Soldering The Back Of Pots

[MrBump]

No, not a plea for help - a resolution!

I've always struggled with this - I've rewired lots of guitars, and while connecting wires to lugs has never been an issue, I've always struggled getting solder onto the back of a volume pot to earth.

I now know what I've been doing wrong - it was the solder.

With my latest Charvel rebuild, I decided to order some solder along with all the other bits from Axes R Us.  The solder they supplied has a rosin core, and it worked perfectly - did exactly what it was supposed to do, made a nice covering on the back of the pot, allowed for really easy connections.

If you're struggling, I'd strongly suggest testing a few different types of solder.

[Dave Sloven]

I use the 60/40 stuff with lead - the no/low lead stuff just requires too much heat

[Dmoney]

A flux core will help you a lot. A good hot iron that's well looked after will help too. Doesn't have to be too expensive, but a good iron goes a long way. Takes less time to heat a small area, so you don't have to hold the iron on too long to transfer more heat which risks damaging the pot.

60/40 leaded is a good but sometimes hard to come by in the street, since using it for anything other than hobbies is now illegal.
If you need to go lead free, Rapid Electronics do a Premium Lead-Free solder with a bit of copper and silver in it and a flux core which works really well.

Maplins lead free is to be avoided at all cost!

More expensive lead free stuff tends to have a higher silver content to lower the melting point. Cardas, WBT, and Mundorf make some fancy solder that is lead free and has a low melting point.

Shop around!

[Dave Sloven]

60/40 leaded is a good but sometimes hard to come by in the street, since using it for anything other than hobbies is now illegal.

Aaaahhhh, I live outside the EU, in Australia.  I have a heap of it and no worries getting more.  Jaycar (the biggest store for electronic geeks) have it all the time.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=NS3010

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I had the same problem, but then I got some weller 60/40 solder with a rosin core flux and wow what a difference it made. I also got an antex iron which made a huge difference, well worth the extra money for the better solder though.

[Philly Q]

Yeah, I still use the old 60/40 rosin core solder with lead, much easier to work with than the lead-free shite and doesn't stink so badly either.

I've got enough stockpiled to last me a while (.... probably forever at my usual rate of progress on "projects"...  :| )

[Afghan Dave]

I've just found and bought some lead solder from the local dodgy poundshop!

Success!   :P

[darkandrew]

Another tip is that since traditional tin/lead solder is still allowed for safety critical applications (including automotive uses) you can still buy it cheaply and easily from Halfords.

[jpfamps]

Didn't know you could get the leaded solder from Halfords.

A good tip.