Solder Wont Stick

[Moreau]

Bought a 100 watt wal mart soldering iron, and it seems that the iron isnt melting the fender solder. and the solder that came with the iron melts fine. But it wont stick to the stock solder. Any ideas on whats wrong?

[ansil]

older solder somtimes needs to be cleaned up before melting. alot of times it had impurities in it. thats been my experience.

but 100watts my god what are you trying to de solder hopefully nothing in a guitar man.

only on the back of pots and never over 40watts has been my exp.

[possum1284]

older solder somtimes needs to be cleaned up before melting.  alot of times it had impurities in it.  thats been my experience.

but 100watts my god what are you trying to de solder hopefully nothing in a guitar man.

only on the back of pots and never over 40watts has been my exp.

←

i have a 15 watt solder gun from radio shack it works fine. only cost $7 cant get much cheaper then that. i have problems melting the solder sometimes if the tip of the gun gets bents but all ya gotta do is bend it bac.

Adam

[octafish]

You probably don't want to hear this now but excessive heat can damage components, particularly pots.

Are you trying to remove the solder?

If so, are you using a braid or a sucker?

If you are trying to solder something new to an old component have you tinned the new component?

I agree 100 watts is overkill, I've never used anything higher that 25 watts myself.

[Paul Marossy]

100 watts is overkill

Mine is 30 watts. Plenty for most jobs. Solder will only "stick" to tinned leads of components, steel (with some difficulty) or copper (which solder loves). Other materials like aluminum will not solder.

[crafty]

If you're trying to melt the solder on the trem claw, that stuff is rock hard. I gave up trying to melt it and just clipped the wire and resoldered it. Try bonding some new solder with the old solder, then desoldering both. It may work.

Oh, and like everyone else said, 100 watts is too much.

[octafish]

Oh yeah, a soldering iron can kill magnets so if you're soldering near pickups the best thing to do is heat up the iron then unplug it and solder real quick.

[TeiscosRock]

At most you need 40 watts. I use a 25 watt Craftsman for light soldering like guitar innards and effects pedals.

[Moreau]

Well i went and got an 80watt at canadian tire and it worked great. i was pretty quick with it, and only melted the solder. Im thinking to one from wal mart was not 100 watts as it said, it was a POS regardless. This new one works great, and it took about 5 minutes to solder the pickups in, as opposed to spending 2 hours with the wal mart one.

[1guitarslinger]

100 watts? You could use that for welding!

Seriously, is there any chance you could post a photo of it?

Also, it is important to tin your tip properly when it is new, and before each use.

Here are some soldering iron tips from one of my pages. I hope this helps.

It is very important to "tin" your soldering iron's tip properly before the first use, and periodically afterward so that it will be shiny and heat conductive all over the very tip. If the tip is not shiny, then its heat transfer will be poor, and you will have difficulty making good soldering joints. It's sort of like "seasoning" an iron skillet if you will.

There are several ways to tin a tip, but this method is effective and works with just solder and a damp sponge. Use caution when tinning your soldering iron; it will get very hot.

1. Get a damp sponge, install a new tip, and plug in the iron.

2. When the soldering iron is hot, flow a bunch of solder all over the tip so that that whole area all the way around is coated with solder. It will smoke quite a bit.

3. With the damp sponge on a heat-resistant surface, "quench" the tip on it, rolling the entire tip around on the sponge. It will steam and hiss.

4. For best results, repeat a second time.

5. Your soldering iron tip should be nice and shiny. Now you are ready to solder.

After using your soldering iron, and before unpluging it, glob up the tip with solder, and leave the solder on the tip. Unplug the iron and allow to cool. This coating of solder will protect the tip from oxidation, so that the soldering iron will work well in the future.

Do not scrape the tip with a wire brush or anything else, as this removes the conductive coating.

[TGwaH]

I think this may be his 80W soldering iron. Huh, stained glass eh?

Edited September 21, 2005 by TGwaH

[Moreau]

Well the CT one worked fine, and I see no adverse effects of using it. I will get a lower power one as i had a nice weller when i used to slot car, but i seem to have misplaced it. Anyone do stain glass and need an iron? LOL