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Soldering Tools

#21
#22
doctone said:
Soldering is a substantial part of my everyday job. Here are just a few hints from my experience:
  • Your goal is to transfer the necessary amount of heat to the parts being soldered in a short time.
  • Wattage is not as important as a wide enough soldering tip. For working on an instrument's electronics, I would choose an at least 5 mm wide chisel-type tip.
  • During soldering, keep the tip clean and wet at the same time. Burned flux residues will hinder heat transfer, and a good amount of solder is needed for transfer. This means that you should clean your tip before soldering (not after!) and immediately apply some solder to keep it wet at all times.
    Do not save on solder.
  • If a lot of solder accumulates on the tip, it is often convenient to "knock it off" by hitting your soldering iron on a soft edge instead of wiping the tip on a sponge all the time.
  • Get soldering wire with a flux core, about 1 mm thick would be ideal. If you can get it (RoHS restrictions), leaded solder is easier to process, but it is not necessary.
  • I would prefer any cheapo no-name soldering station off Aliexpress over a soldering iron that plugs directly into mains, regardless of brand name.
Click to expand...
I'm going to take your suggestion and look for a 5mm chisel-type tip. The one I use now is just a pointed tip and I noticed that even on high settings it seems like it takes a long time to heat up the parts. Thanks for the info!
 
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#23
When I work on guitars/ basses, I use my Weller W100PG exclusively.

A bit powerful and hot so you need just a few seconds to get a good solder but it’s perfect when soldering on a potentiometer when you need more heat and quick melt.

For the solder, I still prefer the one with lead although it’s toxic. I tried the silver versions but never been successful with it.

 
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#24
If you happen to have Milwaukee M12 power tools, Milwaukee offers an M12 cordless soldering iron that is really a great piece of equipment. I work as an automotive wiring harness tech and I use mine daily. It does EVERYTHING I need from light circuit board work to heavy 6MM wire terminations. It is a bit pricey at $100 for the bare tool (no battery) but the portability is a huge bonus if you can use that feature.
 
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#28
These were on my bench in the beginning:
Get on YouTube and check out a couple soldering tutorials. Here are a couple to start:

(After watching a couple, the YouTube algorithms will go "oh, they like SOLDERING! Here's a bunch of videos" and you'll be inundated with links.

The Weller WLC100 is fantastic for casual soldering. But if you are sitting at a bench for hours like I am, a digital temp controlled iron is best, but definitely not necessary to get started.

The Knipex strippers are amazing, but muchmore expensive than your basic $4 Harbor Freight wire strippers. If you're not stripping wires all the time, just get the cheap Harbor Freight strippers!

Solder diameter: People don't talk about this much, but the diameter of you solder makes a HUGE difference. I was using what I'd call "standard" diameter solder (what you'd get at Home Depot) for many years, and only last year moved to 0.025" diameter solder. GAME CHANGER!!! The larger the solder diameter, the more it will wick heat from your solder joint before it melts. Smaller diameter solder melts and flows quicker, which is what you want for small work.

Cheers!
 
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#30
I'll add that if you only need to wire up guitars, very few tools are needed. For example helping hands are practically useless for that task (useless in general for me)

If you build pedals it's pretty different. You're going to need smaller tips, controlled temperature, 63/37 eutectic solder is nice to have, blue tack, a good solder sucker, solder wick, needle nose pliers, side cutters, flux etc
 
#31
Liquid Flux, lots of flux. Sometimes called rosin. It is key to a good soldering job. Keep your iron tip clean by wiping it on a damp sponge as you work, a "soldering station" is good, it holds the iron, the sponge and a small needle bottle for the flux. Some alligator clips to attach to the work and dissipate heat of effeciently. Q-tips and a bottle of 93% alcohol to clean the work before you begin. I use everclear, but a high percentage rubbing alcohol is okay (there are varying opinions on this). A soldering bulb or plunger vac to clean up a resoldering job.

Ir your are soldering around certain electronic components you may require a soldering "gun" to protect the circuitry.

Youtube can easily get you through the learning phase.
 
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#33
Check out the Seymour Duncan site for wiring diagrams. Extremely clear pictorial wiring diagrams, with color-coded wire paths and good nots. Invaluable for the schematic challenged like myself. I've wired four basses using their diagrams, all fired up right first time.
 
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#34
lowendblues said:
Been playing bass for 45 years and never really took the time to learn how to solder.

Looking to buy the tools and learn. I was wondering if you kind folks could point me in the right direction as far as what I need. I can do simple things, but I'm looking for a good iron and dont know how many watts I need and what type of solder ect.....
Click to expand...
They key thing is to get some scrap parts and practice until you have it nailed with the equipment of your choice
I use a 25watt non temp control iron with a point tip and lead solder with flux core.
This wouldn’t necessarily be the equipment of choice for many but it works for me as I have been soldering for over 50 years
 
#36
I started with a Trakpower TK-951 station for model trains many years ago, but when I got into heavier gage wires/RC Buggy racing earlier this year, it got old quick when the tip would fall off with the slightest side load (unacceptable). As an upgrade, I recently purchased a Hakko FX-951 station and a few tips - it's still in the box, but will be used this week!...

I highly recommended liquid flux (and flux-core solder). Put some on the contact and the wire before applying any solder and be sure to wash your hands before you have lunch or put in a fresh "dip" (I was told that it's an excellent laxative)!,,,

(Edited to add) I ordered everything direct from Hakko USA, because there are counterfeits out there. They sent me a really nice shot glass as a bonus. ;)

DSCN2357.JPG

DSCN2347.JPG
 
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#38
It works. Problem was failed ESC power supply solder joint/connector:
DSCN2438.JPG

Liquid flux on everything, I tinned the ends of the 10 ga. cables before I stripped them, and then "pinched" the ends so they would fit in the cups:

DSCN2440.JPG

I like the fillets and the joints couldn't be broken "by hand"....
DSCN2441.JPG

EC-5 connector assembled:
DSCN2442.JPG

We have power - ready to race!...

DSCN2443.JPG

So glad I left the TK-951 behind, the Hakko was so much easier to use. It "goes to sleep" in the stand, but "wakes up" in a few seconds after prep is complete, then a quick dip in the paste flux and tin the tip and ready to go. I wanted "the best", and it hasn't disappointed!...

Cheers,
 
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#39
I have a soldering iron that goes to 750 degrees and is like 75 watts I think.
I’ve had cheap soldering irons that did not have adjustable temp and it’s just a pain to get a solid target heat that says consistent.
I like that brass Brillo pad looking deal to keep the tip clean. You gotta do that. Soldering with a dirty tip is no bueno.
Solder with 15% silver electronics grade solder. Use compatible liquid flux in one of those squeeze bottles.
Watch YouTube on how to solder. Practice on parts you don’t care about at first.
 
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#40
Wfrance3 said:
I have a soldering iron that goes to 750 degrees and is like 75 watts I think.
I’ve had cheap soldering irons that did not have adjustable temp and it’s just a pain to get a solid target heat that says consistent.
I like that brass Brillo pad looking deal to keep the tip clean. You gotta do that. Soldering with a dirty tip is no bueno.
Solder with 15% silver electronics grade solder. Use compatible liquid flux in one of those squeeze bottles.
Watch YouTube on how to solder. Practice on parts you don’t care about at first.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention the brillo. Everytime I got the iron out, it went paste flux to brillo scrub, back to paste flux, then tin it w/solder and finally the "project". I did leave that step out....
 

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