Learning to properly solder guitar wiring and electronics, setting up a workbench

[AwakenTheSkies]

The thing I picture myself struggling with the most is those solder blobs on the back of the pot. Because it happened to me before. There's a bunch of wires connected to that right? So if I have to add another wire I heat up the solder and the cables that were already there come loose. How do I stop that from happening?

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Tip tinner is a acid/ solder flake compound that adheres to or impregnates the soldering iron tip. Using it will greatly help the cleanliness and subsequent heat transfer.. keeping joints cleaner and stronger. It can mean the difference between having to press down harder longer as opposed to a quicker more featherweight touch. It was a game changer to me early on when I went from booger/ botched globs to more professional looking welds. Soldering tips get dirty quick and a constant cleaning of that tip in between each use will go a long way to keeping the tip ( and subsequent solder) clean. Cloudy solder joints with burnt debris is the enemy. Also use a damp sponge or cleaning wire/ scrubber ( brass... looks like really course steel wool pad) to assist with keeping the tip clean.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

The thing I picture myself struggling with the most is those solder blobs on the back of the pot. Because it happened to me before. There's a bunch of wires connected to that right? So if I have to add another wire I heat up the solder and the cables that were already there come loose. How do I stop that from happening?

Didn't see this reply before I commented. But regarding what you're asking about.. the tinner will greatly reduce the chance of that happening. A big mistake for those soldering for the first time is adding more and more solder. Then you get those big gloopy blackened blobs and more importantly, poor/ weak joints. In actuality you only need a very small amount of solder if things are cleaned, pre-tinned, and done with adequate heat.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Tip tinner is a acid/ solder flake compound that adheres to or impregnates the soldering iron tip. Using it will greatly help the cleanliness and subsequent heat transfer.. keeping joints cleaner and stronger. It can mean the difference between having to press down harder longer as opposed to a quicker more featherweight touch. It was a game changer to me early on when I went from booger/ botched globs to more professional looking welds. Soldering tips get dirty quick and a constant cleaning of that tip in between each use will go a long way to keeping the tip ( and subsequent solder) clean. Cloudy solder joints with burnt debris is the enemy. Also use a damp sponge or cleaning wire/ scrubber ( brass... looks like really course steel wool pad) to assist with keeping the tip clean.

Didn't see this reply before I commented. But regarding what you're asking about.. the tinner will greatly reduce the chance of that happening. A big mistake for those soldering for the first time is adding more and more solder. Then you get those big gloopy blackened blobs and more importantly, poor/ weak joints. In actuality you only need a very small amount of solder if things are cleaned, pre-tinned, and done with adequate heat.

All right, I was hoping to get started tonight but I will until tomorrow and check if they have some tip tinner at the store. Will watch some tutorials too. But with the lack of practice I'm still probably gonna struggle.
I assume I have to use the little sponge after every solder to clean the tip. When am I supposed to use the tinner? I thought I was supposed to tin the tip with some of the solder wire itself?

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I hate that you were prepared to do this tonight but I would absolutely wait until you have some tip tinner in hand. Sorry, dude but I promise you'll execute this job much more professionally with stronger joints if you get the tinner. And I also hate to say that tinner isn't something that most stores carry unless it's an electronics type shop. I used to get mine at Radio Shack, now I get it thru Amazon or Stew Mac. I promise you'll have a ton less frustration if you do it right.

If the soldering iron is brand new, you'll want to pre-tin ( and yes.. tinning the tip with solder should be done prior to doing any actual soldering). But the tinning compound is what you will need in between each pass and will allow you to not have to keep loading up the tip with actual solder.

What typically happens with someone inexperienced, is that the tip ( with heat) when it gets dirty will loose it's ability to transfer that heat in order to melt the solder. So what that person does is clean the tip with a sponge or wire and then put more solder onto it. But the solder at that point isn't heating properly due to the dirty tip and so it tends to ball up... getting bigger and bigger.. because it doesn't have sufficient heat to melt and transfer to the project. Then that big-ol blob of solder rolls off of the tip... unable to penetrate the two metal pieces that they're trying to join. I saw in another thread iirc that someone said you want to have that heated tip on the project for as little time as possible. And that dude would be correct. Having to press hard and long on something like a vol/ tone pot or switch can ultimately damage it. So you need things to be constantly cleaned and continually tinned to keep everything flowing from the solder tip, to the solder, to the project.

