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Soldering Iron for Bass Electronics?

#5
You should be able to solder most joints in bass/effects applications, with the possible exception of grounding on the back of pots with a properly prepared 15W iron. I have used a 20W orange cheapy Weller for many many things and it works well for the $15 it costs. I now have a nice temp controlled station, but here are some tips to get it done on the cheap.
1. Clean joints - use some solder wick to clean everything up if you are reworking old parts. The surfaces must be as clean as possible to make a good connection. New parts and old parts can be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol to remove oil and contaminants.
2. Clean tip - yes, make sure your tip is clean before you attempt the joint. Make sure the tip has been properly tinned and cleaned before every joint on a damp sponge. If you don't know how to tin the tip or what this means, google it. Easy.
3. Flux can be your friend - solder flux (not acid plumbing flux but rosin flux) etches the surfaces about to be joined and makes the joint flow much better. Not necessary for all joints but helps immensely in larger joints (i.e. large ground connections) and may help you "cheat" your way to a good joint. I now use a dropper bottle but have used and still have a flux pen I got for a few bucks. Both work.

Make sure your iron is hot, ready to go, and all surfaces are clean. The cheap pencil irons can work well but the tips wear out much quicker and they don't hold as much heat. Most important - practice. Find something that sucks and disassemble the board, use it to practice installing components, etc.
 
#6
To get by with a low power soldering iron you need a solder with the lowest melting point you can get. That's going to be what they call eutectic solder and it's 67% tin, 37% lead. It melts at around 362F. Get the stuff with a rosin flux core.
 
#7
40 watts works the best for me in doing bass wiring. As mentioned before, this will let you heat pot casings for grounds easily, although it does take a little more care around small terminals and small wire gauges.

You might want to go with less if you're doing any work such as preamp printed circuit boards and such. It doesn't take much to melt the board or lift a pad...:mad:
 
#14
I usually use 40W to 60W. Much more than that and you may jeopardize small components if you don't provide a heat sink. I do find that getting through very old solder sometimes requires more heat than applying new.

And agreed - get the iron FULLY hot BEFORE you touch the affected area - less contact time is less time for heat to go where it's not wanted.
 
#15
Spencer! said:
700 degrees works fine - that's what I use. There's nothing in a bass that's going to fry with too much heat.
Click to expand...

You can ruin the inside of Pots by applying to much heat trying to solder grounds to them, and if soldering something to a preamp board the heat 'can' travel into the board and ruin things.

To general of a statement in my opinion and could cost people money by miss-understanding it.
 
#16
I believe the iron I use is a 45w Craftsman that I've had for several years. I buy new tips for it every now and again, but other than that, it's been great.

I believe someone mentioned removing the solder from a joint... I found using de-soldering braid (bought at Radio Shack) is a cheap and easy way to work with circuitboards and the like.
 
#19
It sounds like you're using a dry iron to reheat old solder. You need to prep the iron just as if you were making a new joint. Google it. In short, clean and tinned tip, and a tiny dot of wet solder on the tip will transfer the heat beautifully.
 
#20
Flux is used to clean the area were you are going to solder. It helps the solder "wet" to the lead and in your case, I assume, terminals. I would recommend eutectic solder which is 63% tin/37% lead. Much easier to work with than the new lead free formulations.

When you make your solder joint, first apply a small amount of flux where you want the solder joint. Next apply a small amount of solder to the CLEAN tip of the iron. It is very important the tip is clean for proper heat transfer. Next touch the tip to where you want to make your joint, the flux should "sizzle" as it cleans the connection area. Quickly and carefully feed the solder wire onto the tip where the joint is so it contacts both pieces of metal. If the tip temperature is hot enough it should flow the solder and make the solder connection. Try to keep your contact with the joint to 3-4 seconds to avoid damage to other components. It will take practice to make a solid joint and remember, more solder is not better.

I would recommend a rosin flux and rosin cored solder wire. It is usually active enough to make a good connection on dirty/old components. I would clean the connection with a little alcohol to remove exces flux. There are also no-clean varieties of flux but would be harder for the average person to get ahold of and might not be the best choice for old pots anyway. I would stay away from Organic Acid fluxes. Although they work very well they will corrode metals if not cleaned properly.
 

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