwise like the sigma bc1200.

Ditto AlphaGeek's comments. I love the 1200 (now 1400) and just bought another for my second bike. I knocked the cadence wires off as soon as I walked out of the bike shop and have had the same problem ever since. I have been contemplating soldering little pigtails with better connectors to those tiny studs.

Thanks guys, I never though of soldering the wires on ( probably because I can't solder) but I guess a friend could be persuaded to help me. ;)
After reading your posts I think it would be a good idea to solder on some connections and join the kits' wires away from where my hands will bump them.
Once again- thanks.
regards, sillystorm.:D

Sillystorm,
Just make sure whoever does the soldering knows what they are doing around electronics. Too much heat can fry things or perhaps even melt the plastic case on a little thing like this computer mount. There aren't actually any electronics in the mount, but you don't want to melt the plastic around the studs. I seem to remember at some point in my past hearing of a cold solder, basically, I guess, a conductive cement of some kind. I was going to try to track down some of that to use.

OK, I got inspired and checked my MSC catalog. They list both an epoxy and a medium viscosity cyanoacrylate (super glue) for electronic circuits. My guess is that there is nothing special (ie conductivity) about these products. I may try the medium cyanoacrylate since I already some as well as remover though I won't be able to do it any time soon. Here is how I would proceed.

1. Set up a way to keep the mount steady as well as keeping tension on a piece of wire.

2. Strip 3-4 inches or more of insulation from a 12-18 inch piece of small stranded wire like one conductor out of telephone wire though something just a litte bigger might be better. The extreme length is to provide something to hold on to and clamp down somehow.

3. Clean the exposed wire and the little studs really well with alcohol.

4. Take a wrap of wire around the little stud so that the insulation is up close to the stud.

5. Somehow secure both ends of the wire so that you get as much tension and therefore contact between wire and stud as you can get.

6. Put one drop of medium viscosity CA glue. It should ooze through and glue the wire to the stud as well as to the mount. Let cure completely.

7. Trim off the excess exposed wire as close to the glued area as possible. A pair of small diagonal cutters would be good or even a fingernail clipper will probably cut this little wire. I might press the cut ends down and put another drop of glue.

8. Repeat for the other wire.

9. Cut the pigtails to whatever length you want and attach suitable connectors to the pigtail and pickup wire. Cover the connections in some way to try to keep out water - electrical tape, silicon caulk, whatever. You probably won't be able to get them completely waterproof, but at least drip proof.

I will probably do a test run using the same wire wrapped around a nail or something to test my clamping setup and how well the glue holds the wire to the metal.

So what do you think, AlphaGeek? Is this sufficiently Rube Goldberg to satisfy your pea-pickin' little techno wizard heart? :D
Regards,
Raymond

Well, that's a new one for me. I've never tried "super gluing" electronics. Your point about not melting plastic, is well taken, but as for me, solder is where I'm headed. I also think it will hold better as I ride over the bottles and rocks and assorted urban road debris! Good luck!

Most of the problems associated with solder is using an incorrect solder/iron combination. You should use rosin core solder (smallest diameter you can find at Radio Shack) and about a 25W iron. If the tip of the iron is tinned, clean and allowed to heat up sufficiently there should be no problem. Coat the wire and stud with paste flux. Next, with the solder in one hand and the iron in the other lightly touch the bare wire with the iron and you should see a bit of smoke from the evaporating flux then touch the wire with the solder. When there is sufficient heat the solder will melt and flow through the wire. If the heat is correct this should take about a second. The excessive melting of surrounding materials usually comes from an iron that is not sufficiently hot or too dirty.
Next week, surface mount technology and home repair of your VCR.

Well whats a guy to do!
solder or glue..........solder or glue?????????

Anyway- regardless of which method I choose, a big thanks for the suggestions friends.Those instructions make it sound easy either way.
Will post back and let you know how I get on.
regards, sillystorm

DISCLAIMER!

Sillystorm,
The super glue idea is just that, an idea. I have never tried it nor heard of anyone trying it. It's just something I was kicking around. Solder would be the proven technique. Huffyman is right. Use small diameter rosin core solder and a low wattage (25-30 watts) soldering iron.