Why won't my solder stick?!!

simonbeckwith

bought a nice new wiring loom for my tokai love rock, can I get the bastard soldered together....can I f*#k!!

anything that needs to be soldered to the back of any pot just won't stay put.

soldering to the tabs is fine.

is it the iron, the solder or the pots?

ive even used some sandpaper to rough up the back of the pot to try to help it stick but to no avail.

any help would be much appreciated before the lot goes in the dustbin!

octatonic

How hot is your iron?

simonbeckwith

I've just put it on my tongue and it hurt....pretty hot?

*jokes*

its a 15w draper soldering iron....is it too low wattage? 

If so, what would you recommend I get instead?

Winny_Pooh

You need way more heat, on a budget you can get a plumbers iron and use it for pots only. 

octatonic

Yes, that is too low, imho.
You end up having to leave the iron on the pot too long with such a low wattage iron.

I use a Maplins 48w solder station.

simonbeckwith

Pukka, cheers chaps.

i shall calmly pack it all away for another day....

ICBM

30W minimum. Maplin do a reasonably good one, it's actually cheaper than the lower-powered ones.

Also, only get the added-silver lead-free solder, if you can't get leaded. It's much more expensive than the plain lead-free, but it's worth every penny of the extra - it flows and wets the surfaces much better.

ThorpyFX

Also worth noting that the backs of pots seem to have a coating on them that isn't that attractive to solder. I clean any guitar pot I buy with alcohol, then I lightly scratch the area I want to solder onto with a sharp edge. This gives me a surface that is better able to accept the solder. 

Kalimna

As a quick follow up question (im having a go at some homebuilt pedals - a Lovepedal Woodrow and a Red Llama so far, all thanks to tagboardeffects forum), i have the variable temp Maplin 48w solder station - what temperature should i set it at?

Cheers,
Adam

lasermonkey

60/40 Tin/Lead; 375 deg.C.
 Lead-Free: try 425 deg. C.

Megii

I think 15W will be too low power for the back of pots. In the past, I've managed to solder to the back of pots quite successfully using a cheapo Maplins 30W iron:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-30w-mains-soldering-iron-n38ac

...although I used a broad "chisel" tip which I don't think comes with the iron as standard (they sell them separately). Procedure would be to scratch (or sand) the back of the pots and apply a bit of solder directly on there. Then make sure the wire you're attaching to the pot is pre-tinned, hold that against the pot with the iron tip and feed in a bit more solder. It always has worked fine anyhow, and I never managed to damage a pot doing the job this way. I usually used Maplins lead-free silver solder.

simonbeckwith

Cheers all, much appreciated

Kalimna

Ditto above. Cheers,
Adam

robgilmo

Are you tinning the wires first? Also tin the tip of your soldering iron if it isn't shiny.
Basically use sand paper to clean the tip of your iron, wrap solder around the tip, switch the iron on until the solder melts, wipe off the excess with a damp sponge and your tip should be ready to use. It should be nice and shiny, try not to use too much flux.

Sporky

Sand paper and sponges are a bit four-decades-ago. Modern soldering iron tips have coatings that shouldn't be removed, and brass shavings pads clean better without cooling or corroding the tip.

robgilmo

That makes sense , I'm at least four decades ago on the best of days.

simonbeckwith

Higher wattage soldering iron purchased and everything is sorted

thanks all

paulnb57

Excellent!