Tips for Desoldering

[RatherBeFishing]

Hello

I've always been afraid to mess with my guitars but I now am the proud owner of a fully disassembled Tele. I find the simple layout of these guitars to be very inviting for modding and tinkering. I gathered all the supplies at Radio Shack and Home Depot and took the pickups out of my guitar today after doing as much homework on the process as possible.

Without even making it to the actual soldering process, I am already having a very hard time with Desoldering. I have Desoldering braid, flux, and a 40 watt Weller iron. The process seems far too slow and the braid hardly hadly works.

I add flux to the area to be desoldered and then press the braid to it with the iron. The braid gets really hot and is hard to hold on to, it takes forever for the solder to melt and I'm afraid of frying the insides of the pot.

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[ToadLC]

I used the braid between my iron and the solder to be removed. The braid gets hot and as soon as the solder melts it sucks right up. Seems to work fine for me.

 

[RatherBeFishing]

I used the braid between my iron and the solder to be removed. The braid gets hot and as soon as the solder melts it sucks right up. Seems to work fine for me.

Perhaps Radio Shack braid is of poor quality... Where did you get yours?

Thanks

 

[Madmaestro]

I used the braid between my iron and the solder to be removed. The braid gets hot and as soon as the solder melts it sucks right up.

Maybe try spreading out the braid width-wise, I find it soaks up the solder better when it's not so bunched up.

 

[Montana_Dawg]

Try placing the braid down first, add a little flux to the braid, and then apply heat.

if no flux is available, do the same except apply a little bit of solder to the braid as you start to heat it up.

The bad part about soldering to pots is that the surface area is so great that it distributes too much heat. Applying the heat too long will damage the pot.

I like to use a star ground screwed to the body, and run all the ground wires to it, instead of the pot. Easier to solder to, and much easier to desolder when needed.

The only thing I ground to the pot is the ground lug of the volume pot (which is also grounded to the star ground with a wire). This grounds both pots and the switch via the control plate.

 

[RatherBeFishing]

Try placing the braid down first, add a little flux to the braid, and then apply heat.

if no flux is available, do the same except apply a little bit of solder to the braid as you start to heat it up.

The bad part about soldering to pots is that the surface area is so great that it distributes too much heat. Applying the heat too long will damage the pot.

I like to use a star ground screwed to the body, and run all the ground wires to it, instead of the pot. Easier to solder to, and much easier to desolder when needed.

The only thing I ground to the pot is the ground lug of the volume pot (which is also grounded to the star ground with a wire). This grounds both pots and the switch via the control plate.

How do you make a Star Ground in a guitar? Is it something you buy? I googled Star Ground and just found a grounding process for amplifiers. It looked a little complicated... At this point I am just hoping that my wiring diagram gets me back to where I started.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Desoldering - I use either a teflon sucker or fine multi strand copper wire that's been fluxed.

Star ground - is essentially a term that means all ground legs meet at a common point, such as the back of one pot ... originally, a star locking washer was used as a common ground point, hence the "star" moniker.

 

[Mahogany]

A soldapult ( solder sucker ) will make you wonder why you waited so long to buy one the first time you use it.

 

[shades]

Solder wick from MG chemicals works very well, spread it a bit before using.
Catalog #425 is .075 wide X 5 feet.

 

[mellecaster]

Before you use your DeSoldering braid....make sure the tip of your iron is freshly tinned and very shiny w/ a heavy coating of solder...this is the secret to good heat transfer, and often overlooked by beginners.

 

[Newfie_J.]

Use a flat chisel tip on your soldering iron and use tweezers to hold the desoldering braid a 1/4" at a time. If you are trying to desolder those huge pools of solder on the back of a pot it can be tough as it takes a long time to heat it up enough to melt. Sand some off if you have too, just to save yourself from frying the pot. Also using alligator clips as heat sinks on capacitors and pickup wires can buy you a little more time when soldering/desoldering.

 

[RatherBeFishing]

Hi

Yes, I always tin the tip before beginning. I also followed the soldering tips on this site and "broke it in properly".

I'll give it another shot today and see how it works with me spreading out the braid and putting flux on the braid rather then the area being desoldered.

What kind washer and/or screw do you guys use for your star ground? This sounds like a very good idea to me. Why on earth risk ruining pots and making them filthy in the process? I'm assuming that every soldering point to the back of the pot is simply a ground, is this correct?

Thanks

 

[RatherBeFishing]

A soldapult ( solder sucker ) will make you wonder why you waited so long to buy one the first time you use it.

Hello, the only problem I have with this is that I believe I read on the tips here that you should never apply the tip directly to the solder point when soldering or desoldering. I'm beginning to think that is BS. It was very hard to heat up the point without directly touching it. I imagine the same will prove true for soldering.

 

[chuckamok63]

What kind washer and/or screw do you guys use for your star ground? This sounds like a very good idea to me.

The star grounding only works if you have shielding paint or copper tape on the inside of the body that is grounded also. Without it you have no contact to ground. However I guess you could star ground then carry the ground to the output jack...

The easiest way is to make sure all the grounds come together in the same place. (back of a pot) and in a tele it's not necessary to ground the volume pot to the tone pot, this creates a ground loop resulting in other issues. The ground will be carried by the control plate.

 

[KokoTele]

Hello, the only problem I have with this is that I believe I read on the tips here that you should never apply the tip directly to the solder point when soldering or desoldering. I'm beginning to think that is BS. It was very hard to heat up the point without directly touching it. I imagine the same will prove true for soldering.

Pure BS. The tip is made to withstand that kind of heat. I got my solder sucker at Radio Shack 10 years ago and haven't had to use the extra tip they included.

You'll be glad when you spend the ten bucks!

 

[Guitar_Ninja]

I've never had much success using desoldering braids on pots. They work great on PCB's but never seem to get hot enough to suck anything up when I try them with guitars. I use a desoldering bulb for that. Works great.

 

[6x47]

I use a sucker when the part is in place.

As your Tele is apart, you can heat the joint and just shake the solder off (with a good snap of the wrist).

 

[boris bubbanov]

Thank you, Bear, for getting me to get out my soldering iron and installing a set of pups in my #2 Red Highway One Tele.

BTW, I just snipped off the excess solder with some dykes, used the iron to pull what was left of the wires, drilled the holes open on the 3 way with a 1/16ths twist bit, and installed the new stuff with a little flux and a little solder. Never touched the braid.

So glad those hated HOT alnico 3 overwounds are outta there. This Highway One got the Fender Original Vintage pickups (the other has the Keystones). I kept the 3 way in place on this one, and kept the greasebucket as well.

Never have had a more complete or satisfying pup transplant than this one. I don't know what anybody sees in those "Upgrade" H1 Tele pups, I really don't.

 

[Montana_Dawg]

I use a sucker when the part is in place.

As your Tele is apart, you can heat the joint and just shake the solder off (with a good snap of the wrist).

This is very BAD advice! It is a sure way of getting a serious injury, especially for beginners.

In my field I have seen people with burns, and eye injuries from improper soldering/desoldering. It may only happen once in a while, but it only takes that one time to permanently damage your eyes, or to cause severe burning.

 

[Nick JD]

Pots are about $3 - just get new ones!