Soldering help needed!

[moodus2006]

I am trying to put a burstbucker in and can NOT get the solder to hold. The pickup has the mesh ground wire around the outside with the lead inside if it. I put the iron to the pot to "preheat" it and then add my ground to warm it. Add solder... it melts into a ball then does not flow/stick onto the pot. I am so frustrated! HELP!!! Then I can't get the ball to melt and I know there is heat because the ground-mest is rippin hot.

[piece of ash]

Forget soldering all the wires in one shot... for the moment.

Focus on just the pot... keep heat a bit of solder on it until the solder "wets out". Once you see this happen... you'll know the phrase means.

Then you reflow your other connections on to the pot.

What type solder are you using... should say on the spool... where did you buy it?

[GuitarGeorge]

Make sure the pot is clean. Get a piece of fine emery cloth and sand the spot you are going to solder to down to bare shiny metal.

After that, moisten a Q-Tip with a bit of alchohol and wipe it down.

[tap4154]

You don't want to preheat the pot then add the ground wire. You can damage the pot if you overheat it. First "tin" the twisted ground wire mesh by flowing solder on it, then hold the tinned wire in the middle of the pot (use something to hold it there), apply the tip of the pre-heated solder tip to the wire/pot for a second then apply rosin core solder and make a nice clean bead. You could also put a small bead of solder on the pot then melt the wire into it. I use 60/40 .062 rosin core solder from Radio Shack.

[Rufus]

I had also been having trouble soldering pots... until recently.

I have an adjustable temperature digital soldering iron. I was scared of frying the pots with too much heat. I learned from Terry Downs' soldering dvd that 63/37 solder melts @ 370 degrees or so (going from memory here). Since I had 60/40 solder, I figured about 425 degrees or so would be plenty to melt it and not screw up the pot.
Soldering swithes was fine, but soldering the backs of the pots came out terrible, and I couldn't figure out why!?!?

Just a week or so ago, someone mentioned using a temp of 650 degrees. I tried it and the solder flowed onto the back of the pots much better!

Lesson learned for me; its better to use a hotter temp to heat the back of the pot quickly (get on and get off) than to use a cooler temp and have to stay on the pot forever and still get crappy solder flow.

Hope this helps.

I wish someone had told me this long ago.

[Ronsonic]

Pre - tin that ground braid. Scrub the back of the pot to make sure you have clean fresh metal, scraping with an Xacto knife works fine. Now flow out a pool of solder on the clean spot. Bring the braid into place while the iron is still heating it. Hold in place with some object that can take more heat than your fingers. Remove the iron and wait until it cools.

[deluxe5D3]

Go to your hardware store and pickup a tin of rosin soldering paste (usually in the plumbing section). Then scotch brite the back of the pot, then place a small dab of it on the back of the pot and solder away.
The paste is the same stuff that is in the core of all solder wire- it makes the solder stick to the metal joint instead of in a puddle...

[charlie chitlin]

+1
I know that some will say that flux is acidic and will cause problems in the future....
Maybe WAY into the future.
I've got some pretty ancient solders that I've used flux on and they don't look any worse than the day I did them.
The braided stuff is tricky...heat it too much and you melt the insulation on the wire inside and get a short.
I find that anytime I want to get a good solder fast (braided shielding and pots in particular), I reach for the flux paste.

[D.Allen]

When soldering pots high heat and quick soldering is the key. Make sure everything is clean and pre tin where you can. If you are using an iron less than 40 watts it will be difficult. I use a 45 watt and a 100/140 watt. 650+ degrees.

[Teleterr]

Death to braided wire!

[piece of ash]

1) There are many different kinds of flux. "Rosin" is used for electronics. "Acid" is used for plumbing. NEVER use acid for electronics... period. If the flux/solder isn't labeled... don't use it. Don't expect to find Rosin based solder in the plumbing section.

2) It is virtually impossible to damage a pot by heating the can for normal soldering temps and times... AND THEN SOME. The leads are a slighly different story, but they're pretty tough too.

3) Cleaning the back of the can too aggressively can backfire. You can scrub the zinc or tin plating right off. Steel is harder to "tin" (wet out) than the plating.

4) High powered irons help immensely.

5) Pretinning both mating parts is definately the way to go... especially for a noob.

[deluxe5D3]

Don't expect to find Rosin based solder in the plumbing section.

That's where I bought mine...

[piece of ash]

I guess they were organizing by form rather than function. :)

My point is, if you don't know exactly what you're buying, pass. These days... the labeling is getting worse on everything.

I went to one my clients a few years back to find the people on the production floor tinning wires with plumbing flux... that was unlabled... YIKES!

[moodus2006]

Originally Posted by tap4154

You don't want to preheat the pot then add the ground wire. You can damage the pot if you overheat it. First "tin" the twisted ground wire mesh by flowing solder on it, then hold the tinned wire in the middle of the pot (use something to hold it there), apply the tip of the pre-heated solder tip to the wire/pot for a second then apply rosin core solder and make a nice clean bead. You could also put a small bead of solder on the pot then melt the wire into it. I use 60/40 .062 rosin core solder from Radio Shack.

OK so I had the wrong solder! I thought it was 60/40 nope 90% tin/silver stuff....... run to "The Shack" $8.99 40 watt iron (my old one was ?watts and scary!) $3.99 60/40 .062 solder + 2.5 min= 1 big ass smile! Thanks everyone! Pics soon to follow!

[gogirlguitars]

I found the square flat tip easier than the pointed tip. never use a file to clean the tip, just dab it on a wet sponge, always keep the tip clean.

For pots i would tin the earth wire, (like everyone else said) I then pool a bit of solder on the pot (first clean and abrase the metal to be sure it's 100% no grease)..then take the tinned wire to the pot and put the tip on both. They both should flow.

The biggest thing that made soldering easier for me was using the square flat tip