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Re: Pick-up trouble!
Soldering can be pretty simple if you are careful and just follow a few basic steps:
Use an iron that will do the job quickly so you don't have to fight it (at least 40 watts);
Solder to a clean surface so the solder will flow onto it (I always sand or scrape up the backs of pots, etc to get them clean and shiny). You may sometimes need to use flux;
Use thin diameter 60/40 rosin core solder;
Heat the metal (whatever it is that you are soldering...wire, back of vol pot, lugs, etc) not the solder, and let the solder flow like water onto the hot metal ("meat follows heat");
Don't keep the iron on the metal any longer than you need to to get the solder to flow (high heat, low time);
Use only enough solder to make a good solid connection, don't glob it on in fat piles/puddles;
Go slow and be careful/accurate so you only have to do it once. Figuring out where a problem is and redoing the soldering can take a LOT of time, is frustrating, and can only give you more opportunities to make even more mistakes. Do it right and do it once.
Soldering can be pretty simple if you are careful and just follow a few basic steps:
Use an iron that will do the job quickly so you don't have to fight it (at least 40 watts);
Solder to a clean surface so the solder will flow onto it (I always sand or scrape up the backs of pots, etc to get them clean and shiny). You may sometimes need to use flux;
Use thin diameter 60/40 rosin core solder;
Heat the metal (whatever it is that you are soldering...wire, back of vol pot, lugs, etc) not the solder, and let the solder flow like water onto the hot metal ("meat follows heat");
Don't keep the iron on the metal any longer than you need to to get the solder to flow (high heat, low time);
Use only enough solder to make a good solid connection, don't glob it on in fat piles/puddles;
Go slow and be careful/accurate so you only have to do it once. Figuring out where a problem is and redoing the soldering can take a LOT of time, is frustrating, and can only give you more opportunities to make even more mistakes. Do it right and do it once.
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