Solder Flux

[badgermark]

So it's half nine on Christmas day, the presents are open, and I'm waiting o my girlfriend getting ready. So a question about flux...

What is it and how do I use it? I have a tub of flux paste, and some flux cored solder, also some lead free solder, which I use all time.

I have been using the tub to clean the tip of my soldering iron, a quick dip and wipe with a sponge seems to get most of the cr@p off. Also notice a lot of it on the back of tone pots, should I be using this here or just use my flux core stuff?

Merry Christmas. I hate this time of year.

[QS-Nalle]

Hi and merry Christmas to you too.......can't stand it either

The purpose of the flux is to clean the surface so that it accepts the solder more easily......for example if the surface has some grease on it or oxidation or something like that that really makes the soldering more difficult.
A good example:
I had a set of Seymour Duncan Blackouts to put in for a customer of mine.
As usual there is the normal ground wire soldering to do on the pots. Not so fast! These pots gad some very pasty sticky grease on them so the solder didn't stick at all.......tried the fiber glass pen and scratched and cleaned the pots......same thing! WTF!!!!! So i took out the jar of trusty flux or soldering paste and cleaned the things 4 times before I could have any solder stick to the pots......so that was a lot of work for a set of Blackouts.....
Anyway that what that does....
The blackouts are way better sounding btw than the EMG 81 model.....thats just my opinion anyway so if you want active pickups (I don't, passives all the way for me) try the Blackouts! But mind the soldering on the pots, I hope that every set is not like this one.........

[Jonesy76]

I cheat!!! :twisted:


I have an exceedingly sad second hobby from my guitars, you could say it's the polar opposite of the coolness of guitar playing.............

I'm into model railways, specifically tiny little 009 narrow gauge ones :oops:

But I make the most unbelievable kit locomotives completely out of brass.  You can't glue these kits and therefore have to stick every tiny, thin, brass component together using solder and a soldering iron.  This means that your solder has to flow perfectly and the only the way to get that is via damn good flux.

I use Frys Powerflow flux and really low melt (145 degree C) solder.  It makes quick and easy work of any soldering job and flows beautifully.

[Ted]

I cheat!!! :twisted:


I have an exceedingly sad second hobby from my guitars, you could say it's the polar opposite of the coolness of guitar playing.............

I'm into model railways, specifically tiny little 009 narrow gauge ones :oops:

But I make the most unbelievable kit locomotives completely out of brass.  You can't glue these kits and therefore have to stick every tiny, thin, brass component together using solder and a soldering iron.  This means that your solder has to flow perfectly and the only the way to get that is via damn good flux.

I use Frys Powerflow flux and really low melt (145 degree C) solder.  It makes quick and easy work of any soldering job and flows beautifully.

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Did you use this stuff in your W build?

[Jonesy76]

In my Warmoth build and in my 335 re-wiring job that I've got up here in the tech section.  Both guitars work perfectly