What's my major soldering malfunction?

[iaresee]

I can't make solder "blobs". I've tried. For years now. Can't do it. It's a mental block or something. Any time I have to bind a wire to a larger metal flange, like on a jack or a pot, my connection seems precarious. Even with a little flux on the flange I can't get the solder to cover the big gaping hole. How can I make my wire-to-flange connections look more like the ones in this picture? Those are nice. Solid. Any tips? Thanks. (Actually, the whole layout is pretty darn nice in this box. I have to start routing my wires along the sides like that.)

[petemoore]

  basically the right' materials and heat.
  Materials...ie that can be soldered and 'take' solder easily'.
  Heat, as in enough to heat the All materials to be soldered to solder melting temerature.
  I can't see what your soldering joints look like but:
cold solders are a common enough problem, and often caused by not enough heat caused by too much cold solder [solder is always cold until heated, the heating process sucks heat out of...whatever it heating the cold solder]...ie, add enough solder to the clean tip [everything clean] and to 'flow' the heat transfer, and maybe a touch more to increase the heat 'flow' across say a wire to another piece of what's to be a solder joint, then let the solder, and all the materials heat up [ie don't add more cold solder to the mix for ~a few seconds]. 
  Some metals of course simply won't 'take' solder, ..not sure if this isn't the problem.

[m-theory]

Sounds like you're iron isn't quite hot enough for those larger surface areas.  Going to a slightly larger tip (i.e. if you're currently using a conical tip, switch to a small chisel, for instance) would likely resolve it.  Also, the eutectic solder is really nice to work with, as it melts and flows easier than 60/40 does. 

[iaresee]

Thanks guys. I'll post some pics tonight to show off my problems. I found this particularly frustrating trying to get some pickups installed (soldering the shield braid to the pots) and of course my input/output jacks. I'm using a small chisel tip already. I'll have to check the iron setting. I usually run it at about 75% of max.

[Mark Hammer]

Think of it in terms of heat inflow compared to heat outflow.  Large surfaces have a way of dissipating heat.  Solder flow is going to be a function of localized heat.  If there is too much heat dissipation or redirection to maintain a high local temperature, then solder flow may be reduced.  Simplest solution is to make heat inflow greater than heat outflow; i.e., a higher wattage/temperature iron.  Given that lead will eventually disappear from solder and require higher temperatures, just as well that you shift to higher temperatures now.

[eurekaiv]

To add to what was said above, touching the iron to a large area that dissipates a lot of heat will suck temperature from the iron tip as well so the ability of the iron to recover the lost temperature quickly is also a factor—albeit not as significant.  This tends to be a problem moreso with the irons that plug straight into the wall.

[trendyironicname]

+1 on heat and trying the chisel tip.

[aron]

Yeah, it's gotta be not enough heat and surface area.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Also most pot cases are crap material for soldering to. I always need to file the spot on the pot case before I start to try to solder. It is never a pleasure.

[soulsonic]

LOL @ OP's pic!!!! The Landgraff SHO clone!

[iaresee]

LOL @ OP's pic!!!! The Landgraff SHO clone!

Opps. YEa, it came out of a TGP thread I've been following on the usual cloning stuff. It was just a nice clear shot of what I was after in terms of solder. If that's bad I'm sure I can find another picture.

[iaresee]

So I'm using a Weller 921ZX soldering station. I usually keep it set around 375 C. At that temp I can be in, soldered and off a pad in a few seconds. It'll do up to 450 C. It's older and I'm wondering now if the power supply might be failing. I do use a smaller chisel tip.

For the pot soldering on my guitar I did take a chisel to the casing to rough it up a bit before trying to solder the shield to the casing. With the iron maxed after a minute or so I got a very small amount of solder to join the pot casing to the shield braid on the wire. It's precarious at best and certainly not the healthy blob that the person at the Gibson factory used to install the original pickups (a blob I have to say I was unable to heat up to remove from the casing).

So here's a lousy picture I snapped tonight. Apparently my lousy wire-to-flange soldering skills are only marginally better than my lousy macro photography skills with my aging Canon A40.



Click for full size. Note: the minimal solder on that flange. It's not really all that secure.

[soulsonic]

Hmmmm.... well, I'd suggest trying a solder with highly active flux, like Kester 44. But maybe the problem is that the iron tip isn't tinned well enough before working on the joint. Make sure the tip is nice and shiny clean, then melt some solder onto it (but not a huge glob). That might help get it to stick and flow better on the joint. Have the wire in place first of course, and then just hold the well-tinned tip on the joint for a few seconds. Then, slowly add some more solder to the joint until it flows evenly over the whole lug. That's pretty much how I do it, and I do most of my soldering at around 375 no problem. I'll usually swirl the tip around across the lug in a circular motion a bit to spread the solder (and the heat) around the whole thing.

[eurekaiv]

If I've just got one small wire to a lug I've never felt like I should fill the it with solder for that. Plus I've always been of the mindset of using only as much solder as is necessary.  I typically make a joint that looks closer to iaresee's sample then the photo of :choke: Landgraff's build.  I figure as long as my joint is nice, clean, shiny and working I'm good to go. Is this a bad thing?  Should I really be using more? 

[raulgrell]

Depends what for... in my experience, it's better to put a nice amount of solder on wires, and less so on components... keeps wires in place and makes components easier to remove.

[iaresee]

I figure as long as my joint is nice, clean, shiny and working I'm good to go. Is this a bad thing?  Should I really be using more? 

I'm currently having issues with the connections failing. In some cases actually breaking off. That's why I'm on the quest to make these more durable.

[GREEN FUZ]

Pre-tinning the wire is also a good idea when attaching to jack lugs. Twist the strands together and apply a small amount of solder to them. This not only makes it easier to work with but will also aid the dispersal of heat. Form a small hook that you can attach to the lug, with pliers if needs be, then put the iron tip in the centre of the lug before applying the solder.

[DougH]

Make sure you touch both pieces you are joining with your iron. With enough heat, touching the solder to one piece (or the joint) will make it flow over both pieces. Once it flows and covers the target area, remove the iron. You need both pieces to get hot to make a good connection. Always pre-tin multistrand wire. I use 63/37 solder and it works great. That's all I can think of for now...

Re. soldering to the back of pots- I have never been successful with that. Doesn't matter if I sand them or not. Last amp I built I established a ground buss with 18awg buss wire. I could never get the "back of the pot" thing to work (which I never really liked anyway) so I just attached the wire to 2 endpoints and wired jumpers to it from the pots/board. Works fine.

[iaresee]

Just an update. Thanks for all the helpful posts. I did a junction box this weekend and using a combination things soldering up that hookup wire to the those big old lugs on the jacks went...well. I jacked the temperature up on the iron. Used a little bit of flux paste on the lug. And switched to Multicore 63/37 5 core solder for the lugs. Worked like a charm. On and off quick with a nice, big bit of solder holding it all together.

[darron]

one way if you want to almost guarantee it, is to not let the solder actually touch your iron. place your iron onto whatever you are soldering, then touch the solder in the the gap between the wire and whatever you are soldering it to. this will make sure there's enough heat at the base for it to melt the solder and mould it around itself. i might only ever do that for something like a ground wire on the top of a pot when my cheap and weak iron just isn't making the scratch and i don't just want the solder blobbed on top of it. you should get something smooth, round, and shiny. if the solder never melts, then your iron wasn't hot enough to begin with.