best soldering tips

[oldteleguy]

Good morning,
i'm new to soldering,and would like to know which soldering tip is best for
guitar electronics. I have a weller 40 watt soldering station. Your advice would
be appreciated.
Oldteleguy

 

[LocustPlague]

A standard cone tip is really all you need. If it came with a tip, it is going to work just fine.

As for technique:
1) always let the iron get good and hot before you try to solder anything
2) always put the iron to the two pieces to be joined, add in the solder to the side and it will flow then pull away the iron -- this should only take a second or two. Literally, one or two ticks on an analog clock.
3) when soldering the back of a pot, scuff the pot first with some sandpaper and use a little dab of flux to help prevent melting the pot. It is possible to do it without, but doing it this way works every time; why risk it?

 

[Commodore 64]

I like the 1/16" screwdriver/chisel tip. Worked great for some PCB soldering, pots and jacks, and even is OK on the back of a pot, though I prefer a little bigger one for that.

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[itsGreg]

Always use flux, even if the solder has a flux core.
Any tip will do.

 

[cbtd]

Keep you tip properly tinned
Flux

 

[Brillig]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIDydYIVTqU

 

[flyingbanana]

Never used flux. I use Kester exclusively. Keep tip hot and wipe often on wet sponge. Re-tin it right after. Apply hot tip briefly to area to be soldered while sticking the end of your solder at an opposite side. This allows solder to flow towards the hot tip. Key is...get the part hot briefly and solder quickly. Don't hesitate. This is where practice makes perfect. I now enjoy soldering....especially those fumes, because people tell me it's bad, but smells so good. j/k

 

[Brian blaut]

Best soldering tip. Spend a 20 on TDPRIer Terry Downs' Soldering video. It's an understatement to say Terry is an expert. His video is specifically tailored for the needs of a guitarist working on guitars to pedals. He shows you exactly how to do, explains why you want to do it the right way, offers advice on which equipment is going to work best for you.

The OP might not know who Terry is because he doesn't post as much as he used to, but anyone who's been here for a good while knows Terry is THE MAN for all things electrical.
http://terrydownsmusic.com/solder_video/soldervideo.html

 

[redstringuitar]

I get the best heat transfer/versatility from this type...

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[Brad Pittiful]

this is what i used at my last job

 

[rolling56]

Never used flux. I use Kester exclusively. Keep tip hot and wipe often on wet sponge. Re-tin it right after. Apply hot tip briefly to area to be soldered while sticking the end of your solder at an opposite side. This allows solder to flow towards the hot tip. Key is...get the part hot briefly and solder quickly. Don't hesitate. This is where practice makes perfect. I now enjoy soldering....especially those fumes, because people tell me it's bad, but smells so good. j/k

ya same here and it's not that hard. I asked my father 50 years ago to show me how to solder and he said everything you need is on the work bench in the basement so have at it. I was 5 or 6 at the time

I've shown my now 18 year old daughter how to build pc's when she was 12. Maybe some day i will show her how to solder when she visits next time.

 

[itsGreg]

What's kester? I soldered this together today and would have been lost without my flux

 

[rolling56]

Kester is like Google.............use it.

 

[itsGreg]

Kester is like Google.............use it.

I did and it seems to be a company not one specific product that's why I asked but never mind if that's your tone.

 

[rolling56]

I did and it seems to be a company not one specific product that's why I asked but never mind if that's your tone.

oh please

Here you go, have a look around http://www.kester.com/

 

[itsGreg]

oh please

Here you go, have a look around http://www.kester.com/

Already been before posted. They sell a few different fluxes. I was asking if to was a specific product.

 

[jefrs]

Weller No.7 tip for tin/lead
Weller No.8 tip for removing lead-free or re-soldering over it with tin/lead.

Ersin Multicore fluxed tin/lead 60/40 solder.

This is for electronics, if you want to solder stainless steel to glass or aluminium to sapphire then you use something a bit different.

 

[R. Stratenstein]

Kester company has a line of flux-core electronic solders. The flux smoke has kind of a pine-smelling aroma, or odor, depending how you like it. I should perhaps put all this in the past tense, because it's been a while since I've used actual, real-live Kester 60-40[lead-tin] solder. I don't know if their newer lead free stuff still smells the same. It's become too easy to just pick up a coil of flux-core at Radio Shack these days. I generally have not found any need for separate fluxing when I solder typical electronic projects, however, on more difficult jobs, like using my little iron to solder to potentiometer cases, flux might not be a bad idea.

Also, for using solid solder for things like plumbing, stained glass windows, etc., you do need to use separate flux.

I suppose the nice piney smoke odor also carries some lead and other metal fumes, and is very bad for you, but I have to agree, I liked that smell.

PS-- itsGreg, what is that project you included the photo of? Looks interesting.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I like a narrow (1/16 or so) spade tip for most work in guitars and pedals, but a nice fat spade tip will give you much more efficient heat transfer when working on pots, if your iron can keep up. 40w adjustable will handle anything you throw at it. And get good 60/40 solder from an electronics store, not the stuff they sell at the hardware store.

 

[KevinB]

Best soldering tip. Spend a 20 on TDPRIer Terry Downs' Soldering video. I...
http://terrydownsmusic.com/solder_video/soldervideo.html

+1 on Terry Downs' DVD. It's full of very useful info and answers all the questions you might have.