Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

[wasteofo2]

I'm almost done re-wiring a guitar, all I need to do is ground the cap and the bridge ground, but I can't get solder to stick to the back of the pot with wire in it. I had no problem getting a lump to stick to the back of the pot, but then when I put the cap's leg into it, the solder came off. I've been at this for like 20 minutes, does anyone have any tips as to how to do this?

 

[Mojoe01]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

When I can't get any flow to the pot, I usually sand it a little bit to rough up the surface, but I don't know if this would work if its only coming off when you stick the cap in it... some people have advised not to sand, but I personally didn't have any problems with it. Might wanna get a few more opinions on it though.

 

[wasteofo2]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Nevermind, I took a screwdriver and scratched up the surface, creating a rougher surface has worked fine, it's all done, huray!

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Sometimes wiping it down with a bit of acetone or rubbing alcohol helps me get the junk off of it. I've heard that you shouldn't do this, but it always works for me.

 

[Bones]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Flux with all soldering jobs. Always works.

 

[southadc]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

I heard that using a pencil eraser on the back of the pot can help.

Last time I did some soldering, I clamped the pot using a little vice for fly-tying, then used another fly-tying tool (it's basically a pair of small positionable arms with crococile clips at the ends) to hold the wire(s) in place, so that I could hold the soldering iron in one hand and the solder in the other. That made it a lot easier. The solder gets chance to harden properly before the wires spring back.

 

[Artie]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Flux with all soldering jobs. Always works.

I'll second that notion. Flux is the key.

I'll save my little you-shouldn't-solder-to-the-back-of-a-pot rant for later.
Technically, I'm on vacation.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Flux with all soldering jobs. Always works.

Absolutely.

 

[korinastratkyle]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

Sometimes wiping it down with a bit of acetone or rubbing alcohol helps me get the junk off of it. I've heard that you shouldn't do this, but it always works for me.

I've found acetone to be good for cleaning of other types of resin... Alcohal works, too. But yeah, you shouldn't use that on metal because too much will corrode the metal. Anyways, you should be using resin solder which uses the resin as the flux. DO NOT USE ACID CORE! I use 60/40 myself btw. Also, make sure you're heating up the back of the pot before applying solder, you'll never get a true bond otherwise!

 

[Naps]

Re: Damnit, can't get solder to stick to the back of a pot for a ground!

I had that same problem with soldering a ground wire to the tremelo claw. no matter what I did- sanding, alcohol, cleaning, steel wool- it didn't help. I finnally drilled a hole in it then put a screw through it to the wood and tied it around that and soldered the whole thing for good measure. I don't use my trem at all so it works for me.