My dad was an electronics engineer. I've been soldering since about I was 12...but never on pots. I think I cooked 1 or 2.
Tricks in the context of guitars?
Tags:
dont try to solder the wire in one go. do as Ben said. scuff the back of the pot and get a hot iron and use flux if the solder doesnt have enough/any and don't hold the iron on the pot for too long. get a blob of solder sticking to the back first then add the wires.
Never thought of using sinks. That's going in the repertoire...
Okay, if you think it through, you will realize the only reason to solder to the back of a pot is that it is a convenient location to solder one leg of the capacitor and a ground wire or two. That being said, there is no requirement to solder these things to the top of the pot. Just solder them together hanging.
Option two (and this is a lot easier than you might think). Take a small screwdriver or scribe and bend the tabs holding the pot cover on. Gently remove the cover and solder away. You won't cool anything with this approach. This is the method I use (after cooking a brand new pot).
Tip: Don't use a monster sized soldering iron. A 25 watt iron is usually plenty. Also make sure you are using rosin core solder 60/40 works great and doesn't take a lot of heat.
Rosin core check
Pot of flux check.
Scuff check
Gonna try the screwdriver trick on one I've cooked, I'll learn something seeing the inside of a pot too...
I pulled the cans off two burnt pots and soldered. Man, was that easy. Gonna remember that.
Question about the can metal...is it resistant to fatigue breaking, or does it have more than 2 bends in it?
I think that as long as you only bend them just enough to get the can off the pot, you should have a half dozen or more bend attempts.
And don't apply the flux to the hot iron like Tim Sway does. I just use a piece of wood to put the flux on surfaces. And for wires, I just poke them in the paste before tinning them.
I use a long stick cotton swab, stick end, not the cotton.
Some pots come with a tab on the front side edge. I bend them to the side, scuff and solder to the tab. This keeps the heat in the tab and side of the pot instead of right over the element. If no tab, I solder to the side of the pot.
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray on Friday. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray on Friday. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. on Thursday. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango Apr 22. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Joe in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Carl Floyd Feb 29. 13 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Chance in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 22. 12 Replies 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!