Is a 40 watt Soldering Iron too much

[Youngspanion]

Today I had to repair a broken wire on the jack on my bass. The nut loosened and when I tried to turn it on tighter, I twisted the jack and the wire came off.

This was my first soldering job but I got every thing at radio shack no problem. The iron got real hot pretty quick and I noticed that the solder kind of had a hard time staying on the spot. But it worked. I just think I may have needed a less wattage iron.

[calebbarton]

just practice using it. thats pretty much the same one i have and i love it. it takes practice and patients and if you can manage to find a good solder to pair it with you will not be disappointed. dont get cheap solder. thats probably whats causing the problem.

[Turock]

Originally Posted by calebbarton

it takes practice and patients

Yeah, you gotta send a few people to the hospital before you get it right.

[202dy]

It is not so much a problem with the lugs on a jack. On electrical components like potentiometers and capacitors, overheating can cause damage. The difference between a 15 watt iron and a 40 watt iron is how long it takes to heat the part to the critical point. If you leave a 15 watt iron in contact long enough it will cause the same kind of damage. But in general, the lower wattage will give you a little more time to perform the repair.

Repeat the mantra: Practice on scrap. Practice on scrap.

[M0ses]

Originally Posted by 202dy

Repeat the mantra: Practice on scrap. Practice on scrap.

I've never understood this. How do you know if you've heated scrap to the damaging point?

[Bevo1995]

I like my 40 watt iron because it is *fast*. But it can also overheat a part *fast*. As far as solder goes I look for the stuff with the lowest melting point. This usually means lead based, rosin core solder. I don't like silver solder because it is expensive and has a higher melting point. I also don't like messing around with flux, therefore the rosin core. Without a flux of some kind even the most expensive solder won't stick.

[fourstringburn]

40 watt is fine as long as you do it right. I use a real thin gauge solder because it melts fast and it makes neater solder joints without excessive solder beads. Always heat the connection first, then apply the solder while heating to fuse the connections together. Never melt the solder first to the connection as this makes a cold solder joint that will eventually fail.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by M0ses

I've never understood this. How do you know if you've heated scrap to the damaging point?

You will not know when you have overheated a functioning part, either. The idea behind practicing on scrap is to get the part just hot enough to melt the solder and get the iron off it as soon as the solder flows. Do it enough times and you will get a feel for how long it takes with your tool. Cleaning up the part with a sharp probe or some fine sandpaper will make the solder stick faster.

My personal preference is a 25 watt iron for general work and a 40 watt iron for jacks and copper foil shielding. You may find you like something else. The only way to tell is through practice. Scrap is cheaper than buying brand new pots.

[Craig_S]

A 25 watt pencil isn't hot enough for the back of potentiometers, but it's plenty hot for lugs and jacks. Having to hold the 25 watt iron on the back of the pot for long enough to get it hot will destroy some pots. Prolonged heating causes damage. A 45 watt iron heats the back quickly, allowing it to be removed quickly.

[MKoby]

20/40 W here.
Keep the tip clean and tinned.
Be quick, just enough time for solder to flow.

[seanm]

I use a 35W soldering iron for doing repairs to pots, jacks and generally everything in a passive bass. Like Craig_S said, you want a hotter iron to handle soldering to the backs of pots.

I use a 25W iron for general electronics works.

[willsellout]

I have a 50 watt station but I can adjust the temp on it, which is really nice. It was the best hundred bucks I ever spent.

[walterw]

i learned from watching seymour duncan wire up a strat harness (on that video from the website) to use a powerful iron with a fat tip to do this work. it gets the part hot right away, the solder melts completely right away, and you can get the iron back off of the part a lot more quickly, saving time (and the part).

of course both the iron and the parts need to be cleaned and tinned, so solder flows rather than beading up.

(big +1 to the adjustable 50w station.)

[Turbo1]

When I replaced the pots in my 4 string I used my Weller D550 (260 watt) gun. it worked well for soldering wires to the back of the CTS pots.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by Craig_S

A 25 watt pencil isn't hot enough for the back of potentiometers, but it's plenty hot for lugs and jacks. Having to hold the 25 watt iron on the back of the pot for long enough to get it hot will destroy some pots. Prolonged heating causes damage. A 45 watt iron heats the back quickly, allowing it to be removed quickly.

Agreed. Hotter iron is quicker. Not as critical when installing a fresh pot. But real handy when attempting to melt through a huge glob of solder on an old pot.

[Ric5]

Originally Posted by M0ses

I've never understood this. How do you know if you've heated scrap to the damaging point?

Practice on SX basses

[JZQuantum]

Originally Posted by Turock

Yeah, you gotta send a few people to the hospital before you get it right.

An instant classic...

[Youngspanion]

The other problem of course is keeping the bass CLEAR!

I just wraped an old tshirt around the jack and I had to be pretty carefull. ONe wrong move and you get the molten solder on the bass.

[JackANSI]

A 25 watt iron will work for anything small, including the back of pots. Soldering takes practice, thats it. 40 watt will be fine though.


The best choice, is going to be a temperature controlled soldering station. You set the temp and it only applies enough wattage to keep the element at that temp. You can get them now for $80 or less (Aoyue i2901), the tips contain the heating elements (heats up to 400C in 8 seconds), and the tips are about $12 a piece (one tip lasts me 4-6 months of heavy use(2-5 hours a day)).

[lethargytartare]

Originally Posted by M0ses

I've never understood this. How do you know if you've heated scrap to the damaging point?

You don't practice to learn how much it takes to damage the electronics, but rather to get good enough that you never get to that point.