trouble soldering to potentiometers

My soldering skills have grown after the successful completion of a tweed deluxe amp and an almost complete telecaster DIY. Although I have good soldering experience, I am having difficulty soldering the wires to the back of the potentiometeres on my soon to be done telecaster.
Is there a good method for soldering to back of pots? I can't seem to get the wire and solder connections to stick the back of the pots even after roughing up the surface and keeping the soldering iron on the surface for a period of time heating the wire and pot.
Thanks for any advice. :grin:

Clean the back of the pots well with 000 steel wool, use plenty of flux, pre-tin the leads, don't move the wires you solder until the solder has cooled.

I just rewired a Tele using these techniques and I was able to solder my pots with a 25 watt iron easy as pie!

Maybe this video will help:

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All about the sanding.

Use rosin core solder and clean the back of the pot as mentioned above. With solder in one hand and soldering iron in the other, heat the back of the pot until you can deposit a puddle of solder to the back of the pot. Remove iron. Now with iron in one hand and wires in the other, heat the back of the pot until the puddle liquidfies. Stick the wires in the molten solder, remove iron and hold wires still until the solder solidifies.

Use rosin core solder and clean the back of the pot as mentioned above. With solder in one hand and soldering iron in the other, heat the back of the pot until you can deposit a puddle of solder to the back of the pot. Remove iron. Now with iron in one hand and wires in the other, heat the back of the pot until the puddle liquidfies. Stick the wires in the molten solder, remove iron and hold wires still until the solder solidifies.

Mr Wells sir, that is a perfectly worded, consise guide right there.

Should be a sticky - follow that to the letter and it will work every time I'd be sure.

I always had a problem with this even after cleaning the back up with abrasives. I have a soldering pencil with a fine pointed tip. Purchasing a soldering gun solved the problem of not getting enough heat to the back of the pot.

I've cleaned and sanded the back of the potentiometer, and I've not cleaned and sanded and had the same results. The little 25 and 35 watt soldering irons just don't put out enough heat to adequately solder tot the back of the potentiometer. I purchased one of the Weller gun type soldering irons and ha much. much less difficulty after that. I can even solder to the chassis now.

You can use a higher-power soldering gun to solder to the back of pots. In fact, that's what I do. However you must be quick and very careful. Too long or too hot and you can easily damage the pot internally.

I usually use the gun to tin the back of the pot, then use a lower power iron to make the actual connections.

A 60w soldering pencil with a chisel type tip works for me. For everything else a little 15w pencil is fine.

+1 on the chisel tip. This makes soldering to pots a breeze with low wattage irons following Mr. Wells' well-stated how-to guide. Pencil tips are great for soldering wires to lugs but I've never had much success using them on pots.