Newbie solder question

Mikelamury

Mikelamury

New member
Hey guys I'm attempting my first go at working on my electronics myself. I watched the videos in the course I just have a question. My iron isn't getting hot enough to melt the solder off of the back of the pots. I have it set at the appropriate temperature. 400C(752F) I noticed that when I changed the tip to the chisel tip the 5 tips that came with the soldering kit(which I got from eBay) don't fit snuggly against the inner part of the iron when I change them like there too big. Is this the cause of it not heating up properly? I bought this 'set' from eBay for pretty cheap I'm guessing these tips don't fit? Are there different sizes of tips(inner diameter)? How would I go about finding something that fits if that's the case? Thanks alot for any help!
 
On mine, there's a set screw on the side of the iron that presses the back end of the tip into the heating element, so I haven't quite had the problem. I've been able to use replacement tips from other manufacturers without a problem.
 
I turned up the heat to 450C and noticed that one side of the chisel tip was melting the solder but not the other side.(?) Do I worked with the one side of the iron and eventually got it done. Replaced a pot, capacitor, and output jack and took multimeter readings and Everything seems to work so bim thankful for that. It's kinda tricky just using one side (I'm just learning too) but at least it works. I've seen the same set of tips I got come with several other soldering kits on eBay so something's not matching up in my iron. I'm still not really sure on how to find the right size or even know what the 'right' size is. Has anyone else ever ran into this problem?
 
It depends on the iron. I got a cheapie on ebay with adjustable heat that gets pretty hot. Before that I would just do a dual iron attack with a 45 wat for the delicate lugs and a 100 wat for jobs which require lots of heat dispersion like pot backs. Since you already have a medium powered one, I'd suggest just doing the dual iron attack instead of getting a different do it all iron or improving your existing one. You can get a cheapie 100 wat iron on ebay for $20 or so.
 
What watts?

For pot casings you need lots of watts, say 80 plus, to provide a high intensity local blast of heat. If you use a low wattage iron all you'll do is gently warm the entire casing, risking cooking the internals or a bad solder joint. Or both.
 
It's 60 watts, goes up to 500C(972F) after I turned it up to 450C it was working better but only on one side of the chisel tip.
 
It may be that the iron can really get up to the actual temperature that its set at and the bad contact with the tip is what is messing it up, or it may be that it doesn't have enough wattage to maintain that temperature. Since you have to spend money, I would just recommend getting a beastly one for the purpose of high heat scenarios like pot backs or soldering a ground to the bridge. It's easier that way. It's not much money at all.

https://www.amazon.com/Choice-CH-IR...prefix=100+watt+soldering+iron,aps,202&sr=8-6
 
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I'm pretty confident that the one I have is reaching temp because when I had it all the way on 500C it was boiling and starting to crystalize the solder so I turned it down to 450C and it was working but only on one side. I guess because of the spacing issue. And no my iron doesn't have a F mode, it would be alot easier. If I feel I can't get by with what I have I also have a solder gun I might try out.
 
You don't have to worry about damaging anything for pot backs. Just crank up the heat, liquify that mofo, and create a solid connection. It's only pot terminals that you can possibly fry. You don't even have to worry about switch terminals.
 
If only one side of the chisel point is heating to temperature you HAVE a good connection to the heating element, it might be that the non-heating side is corroded or is coated with burnt-on rosin. If you have a fine file, file the sides of the tip until they are shiny. Then "tin"/condition the tip by heating it and coating with solder. Always keep the tip shiny coated with solder and wipe it clean continually (while hot) on a damp sponge or on one of these (my favorite because it doesn't cool the tip like a damp sponge)...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J66FSY2...dDbGljaz10cnVl
 
ThreeChordWonder said:
What watts?

For pot casings you need lots of watts, say 80 plus, to provide a high intensity local blast of heat. If you use a low wattage iron all you'll do is gently warm the entire casing, risking cooking the internals or a bad solder joint. Or both.
Click to expand...

I've been soldering to pot casings using a cheap old 30 watt iron that was purchased from Radio Shack from more than 20 years ago. Need to use the chisel tip to have enough heat to transfer over quickly enough, not the pencil tip . . . but it works. Best solution? Hell no. But I've done a fair bit of pedal building/pickup swapping and general electrical work and never cooked a pot. Bad solder joints I've certainly made . . . but the problem was always my own error rather than caused by the tools I used. :P
 
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Your tip might be heating unevenly from being dirty on one side? Wipe it on a dry sponge after your session and a few times during the session.
 
I've got a cheap 60watt solder gun I got off of eBay. I'm going to try that next time, seems like it will be easier and I might not have to use the helping hand.
 
I used to use a Weller gun like that. While it would get hot very quickly, the tips needed to be replaced often and it was big and bulky to be using inside a guitar cavity.

While a lower wattage iron MAY do the job, they don't store much heat and that heat is used up too fast to do a good job with large amount of metal (like a pot back). It sometimes will cool down too much to complete the joint, then it takes forever to heat back up to operating temp.

Soldering irons are pretty cheap, you can get a 60-80 watt iron for $20 which will work much better.

In the past 60 years I've used a lot of different irons and inexpensive soldering stations. Now I have one similar to this...

https://www.amazon.com/YIHUA-Solder...ns&qid=1643210639&s=hi&sr=1-22&ts_id=13837391

(That one is only 75 watts but the one I have is over 100 watts and I think it only cost about $80).

I can't tell you what a dream it is to work with a good station...It heats up almost instantly and remains at the set temp constantly no matter what or how much you're soldering.

If you do a lot of soldering and want excellent results and no stress, it is a great investment. If you don't do much soldering or can't justify spending that much, this 100 watter is less than $20...https://www.amazon.com/Studio-Pro-H...+watt+soldering+ironstations,tools,194&sr=1-9
(There's really no excuse for not having the right tools for the job).
 
I think generally the cheap solder on stock guitar pots and the larger surface area of being on a pot makes those pot solder points harder to melt. I take fine grit sandpaper to the tip of my soldering iron and clean the excess solder off when it seems like it's taking a long time to melt the solder. I'll sand the whole tip down till I see nothing but copper. I do this every 3rd time or so I use it for the day. Also, you'll find that your soldering iron has a hot spot on it. Meaning: A spot on the tip that works best. Watch and try to locate that spot on yours. Note: be careful and patient, waiting enough time for cooling, when heating up pots and soldering on them. You can fry them by leaving heat on them too long. Making you think you wired something wrong, but the pot is just toast. You'll also be waiting weeks for pots with ebay if don't have spares too. lol.. Hope that helps a little. Good luck!
 
cooldonkey said:
I take fine grit sandpaper to the tip of my soldering iron and clean the excess solder off when it seems like it's taking a long time to melt the solder. I'll sand the whole tip down till I see nothing but copper. I do this every 3rd time or so I use it for the day.
Click to expand...

That's a very good way to wear out your tip VERY quickly. I hope nobody else is doing this.
I do a lot of soldering and only need to take these drastic measures maybe once or twice a year, not several times a day! That's just crazy.

Really, that's totally unnecessary if you're using and caring for your soldering iron correctly...keep it clean by wiping off excess solder each use (every solder joint), and keep it tinned.
 
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