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Anyone else having problems with CTS pots?

#21
I thought mine was bad! Anyway, I'm thinking its the solder I'm using. I lent a roll to a friend a while back and I'm pretty sure he replaced it with some non-rosin junk. It seems to turn a rainbow color almost as soon as it melts and isn't flowing right which would account for the excess heat time in the pots I suppose. The silver solder I have is very thick and I don't even wanna try to use it. I picked up some true 60/40 rosin core (what I was sure I had) today and I have another set of pots coming tomorrow. I experimented with the new solder and it is 100x better. I could barely tin the wire ends with the other stuff. I'll report back when I get the new job done.
 
#22
delta7fred said:
This was from a Strat that our guitarist asked me if I could repair.

uQAOz7z.jpg


Ho much solder do you need on the back of one pot? Pretty bad soldering all round.
Click to expand...

Wow that looks like a scene from a horror movie.:hyper:
I soldered 3 cts pots for the first time a few weeks ago, didn't have any problems. I tinned the wire, then I heated the back of the pot and put a tiny blob of solder on it. From there I just soldered them together. I didn't sandpaper the back of the pot. I did use a nice hakko soldering station which I highly recommend.
 
#23
I'm no expert but i did my fair share of soldering. Don't know the brands of pots i've used, i'd guess mostly chinese or allparts. Still, it has never ever happened to me to burn a pot. I mean, do they actually get fried or what?

EDIT: Wow that soldering is horrible.
 
#24
eukatheude said:
I'm no expert but i did my fair share of soldering. Don't know the brands of pots i've used, i'd guess mostly chinese or allparts. Still, it has never ever happened to me to burn a pot. I mean, do they actually get fried or what?

EDIT: Wow that soldering is horrible.
Click to expand...

I decided to rewire some of the CTS pots last night with clean solder and new wire and it appears I did indeed cook at least two of them. I wired them exactly the same way as the other pots (apparently the no names are Bournes pots) and had the same issue. I think the combination of using the odd solder and heat is what did it but the CTS saw no more heat then the Bournes, so I guess the CTS are just a bit more heat sensitive as one poster pointed out. I'm still scratching my head over it because I keep hearing that it really takes alot to really burn one out and I thought I was being careful. I'm going to start fresh this afternoon with another set of CTS and the new solder and see what happens. I'm making a few different harnesses with different cap values.
 
#25
petrus61 said:
There is an original post to accompany the thread title.
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SHEEZ! Does nobody on this forum know what a rhetorical question is?

Obviously, the OP has either overheated it or damaged it physically, since CTS pots are the standard by which all other pots are measured, OEM on just about every electric guitar and bass since there have been electric guitars and basses, and continue to be on quality instruments.

I even had a tech take the guts out of one and put it in another when I physically damaged one that had a particular shaft that is no longer made for an old Big Muff that I have from the early '70's that I purchased back then.
 
#26
I also picked up a broader tip but its still a fine point..just a hair bigger. I couldn't find a chisel tip to match my iron. I'm definitely willing to chalk it up to inexperience but thought it was odd it was only the CTS pots that were failing me. I guess I was failing the pots! My first few soldering jobs I used CTS with no problems at all...but at that time I was using a new iron and the proper solder. Armed with this info and the proper tools, I'm confident I'll nail it this time. Should I tin the iron and clean it with the copper sponge before storage or leave it tinned?
 
#27
petrus61 said:
I decided to rewire some of the CTS pots last night with clean solder and new wire and it appears I did indeed cook at least two of them. I wired them exactly the same way as the other pots (apparently the no names are Bournes pots) and had the same issue. I think the combination of using the odd solder and heat is what did it but the CTS saw no more heat then the Bournes, so I guess the CTS are just a bit more heat sensitive as one poster pointed out. I'm still scratching my head over it because I keep hearing that it really takes alot to really burn one out and I thought I was being careful. I'm going to start fresh this afternoon with another set of CTS and the new solder and see what happens. I'm making a few different harnesses with different cap values.
Click to expand...

Is it working with the Bourns pots? If so why not stick with them. I use Bourns pots in my builds and find them to be as good if not better than CTS
 

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