Little Tricks to Good Soldering?

Tonight I am going to solder together my first guitar. I took a Affinity Strat I got at a pawn shop and moded the heck out of it. I did this since I did not want to mess up one of my Teles. Anyway, if anyone has any little tricks that make the going easier, it would be appreciated.

The best tip I can give you is to spend $20 on forum member Terry Downs' (http://www.terrydownsmusic.com/solder_video/soldervideo.html) soldering DVD.

It is a complete video lesson and contains a wealth of information about tools, materials, technique, etc.

Terry Downs Soldering DVD (http://www.terrydownsmusic.com/solder_video/soldervideo.html) comes highly recommended around here.

Here is a short video

http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/How_To_Solder

Here are a few tips..........

Use an adequate soldering iron. 40 watts is good.

Keep the tip tinned and clean. Wipe it with a wet rag or paper towel.

Use rosin core solder

Don't touch the solder to the iron. Heat the part ...... touch the solder to the part and remove the iron when the solder melts.

In soldering several ground wires to the back of a pot, first solder the wires together. Melt a puddle of solder onto the back of the pot............ dip the wires into the puddle and redraw the iron. Hold the wires still until the solder puddle solidifies.

+1 for Terry's video.

Here are a few tips..........

Use an adequate soldering iron. 40 watts is good.

Keep the tip tinned and clean. Wipe it with a wet rag or paper towel.

Use rosin core solder

Don't touch the solder to the iron. Heat the part ...... touch the solder to the part and remove the iron when the solder melts.

In soldering several ground wires to the back of a pot, first solder the wires together. Melt a puddle of solder onto the back of the pot............ dip the wires into the puddle and redraw the iron. Hold the wires still until the solder puddle solidifies.

Iffin you can't wait for Terry's video...all of the above advice will give you an Excellent Job...and if you're unsure about tip being tinned....Tin Again !

If you have done it already, replace the conical tip that comes on most hobby grade soldering pencils. The conical shape is ideal foir soldering little bitty connections on a PCB. You'll find that a chisel tip will heat up the back of a pot much faster than a conical tip.

When I install new pots, I always clean the backs with a little naptha to remove any oil/lubricants/grease/dirt. Then I rough up the shiney surface with a some fine sandpaper (220) to so the solder has something to "bite" into.

Tin both bits to be soldered - tin the wire, and the tab or back of the pot. And heat both evenly, perhaps rocking the tip gently or rolling slightly from side-side to get both bits warm so solder flows on them. Both bits have to be warm enough for solder to adhere to, it doesn't stick things like glue. Scrape a bit of cad-plating off a pot casing to bright metal to provide a 'tooth' for the solder.

Don't blow on solder to cool it, don't move the parts for a good ten or fifteen seconds as it could still be molten even if it looks solid. The resulting join should be smooth, shiny and look 'wet' on both parts. Not dry, dull or like it has pimples.

Don't breathe the fumes - a fan blowing air over you gently is a good idea.

The key words are "Wetting Action". And no, this doesn't mean your local bar and it's second annual wet t-shirt competition, nor those dreams you used to have about needing to pee and then waking up halfway though...

It's about the actual "joint" that soldering creates. We are not welding: the metals you are joining do not melt at all. So getting a good bond between the metal and the solder is all to do with the surface tension of the molten solder and this is relative to the residual heat in the metal it's connecting to. Flux acts to decrease this surface tension and let the solder "flow" better but to really get that solder to flow between those pesky wires and into those little crevices (you did scuff your surfaces, didn't you?) and hold on tenaciously, a hot metal lets solder flow like molten butter and grip like velcro.

Don't touch the solder to the iron. Heat the part ...... touch the solder to the part and remove the iron when the solder melts.



My problem with this approach is that I haven't figured out how to do it with fewer than three hands- one to hold the solder, one to hold the iron, and one to hold the work. Instead, I first try to make a mechanical connection between the wire and the part. Tinning the wire may make this easier because you can crimp it; if you're soldering to the back of a pot it is probably not possible and you will have to hold it. Next dab on some rosin flux where you want the solder to flow. After the iron is hot, touch the solder wire to the iron until enough melts onto the iron to solder the joint. Finally, touch the iron to the joint; the flux will draw the solder off the iron and onto the joint. Hold until cool. Better, though is if you have a mechanical joint that doesn't require you to hold it- that way you won't jiggle it while it's cooling and you won't burn your finger. If you're soldering an electronic component like a cap or resistor, try to put an alligator clip or something between the solder joint and the component as a heat sink to decrease the probability of damage.

