Question about cold solder joints . . .

[msb69]

When you have a cold solder joint in the pedal, will it always sound messed up/non-functional? Or will it work some times and crap out at other times?

I've got a pedal with some intermittent problems, and I'm guessing a cold solder joint could be the culprit.

[MartyMart]

Your first thought is correct, they can cause intermittent problems !
which can be a PITA  :roll:
Look for dull/cracked/pitted solder joints.
Good ones will be shiney and smooth.

Marty.

[PeterJ]

My lap steel was giving me an intermittent crackle. Turns out the ground wire was loose -- it was still connected to the input jack, but was loose enough so the end of the wire could actually spin around in the solder blob! Moral: So-so soldering makes it harder to find the problem.

Peter

[petemoore]

Every offboard wire I 'do' goes through a hole in the board, that way it doens't get 'see sawed' bent back and forth and back...I like to see stranded wires sort of tightly twisted so the strands are bound to one another, having everything 'solid' with no stray strands is the goal when I'm using stranded wire...I try to go for neat, unstressed wiring.
 Cold solders or anything tha twiggles..they're no good IMO...I make it tight and clean.

[ESPguitar]

I've never had any problems with that so i'm wondering what do you guys do with a -cold solder joint-??

RB

[The Tone God]

I've never had any problems with that so i'm wondering what do you guys do with a -cold solder joint-??

Take a few seconds and resolder it properly.

Cold solder joints can occur because:

1. You did not heat up both connections properly.

2. The connections were not clean so the solder did not stick.

3. You moved the connections during the cooling period.

4. Did not use enough solder.

There are a few other reasons but those are the biggies. Don't be lazy or a slob with your soldering. It bit you in the ass later so do it right.

Andrew

[petemoore]

Plan what all the connections per node will look like laid out on the board.
 Clean, Hot, Pencil tip...clean it if it's nasty, wet, wrung out cotton cloth works good, just wipe quickly the tip with that.
 k...adding a 'touch' of solder between the tip and the metalS to be soldered decreases the time it takes for the metals to heat to solder melting temperatures.
 I add dabs of solder so the heat flow's to ALL the metal leads and copper pad, using the 'dab sweep' to draw a small amout of hot solder to the metals that are still cool, increasing the heat conduction, by providing a path...tip, solder, metal'S...every metal surface must attain proper heat level.
 Adding cold solder to the 'heat equations' cools whatever it's added to, allowing the solid metals to heat up before globbing on tons of solder makes for neat joints, and allows the application of just enough solder to make a good physical structure to be easy to produce.
 Tip approach/retreat angles are a good thing to work out.
 Getting the tip to contact as much of/as many of the metals to be heated, then adding conduction helping dab of solder...and allowing the leads and pad to heat before completing the process..adding the amount of solder you want to see...enough to make a hershey's kiss of the pad and lead is the best way I can describe the finished joint...huge globs make a mess...just enough, not too little...definitely not too much.
 I use thin solder, so for a 'standard' joint [1 lead 1 pad] I'll use about 1/2'' of solder.