Turn down pots when soldering?

[SixShooter]

I thought I read somewhere that pots should be turned down all the way when you are soldering them. I think it was said that this prevents damage to the wiper. Is this correct?

[sjtalon]

Never heard that myself ? Haven't had a problem anyway I've done them but that doesn't mean I'm right.

Naturally heat is the killer so pre-tin and an large enough iron to get fast results is the ticket.

[elpico]

Never heard that either. I don't see how it could change anything for the wiper but on the off chance that the wiper got hot enough to damage the track it would be nice if the damage happened to a part of the track you never use at the bottom the dial.

I've never had a problem caused by soldering pots on though so I wouldn't sweat it.

[tfsails]

Won't hurt the pot at all. Good advice about getting the pot hot enough quickly enough, though. A low-wattage iron will heat he whole pot slowly before it gets the back of it hot enough to melt solder. A higher-wattage iron will heat the back quickly enough to melt solder before the whole pot gets hot enough to do damage to it.

Notice I said "wattage" and not "temperature". BIG difference there. "Wattage" means the iron has sufficient power to heat larger surfaces whose size would simply drain heat away from smaller-wattage irons. You don't need higher temps; you just may need higher wattages. 40W is plenty for a guitar. I use a 25W iron and it works really well.

[telex76]

I've never turned mine down, and I've never damaged a pot.

It won't hurt anything if you want to turn yours down though.