How often you tin, flux, or manually wipe the soldering tip will just depend on whatever variables you're working with but you'll know once you do some practicing to see how these elements all work together. Sometimes I'll tin every time prior to touching that tip to the project and other times if everything still looks clean, I'll make another pass before cleaning/ tinning... just depends.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I hate that you were prepared to do this tonight but I would absolutely wait until you have some tip tinner in hand. Sorry, dude but I promise you'll execute this job much more professionally with stronger joints if you get the tinner. And I also hate to say that tinner isn't something that most stores carry unless it's an electronics type shop. I used to get mine at Radio Shack, now I get it thru Amazon or Stew Mac. I promise you'll have a ton less frustration if you do it right.

If the soldering iron is brand new, you'll want to pre-tin ( and yes.. tinning the tip with solder should be done prior to doing any actual soldering). But the tinning compound is what you will need in between each pass and will allow you to not have to keep loading up the tip with actual solder.

What typically happens with someone inexperienced, is that the tip ( with heat) when it gets dirty will loose it's ability to transfer that heat in order to melt the solder. So what that person does is clean the tip with a sponge or wire and then put more solder onto it. But the solder at that point isn't heating properly due to the dirty tip and so it tends to ball up... getting bigger and bigger.. because it doesn't have sufficient heat to melt and transfer to the project. Then that big-ol blob of solder rolls off of the tip... unable to penetrate the two metal pieces that they're trying to join. I saw in another thread iirc that someone said you want to have that heated tip on the project for as little time as possible. And that dude would be correct. Having to press hard and long on something like a vol/ tone pot or switch can ultimately damage it. So you need things to be constantly cleaned and continually tinned to keep everything flowing from the solder tip, to the solder, to the project.

How often you tin, flux, or manually wipe the soldering tip will just depend on whatever variables you're working with but you'll know once you do some practicing to see how these elements all work together. Sometimes I'll tin every time prior to touching that tip to the project and other times if everything still looks clean, I'll make another pass before cleaning/ tinning... just depends.

All right, thanks for all the great advice. I have an electronics store near me but I'll be very lucky if they have tip tinner or flux. Another thing I'm looking into is a solder sucker.
One of the guitars is my PRS SE Tremonti, I have 4 CTS pots for that. But the other one is the SZ520, which needs 3 pots but I was only able to get 2. So I either do 1 vol 1 tone or I could try to recycle one of the old pots and do 2 vol 1 tone like the original. I probably don't even need to add new solder, just reuse what was already on there right? I have a multimeter that I can use to make sure they are still doing what they need to do.
Idk I might need to order the tip tinner or take a long train trip again. If I'm gonna do that I might as well try to get a temp controlled soldering station. The 40W iron I bought yesterday was only 15€ + 6€ for the stand and sponge so no big deal..
The thing that fucks me up is the pots. The CTS pots cost me 10€ a piece. And the Alpha 4€ a piece. I don't know if there has been a huge price increase or it's just me being in Europe but it's nothing like a what I read on some forums from a few years ago.
It's curious how some guys seem to use none of this stuff, just a pencil iron and little else and still get great results. So from being impatient I'm tempted to do the same but obviously I don't want this to end like the last time so I guess I'll wait and try to get the stuff you mention too..

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I guess the part that sucks the most is that I can't even start practicing with some of the leftover pots and stuff that I have from years ago. Since basically it all seems to be about solder tip care rather than anything else...

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Mwahahaha I found a store which might have I need that's open this afternoon. They have flux, soldering stations, but they're not sure about the tip tinner. They told me on the phone they have something called soldering paste which looks like a glass pot of mustard, which is used so that the solder catches better. Is that it? I've seen a YouTube video of a guy using that stuff to clean his iron tip...

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I wouldn't bother with the soldering paste. It's just going to complicate the process and isn't exactly necessary in this application. Flux is a cleaning agent but doesn't replace the need for tinner because flux will eventually burn up and it also won't recondition the tip after each use in the way that tip tinner does.

