Repair ear clip
In our tutorial on welding on ear studs we present a different approach on how to repair broken earthing pins with the PUK. This workshop now deals with another approach. Our example is a broken ear stud pin of a 750/000 white gold ear clip with a tourmaline cabochon.
Preparation of the ear clip
Remove any solder at the point of breakage. It burns explosively during welding and leaves porous areas. Also file the area slightly flat so that the connector has a good contact surface later. If necessary, drill a hole in the middle of the plate so that the connector can be fitted afterwards. Preparation and cleanliness of the welding area are extremely important for a stable and durable end result.
Preparation of the ear stud
Make the ear stud as usual. You also need an eyelet that closes exactly around the ear stud to create additional material and a stable repair.
Now either position the eyelet with a little overhang so that it fits into the hole or, if there is no hole, leave it flat without overhang. Then solder the eyelet to the ear stud.
Preparation of the weld
Position the ear stud with protrusion in the hole and attach the contact clamp to the clip mechanism, for example. The flexible contact tape is also suitable here as it does not leave any scratches
.
Selection of parameters
<In this case, the welding geometry joint/angle situation is ideal. The required material is already on the ear stud – in the form of the eyelet – and only needs to be melted onto the ear clip. This mode is assigned a special welding curve (HF superimposed) in order to be able to weld better in such situations. Rather shorter welding times are best suited here (5 ms or less).
Welding
Position the electrode at a 45° angle. (For silver, make sure that the angle of the electrode is as parallel as possible to the ear stud). Weld once around the ear stud to melt the eyelet material evenly and create a clean transition from stud to ear clip.
Modeling
If necessary, model the material slightly by positioning the electrode at different angles to the applied material in order to move it to the desired position (see also WS2/2.2). In this way, you can minimize any subsequent finish. As always, please note: gold, platinum, stainless steel etc. have the property of being moved towards the electrode, while silver is moved away from the electrode as it flows more fluidly than gold etc.
Finish
Finally, clean up the ear stud and take care to remove as little metal as possible so as not to weaken the weld. Sanding is perfectly possible here, as
enough material has been applied using this method to create a stable, durable repair.
