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About "Cold" Solder Joints

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  • #16
    Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

    Originally posted by idsnowdog View Post
    It's a combination of low wattage iron and no flux.
    That will give you the best opportunity for the worst cold joints.
    Originally Posted by IanBallard
    Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

      Great info. I invested in a Hakko FX-888D a few years ago. That thing has been awesome. I keep it on 750 degrees most of the time for guitar work.

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      • #18
        Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

        Another word of clarification:

        60/40 Solder melts at 188 degrees C (370 degrees F).

        Keeping your iron over 400 deg F is overkill unless you are using a low watt iron that can't sustain 400 deg while soldering to the backs of pots, or using a very small pencil tip which also doesn't hold much heat when in use.

        If you're using a more powerful iron that can sustain 400 deg F and using a chisel point which also holds more heat while in use, you don't need to keep it that hot. It just burns up your tips quicker.

        My station is very powerful and maintains a constant temp while in use and I use a chisel tip so I keep mine set at 350-400 deg F. When I'm soldering to the backs of pots I may raise the temp setting to 400-450 deg F. I had my station set to about 420 deg F. when I did the soldering in the photos in the other thread. As you can see, it was PLENTY hot. No problem getting the solder to flow thin as water on the backs of pots.

        If soldering is part of what you do in your work, you owe it to yourself and your customers to get a good solder station...to yourself because your soldering will go much faster and smoother with no frustrations; to your customers because they can see your soldering and your work will look great and they will be impressed with everything else you do that they can't see.
        Originally Posted by IanBallard
        Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

          350°F - 400°F isn't anywhere hot enough for professional soldering. Perhaps you mean 350°C - 400°C.

          Here is an article that is consistent with my own soldering experiences (40 years).
          What is the right soldering temperature to use? Great question! Well, you have to get the soldering joint hot enough to melt the solder.

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          • #20
            Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

              The Soldering Mega Thread
              Last edited by Tone Meister; 10-04-2019, 08:37 PM.

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              • #22
                Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                Great information.

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                • #23
                  Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                  Originally posted by Tone Meister View Post
                  350°F - 400°F isn't anywhere hot enough for professional soldering. Perhaps you mean 350°C - 400°C.

                  Here is an article that is consistent with my own soldering experiences (40 years).
                  https://www.build-electronic-circuit...g-temperature/
                  I've been soldering for 65 years and know what I'm talking about. That article you linked is very contradictory...he even says..."Most solder melts around 180 to 190 degrees Celsius, that is 360 to 370 degrees Fahrenheit." which is consistent with what I said. But then he says "Maybe 250 degrees Celsius is enough". That's 482 degrees F...way more than you need. And then he says..."I usually solder with a temperature between 350 degrees Celsius and 400 degrees Celsius (660 to 750 Fahrenheit)". He is using TWICE as much heat as even HE just said is actually needed, and so is essentially saying he doesn't know what he is doing. Look at my pictures in my other thread ("Soldering 101 Pictures")! Does it look like I needed more heat?! I was using 420 degrees F which was actually more than I needed. I only used that much heat because I wanted to make sure my examples look perfect.

                  Look, you can find anything on the internet. You could probably even find an article that says you need 500 degrees C (930 F) to solder with professional results. But the FACT is...that simply is NOT true!! Period!!

                  If you are saying that 400 degrees F "isn't anywhere hot enough for professional soldering", then you are saying that I don't know what I'm doing and that my soldering is not professional. Just look at my pictures again!

                  However, if you are saying that you use the same high heat that the writer of that article suggests, then you are either saying that you are as bad as he apparently is and that YOU don't know what YOU are doing regardless of your "experience", or you are saying that you are using a way under-powered soldering iron with a tiny pencil tip and that you are not using the right tools for the job.

                  Really, before you start giving advice as if you know what you're talking about, then you'd better KNOW what you're talking about.
                  Last edited by GuitarDoc; 10-06-2019, 09:14 AM.
                  Originally Posted by IanBallard
                  Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                    The temps you mention are not consistent with any tech I've ever known. I don't know how or why you do it, but as far as I'm concerned it's defacto erroneous information.

                    That's my last comment on the matter

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                      Originally posted by AlexR View Post
                      I know just the recent thread that inspired you doc.
                      And yes, there was a lot wrong with just about every joint in that job, so a tutorial on 'how to' is really what a lot of even more experienced forumites could use.

                      Maybe a couple of pics showing what the solder looks like with a cold joint, and then and a well heated job. It would be easy for the people then to know as they are doing the wiring.
                      Great point. I went to a technical high school and took electronics as my shop. Our teacher could very often spot a cold solder joint just by the outward appearance of the solder. Obviously not always, but he would spot them quite often. The solder on a proper connection does often look different from one that resulted in cold solder joint. Soldering isn’t rocket science, but it’s a skill that takes a bit of learning. Especially when printed circuit boards are in play.


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                      • #26
                        Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                        Originally posted by Tone Meister View Post
                        That's my last comment on the matter
                        Thank goodness for that.
                        Originally Posted by IanBallard
                        Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                          Originally posted by Tone Meister View Post
                          The temps you mention are not consistent with any tech I've ever known. I don't know how or why you do it, but as far as I'm concerned it's defacto erroneous information.
                          It's OBVIOUSLY NOT erroneous info!!! Look at my pics in the other thread. (Have you even looked at them yet?)

                          It's not smoke and mirrors. I actually DID make perfect solder joints using 420 degrees F. (which could have even been 400 F). I backed up what I have said with proof...actual pics of my results. Nothing erroneous about that. However, you only back up what you have said by posting an article which gives THREE different temps, the actual facts of the melting point of 60/40 solder, and two other erroneous temps which have nothing to do with the melting point. And neither you, nor the article you provided, have given any proof or pictures of what you claim.

                          Of course you can solder with 750-800 F like you say you do. You could even solder with 1000-2000 F. But if you know what you are doing, and you are using adequate equipment (that can maintain/sustain 400 F), you don't need that much heat.

                          And those are the accurate facts.
                          Last edited by GuitarDoc; 10-06-2019, 07:40 PM.
                          Originally Posted by IanBallard
                          Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                            I’m gonna give lower temps a try next time I do some soldering.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                              You can wire cleanly with everything at a common ground BUT you have to have a soldering howitzer with a thick tip that can heat the joint faster than it can be sinked away.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: About "Cold" Solder Joints

                                Originally posted by Chad View Post
                                I’m gonna give lower temps a try next time I do some soldering.
                                Keep in mind that what I have been saying, recommending using 400-450 F, is coming from the perspective of having equipment powerful enough to maintain that temperature while actually soldering to the back of a pot.

                                If you have at least a 60 watt iron, you're probably OK. If you have a 40 watt iron, you can do the job but you should keep it as hot as it can get while soldering to pots. If your iron is less than 40 watts, you should seriously consider getting a better one. It will be fine for soldering small gauge wires together, but it won't sustain enough heat to solder to the back of a pot without getting a cold solder joint or potentially damaging the innards of your pot.
                                Originally Posted by IanBallard
                                Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

                                Comment

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