Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

[ben ifin]

Hey all

Quick Wax Potting question about the length of time in the wax.

I’ve always wax potted with a re3commended mix of paraffin and bee’s and a wax temp of around 65c – 75c [ aim for 70c on average ] or 158f ….. or thereabouts ….. all good.

Fralin, Lollar etc… all say the wax pot fro anywhere from 15 mins up to and 1 hour or more if needed.

So, my question is, what does the length of time matter ?

My thinking is thie:-

-> I figure that once the wax is melted and it goes through the pickup, its not like its going to “absorb” more than it can – once its “full” of wax [ie: all air bubbles gone] surely if anything the longer it’s in the wax at worst makes no difference ?

As an example:-

-> I recently took a Dimarzio Bluesbucker from the bridge in a semi-hollow guitar – great sounding pickup, but under moderate to higher gain it was quite microphonic and always on the edge of squealing – even when palm muting rock playing you could hear the beginnings of the “squealy-ness” in the background between mutes.

I potted it for around 50 mins.

Once done, most [ probably %95 ] of the very microphonic and always on the edge of squeaing is gone.

On first initial listed it definelty [naturally] sounded a touch “duller” … as you would expect with all those squealy frequencies and squealy overtones gone …. but a slight eq adjust and there is now, what I refer to as much more actual pickup now that the layer of those microphonic and squealy overtones are gone.

So …… what’s the thinking here about the length of time to wax pot for ?

Ben

 

[trevorus]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

If you can do it in a vacuum pot, it'll only take a few minutes. Until the bubbles stop.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

Till the tiny bubbles stop floating up. I'm curious to know other people's methods for the following step though.
Do you simply pull it out and put it on paper, or do you quickly transfer it to the fridge or freezer for a few minutes?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

I usually let it sit about 5 minutes in the wax and then just let it dry on some paper towels. I usually do two dips.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

sometimes ill lightly pot a pup, just a quick 30 second dip. for "full" potting i keep it in the wax till the bubbles stop. afterwards i take it out and set it flat on some paper towels and let it cool then wipe away any excess wax

 

[AlexR]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

When the bobbins start to imitate the dali melted clock is probably too long.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

thats a temperature thing more than anything else, i keep my wax around 155 degrees F

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Wax Potting ..... how long is too long in the hot wax ?

If you're not potting in a vacuum chamber, you're probably not eliminating all the air voids. You can wait until the bubbles stop. And you can gently agitate the pot. But unless you're pulling a pretty strong vacuum, the wax probably isn't penetrating into every air void all the way to the center of the coil.