Pickup Soldering - 30W

[oddjobpeters]

I seem to have hit a bit of a snag in my pickup swap. I have a 30W iron but can't seem to get the solder to flow on the ground wire connection (pot casing) to my Gibson Les Paul. Do I need a hotter iron? Or do I just wait forever. I'm afraid to kill the pot. I can disconnect the wire leads no problem, but it's the big blob of solder I can't seem to move.

Thanks!

[Jef Bardsley]

A hotter iron with a big tip is highly recommended. The danger of waiting is that the heat will spread while you wait. You need enough BTUs in the tip to do the job quickly.

An alternative approach is to take the casing off the pot (just undo those little tabs).

Also, be sure the tip you have is clean - the crud that builds up on them is an insulator.

[GtrDr]

I use a 40w pencil, works great.

[Gasp100]

I use a 40w pencil, but it's old and not a very good one. I usually "tin" the ends of the ground wires with solder and also try and just drop some solder right on the back of the pot as well. This usually works better than trying to melt and reuse old solder on the back of the pot.
If it's a brand new pot some recommend using sandpaper to scrape the back of the pot first.

[Boris Bubbanov]

Originally Posted by GtrDr

I use a 40w pencil, works great.

+1

40 seems a real good choice. Strong enuf to do the job, but not enough to mess up the pickups nor to normally hurt pots or caps.


Bubban0v