The most important part of this is the flux paste. It is what makes the solder flow quickly onto the joint. No messing around trying to get the solder where you want it while you overheat parts melting insulation or burning out components, and it allows you to preload all the solder you need on the iron. Different approaches will work for different people, but the above approach has made me a pretty consistent solderer which I was not prior to discovering how helpful flux paste could be.

...My problem with this approach is that I haven't figured out how to do it with fewer than three hands- one to hold the solder, one to hold the iron, and one to hold the work...

That's why you need one of these (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104639&cp=&sr=1&origkw=magnifier&kw=magnifier&parentPage=search)...

http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2266298w345.jpg

:roll:

I've also seen them much cheaper than RadioShack's price.

That's why you need one of these (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104639&cp=&sr=1&origkw=magnifier&kw=magnifier&parentPage=search)...

http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pRS1C-2266298w345.jpg

:roll:

I've also seen them much cheaper than RadioShack's price.

This is a good idea where it will fit- it's always better to keep everything steady and the clips can work as heatsinks besides. But carrying the solder on the iron and flowing it onto the flux is preferable to using a separate hand to hold the solder wire. And I am also convinced that flux allows the joint to be soldered more quickly- you want to get the joint to temp, flow on the solder and get out without adding any extra heat that might start to damage something. No reason to make the task harder just because you have tools to make it somewhat easier.

Here's a simple third hand.......... Needle nose with rubber band.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/New%20Album/ThirdHand.jpg

...you want to get the joint to temp, flow on the solder and get out without adding any extra heat that might start to damage something. No reason to make the task harder just because you have tools to make it somewhat easier.

Agreed 100%. I like the stands because 1) I can get an optimal mechanical contact between the parts to be soldered, and 2) my eyesight isn't what it used to be so the magnifier helps as well. :shock:

Hemostats are very handy as well.

Use Flux!!

Here are a few tips..........


Don't touch the solder to the iron. Heat the part ...... touch the solder to the part and remove the iron when the solder melts.



Put a little bit of solder on the tip of the iron, then touch the little puddle of solder on the iron to the part - this will transfer the heat MUCH faster to the part.

Here's my one problem with solder technique: how do you get plastic coated wires hot enough to take solder without overheating the wire and shrinking the insulation?

I always strip my wire ends pretty carefully so as not to have too much unexposed wire and to keep things neat, but every single time the tubing shrinks from the heat before the wire is hot enough to take the solder.

Hot iron ........ work fast.

An optional method............if your attaching wires to the switch or to the terminals on a pot, you could make a solder puddle on the tab and dip the wire into it. Haven't tried that but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I thought I was working pretty quick, but maybe not quick enough!

I was practicing soldering yesterday on some hand tools in my factory that needed to be fixed. I seemed to do alright ( they work now ). One thing you guys forgot to mention is how hot the solder is. Man, what a huge blister!

liquid metal is hot.

I would strongly urge (based on your posts on this thread) that you get Terry Downs video. It is comprehensive and will reduce blisters.

rule #1 - No drinking & soldering =jason

Heat the metal components to be soldered first, don't just melt solder over the tip of the soldering iron for a big glob of molten metal to drop on top of the points to be soldered.

Here's my one problem with solder technique: how do you get plastic coated wires hot enough to take solder without overheating the wire and shrinking the insulation?

I always strip my wire ends pretty carefully so as not to have too much unexposed wire and to keep things neat, but every single time the tubing shrinks from the heat before the wire is hot enough to take the solder.

I absolutely believe that the combination of flux on the work and melted solder on the iron will flow the solder onto the work in exactly the right spot as soon as it is hot enough, and there is no question then that the hottest spot on the work is the joint you want to solder. You want to make sure that the heat from the iron is not flowing toward the insulation at the same time that it is flowing toward the joint. In that case, the insulation will melt before the joint gets hot enough.

I have read that a larger iron can transfer more heat quickly before surrounding metal gets hot enough to desolder or melt insulation, but I haven't really found the need.


apply flux to the joint
apply solder to iron
apply solder on iron to joint
as soon as solder flows onto joint remove the iron

Wear thick pants like dickies. Think about how you're gonna do it before you do it.