solder help

[Billy Bones]

I'll bet this has been covered, but I've searched and it's almost 3am, and I'm tired.

I have a weller 60 watt Iron. I'm not a soldering pro at all. Have my first humbucker together and the wax is melted for potting, but I can't get my cover to solder on.

Had a deadly difficult time getting the solder to stick to the backplate too.

Is it just not hot enough? I read a post where someone was talking about their 60 watt Weller and how it was fantastic for everything they were doing.

I sanded. I put some flux on. Just balls up and runs off.

Any help would be appreciated.

Billy Bones

[jack briggs]

Make sure you've got the right solder. 60/40 should work easily. I use a Weller 80watt with a 3/8" chisel tip for humbucker covers. Takes no more than a second or two to get the solder to flow.


Cheers,

[Joe Gwinn]

I have a weller 60 watt Iron. I'm not a soldering pro at all. Have my first humbucker together and the wax is melted for potting, but I can't get my cover to solder on.

Weller makes many kinds of soldering iron. Which model do you have? And which tip, if this can be changed.

[Possum]

...

thats odd, I have a Weller 40 watt, it has an orange handle and an orange LED light to show its on, its plenty hot for baseplates bucker and tele. Cleanliness is a must, use a sponge with water or a Radio shack tip cleaner/tinner. You can't solder stainless maybe thats the problem"?

[Peter Naglitsch]

I got this tip a long time ago and it have always worked for me.
1 sand the surface
2 clean the surface with a pencil eraser
3 clean it once more with denatured alcohol or acetone

You have to sand through the plating to get good adhesion. Not only to rough up the surface

[Chadheckler1]

I agree with possom as I use a weller digital soldering station and I think it is max 50 watts (850 deg) and it does a fine job... I use a 1/8" chisel point (Making sure it is clean...but it sounds like you grasp the cleaning concept) Must be the tip or the solder...

[belwar]

I'll bet this has been covered, but I've searched and it's almost 3am, and I'm tired.

I have a weller 60 watt Iron. I'm not a soldering pro at all. Have my first humbucker together and the wax is melted for potting, but I can't get my cover to solder on.

Had a deadly difficult time getting the solder to stick to the backplate too.

Is it just not hot enough? I read a post where someone was talking about their 60 watt Weller and how it was fantastic for everything they were doing.

I sanded. I put some flux on. Just balls up and runs off.

Any help would be appreciated.

Billy Bones

It's all about the tip.

A fine point just cannot generate the heat nessesary. I use the same 1/8" chisel tip and digital station. I set the temp at 600 and it works great. I dont use flux or pre-sand. Plated cover to unplated base plate. I wedge the tip into the joint of the cover and base plate, then feed in about 2-3 inches of 0.032 rosin core solder. Then I wait about 2-3 seconds and flatten the top against the back plate and move it back and forth for a few seconds. If you need pictures let me know and i'll shoot some for you.

b.

[belwar]

Make sure you've got the right solder. 60/40 should work easily. I use a Weller 80watt with a 3/8" chisel tip for humbucker covers. Takes no more than a second or two to get the solder to flow.


Cheers,

3/8" ??

HOLY CRAP. Yours is bigger than mine. Thats huge.

[Billy Bones]

Thanks for the help guys. I don't know what I'm doing with a soldering iron really. I have a pencil point tip on their and I'll bet that's not letting me get enough heat down. It is interchangeable, I'll get an 1/8 tip and see what it will do.

Billy Bones

[belwar]

Oh yeah that is definetly your problem. When I got started soldering wires to the back of pots I was getting so frustrated. I too was using a pencil tip for all my soldering thinking "finer point is better". I couldnt melt solder on the back of a pot to save my life! Finally I switched to a 1/8" and now I use nothing else. One tip for everything.

[David King]

No tip will conduct heat to the cover if it isn't tinned and wet with solder first (the tip).

I have a 60 watt Hakko temp controlled iron that stopped soldering and it turned out the inside of the tip was all evaporated away so there was no connection to the element inside. I'd never replaced it in 10 years, now I toss a new tip on there every couple of months.

[Possum]

...

Oh yeah the tip is way too small. My Weller is a 20 dollar job, and it is only 40 watts, not digital and have a big tip on it. You need a different iron, I don't use the digital ones just the cheaper one wattage types a 20 watt and a 40 watt, kind of old school but they die you get a new one for cheap, their 40 watt does a great job of opening and closing bucker covers, its hotter than other cheap 40 watters I've bought...

[SteikBacon]

I also have had problems with this. I had a solderstation, which were cheap crap, and got so frustrated with it I just bought a Weller 80W, digital. The old could not do anything, even with a big tip. Could any of you put out a picture?? Then we who struggle have something to compare with...

[Joe Gwinn]

You can't solder stainless maybe that's the problem?

You can solder stainless, but you need the right (acid) flux to do it. Ordinary rosin fluxes won't work, which is why many soldering tools are made of stainless steel.

[Bruce Johnson]

I agree with the above about the soldering iron tips.

I'll also add that a really handy thing to have on the bench for heavier jobs is the Weller 7200 soldering gun. This is the junior-size soldering gun. It's cheap, a comfortable size, and it heats up from cold in 5 seconds or so. The tip is about a 3/16" chisel. It's perfect for heavier wires and soldering to metal parts.