Soldering Not working - please help!

[ronno]

I'm making my first soldering attempt putting SEth Lovers in my Les Paul Standard.
I've read about what to do but although I have desoldered the connections and taken the old pickups out, and got the new pickups in, its now going all wrong!

I'm using a 40 watt iron and lead free silver solder 1mm thick.

1. I've tried tinning the iron ( which is brand new) but nothing seems to stick to it. The solder just rolls off in a ball or snaps off in a short length.

2. When trying to put the braid wire back on the back of the pot should I remove all the previous solder on the back of the pot or just melt it and try and reattach the braid to it? I seem to be able to heat it up enough to get it off the back of the pot if I want. Equally, I can make it flow but can't get the braid wire to stick to it.
This previous solder on the back of the pot seems to harden within less than a second, even after flowing nicely when heated up

What should I do?

3. Should I try and attach the other connections first which are much smaller in area and then ry and do the earth connection?

 

[mrid]

Re: Soldering Not working - please help!

First of all, I admire your attempt to transition to a lead-free alternative. I use lead-free myself, because it is the way of the future. Unfortunately, it takes A LOT of practice to work with, and the silver isn't helping you any. I HIGHLY recommend getting a new tip if your tip is old to work with lead-free solder. 40 watts should be enough, if you learn to work it properly. Remember to tin everything.

 

[rombola]

Re: Soldering Not working - please help!

ur not letting the soldering iron get hot enough let it by itself like 10 minutes then try to solder again you will see , i had that problem my first time

 

[ronno]

Re: Soldering Not working - please help!

thanks for your responses. I've managed to do it!