More Soldering Help

[CharvelRocker]

Ok I'm just not good at this I think, but here we go: I'm having issues getting the solder to form a joint on the pot. I'm using .032 diameter solder, and a ColdHeat soldering gun, but it just refuses to form any type of joint whatsoever. I tried putting some flux on the pot, thinking maybe it was just dirty, but it didnt help. I'm kinda lost here

[Sunbane]

Sounds like you aren't getting the pot hot enough. How powerful is your iron? The 15W ones for fine electronics aren't going to cut it. I would consider a 25W iron a bare minimum, and I'd recommend getting a 35-40W one.

[MountainDog]

This thread should explain everything to you:

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47675&highlight=cold+heat

After reading that, go out and buy the highest wattage soldering iron radio shack has and some rosin core solder.

[Nazgul]

The 15W ones for fine electronics aren't going to cut it. I would consider a 25W iron a bare minimum, and I'd recommend getting a 35-40W one.

Great info, thanks. I'm about to buy a soldering iron myself and almost went for a 15W one. Now I'll just take the 30W .

[fett]

Soldering scares me to death. One of these days I'll give it a go. The things I will do if I am going to put a lot of solder on a pot are. 1. Sand the surface. 2. Use lighter fluid to clean it up. 3. Use something as a heat sink to wrap around the body of the pot. I can see me getting the pot so hot that it fries the guts when all I wanted to do if get the top hot.

[dg]

Those Cold Heat gizmos are a marketing gimmick. There are tons of bad reviews for it online, and I think it has like 1 star on Amazon. It will melt solder, but won't heat the components up properly to get a good joint. You end up with cold solder joints if you can get it to work at all. Also, since it creates an electric arc at the tip, it's not exactly something you want around your electronics, especially circuit boards.

[Sunbane]

I would advice against using heatsinks, because that would just cause the pot casing to take longer to heat up. (Btw, this is also why you should avoid weak irons.)

You'll want to get the casing hot quickly, so you can do the soldering and be done with it. With a weak iron, you need to heat the pot a lot longer before you can solder on it - and then the heat has time to build up inside.

Don't worry about the wood - it will be okay as long as you don't hack the iron directly into it.

I would also recommend using a liquid flux (just apply a little to the back of the pot using a small brush). The flux is acidic, and will eat up the surface oxides, making it a lot easier to get a good solder joint.

EDIT: Make sure to rinse the brush afterwards, because otherwise the flux will eat the brush hairs with time.

[MountainDog]

The key to soldering on a pot is to have an iron that has enough watts so that its heat isn't 'wicked' away by all the metal on a pot. A 15 watt iron will have it's heat sucked away by the pot so you'll never melt the solder. A high wattage/high temp iron won't get it's heat sucked out as fast and will melt solder quickly on a pot.

This radio shack iron is nice in that it has a holder and is switchable 20 or 40 watts for $22.99:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062750

This one is very nice if you do a lot of soldering or have the $ to spend @ $62.99:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062751

Cleaning the tip of the soldering iron on a piece of sponge wetted with water also helps much when soldering anything. You can see the two irons above come with a little sponge and holder for that purpose. You can use any standard kitchen cleaning sponge or even a rag soaked in water to do the same thing.

I use something very similar to the more expensive one above and it solders to pots in seconds.

[MountainDog]

You'll want to get the casing hot quickly, so you can do the soldering and be done with it. With a weak iron, you need to heat the pot a lot longer before you can solder on it - and then the heat has time to build up inside.

Exactly! Pay the $ and get a good iron.

[fett]

I would advice against using heatsinks, because that would just cause the pot casing to take longer to heat up. (Btw, this is also why you should avoid weak irons.)

.

I'll try it both ways on beaters.

[CharvelRocker]

Ah, ok. We have like a heavy duty 30 watt iron, but I hate to use it because the tip isnt in good shape. I'll give it a go then I guess. Thanks

[max]

Soldering scares me to death. One of these days I'll give it a go.

You need a cheap guitar to practice on.

[Kii]

I'm fairly new to soldering, but instead of buying a cheap Radio Shack iron, I went ahead and spent $50 on a Weller WLC100. The only complaint that I have about that particular model, is that it comes with a fairly large tip, but if you're just doing basic soldering it's fine.

[MountainDog]

Ah, ok. We have like a heavy duty 30 watt iron, but I hate to use it because the tip isnt in good shape. I'll give it a go then I guess. Thanks

Use a file or coarse sandpaper and touch up the old tip so its clean and shiny again. Then 'tin' the tip when its hot with solder.

[MountainDog]

I'm fairly new to soldering, but instead of buying a cheap Radio Shack iron, I went ahead and spent $50 on a Weller WLC100. The only complaint that I have about that particular model, is that it comes with a fairly large tip, but if you're just doing basic soldering it's fine.

Just buy some smaller tips. They just unscrew off and on.

http://www.action-electronics.com/west.htm