Soldering Wires to Pot Tops Ain't Wor...

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Author Message   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 2:00 pm:    Help. I can't seem to get any solder to stick to the tops of the volume/tone pots in my guitars that I'm rewiring. (Soldering to the actual leads is easy.) I've upgraded to a 100W soldering iron, but the dang solder won't stick to the pot, and it looks like there's some plastic/sticky stuff that ends up between the solder and the pot surface. I can get the solder to melt fine, but when I try to press the wire, solder and pot together, the solder sticks to the wire and then pops loose the minute it cools. Am I using the wrong type of solder? (It's basic solder.) Do I need a hotter gun? (The pots get really hot as it is and I'm worried I might damage the insides of the pot.) Is it my technique? Help! -Chuck   Snowjays Username: Snowjays Registered: 9-2004 Posted on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 - 8:54 pm:    Did you clean the metal surface of the pot that you're soldering to? It may have a protective coating of wax or something. Use a bit of steel wool or even a screwdriver to make contact with the metal.   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - 12:05 am:    Thanks, Snow. I also talked to my kid's guitar teacher tonight, and he recommended flux. I think I'll listen to you both. -Chuck   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - 4:30 pm:    You should use a Rosin Core solder. It has the flux inside it and works well for this stuff. Also cleaning the old solder off 1st helps if its all clumped up.   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 11:52 am:    I tried using flux, solder with flux in it, and scratching the top of the pot. I'm using a 100W iron. Absolutely no luck. It seems like the flux just makes a layer to which that the solder won't stick. This is driving me crazy!!! It appears the pot is a heat sink that totally pulls off the heat. I can't get the solder, wire and pot to all heat up at the same time to make a good bond of solder to pot. Maybe I need an industrial-strength soldering iron? At this point, I'm willing to invest in one if necessary. And other advice? Thanks in advance. -Chuck   Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 3-2004 Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 3:37 pm:    Are you tinning(heating the wire end and coating it with a thin layer of solder) 1st? And can you post a pic of the work? I use a 30 watt iron. To me thats plenty of heat.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 5:33 pm:    100 Watts???? That's way too much power for electronics. I've been using my dad's old black 25 Watts Weller since I was a student, when he bought a new red Weller. It's still working fine, but a few years ago I bought a red no-name spare at the gas station for very little money, but it sucked. After one or two jobs the plastic cracked from the heat. And I recently bought a yellow one that has even less power than the Weller, 15W or so, just to avoid overheated guitar electronics. The plastic of the yellow one is much better than the red one. But I know now that you have to be very careful with no-name solder irons. IMO Weller is the best. Looking at this website, I think my dad has a Marksman (non-temperature controlled). I don't know exactly which one. The ideal equipment is a soldering station of course, but they're quite expensive (they're often stolen like all really good tools). http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/weller/ and http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/CF_Files/mod el_detail.cfm?upc=037103001146 These light blue one are very wanted. Ginger   Chucke99 Username: Chucke99 Registered: 2-2007 Posted on Friday, July 27, 2007 - 2:14 pm:    Last night I tried again, buffing off the tops of the pots with a wire brush, then tinning the wire first, and still had no luck. So I found my older soldering iron (I think it's 25W) and tried that instead, and guess what? It worked perfectly. Now I doubt the functionality of the 100W gun I bought. To heck with it. I'm using the old one and things are working fine. Dang! Wiring a Les Paul is complicated!!! And I'm not even trying to use split coils. Thank you to EVERYONE for your replies. You set me on the correct path. -Chuck

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