This is what you want ( and IMO it's worth it) :

Amazon product ASIN B00NS4J6BY
I absolutely wouldn't have mentioned the tinner if I thought that it wouldn't make a huge difference because I know how it is to just want to get started on a job. But it honestly turned daunting/ frustrating soldering tasks into enjoyable experiences... almost overnight. It was a key piece to the puzzle regarding why some of my jobs went well yet other jobs went completely to shit. And it significantly helped to speed up the process, produce quality connections, and significantly extend the life of my irons.

The problem with just jumping in without all the proper tools ( in this case.. 30-40+ wt. soldering iron, flux, solder, cleaning wire or sponge, tip tinner, and helping hands or the like) is that not only will you potentially waste a lot of time, but your quality of work will suffer, and it'll wind up being a frustrating and possibly discouraging experience. I just don't want you to have nasty/ weak soldering connections and an eventally inadequate soldering iron.

The solder sucker can be useful but I've found that I like using copper braid a little better.. seems to be easier to successfully use as opposed to plunger style removal tools. Someone else might have a better experience with the SS so I wouldn't say one or the other is "better"... just a preference thing.

I still have a soldering iron that I never maintained and it isn't unusable. The tip used to be a chisel shape and now it's simply a pin. A lot of use without maintenance ate it away to almost nothing. And the quality of my work was embarrassingly abysmal.... both ascetically as well as structurally. That's what I don't want for you and especially given that these are fairly sensitive electronic components that you're working with, I have to stress the proper tools even more. It took me probably 2-3 years before I actually became good at soldering but it would've happened a lot quicker had I gotten the proper tools and assistance. I do a good deal of soldering outside of guitar stuff too... lipo battery leads, motor connectors, ESC's, lighting, hard-wired electronics, etc, etc and I trust my work as much as I would a professional or automated process.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I wouldn't bother with the soldering paste. It's just going to complicate the process and isn't exactly necessary in this application. Flux is a cleaning agent but doesn't replace the need for tinner because flux will eventually burn up and it also won't recondition the tip after each use in the way that tip tinner does.

This is what you want ( and IMO it's worth it) :

Amazon product ASIN B00NS4J6BY
I absolutely wouldn't have mentioned the tinner if I thought that it wouldn't make a huge difference because I know how it is to just want to get started on a job. But it honestly turned daunting/ frustrating soldering tasks into enjoyable experiences... almost overnight. It was a key piece to the puzzle regarding why some of my jobs went well yet other jobs went completely to shit. And it significantly helped to speed up the process, produce quality connections, and significantly extend the life of my irons.

The problem with just jumping in without all the proper tools ( in this case.. 30-40+ wt. soldering iron, flux, solder, cleaning wire or sponge, tip tinner, and helping hands or the like) is that not only will you potentially waste a lot of time, but your quality of work will suffer, and it'll wind up being a frustrating and possibly discouraging experience. I just don't want you to have nasty/ weak soldering connections and an eventally inadequate soldering iron.

The solder sucker can be useful but I've found that I like using copper braid a little better.. seems to be easier to successfully use as opposed to plunger style removal tools. Someone else might have a better experience with the SS so I wouldn't say one or the other is "better"... just a preference thing.

I still have a soldering iron that I never maintained and it isn't unusable. The tip used to be a chisel shape and now it's simply a pin. A lot of use without maintenance ate it away to almost nothing. And the quality of my work was embarrassingly abysmal.... both ascetically as well as structurally. That's what I don't want for you and especially given that these are fairly sensitive electronic components that you're working with, I have to stress the proper tools even more. It took me probably 2-3 years before I actually became good at soldering but it would've happened a lot quicker had I gotten the proper tools and assistance. I do a good deal of soldering outside of guitar stuff too... lipo battery leads, motor connectors, ESC's, lighting, hard-wired electronics, etc, etc and I trust my work as much as I would a professional or automated process.

Can you post that pic again? I can't see it.
This is what I was going to buy:



Today I went on another shopping trip for some guitar wire. Also went to an electronics store. So far from the things you've mentioned I have a 40W pencil iron with chisel tip, stand with sponge, flux, soldering paste, solder sucker. Only thing I'm missing is the tip tinner.
The problem that I'm seeing is that I don't know when or how to apply the flux or the solder paste. The YouTube tutorials I've been watching don't really mention any of that, so far the ones I've seen pre tin the wire, apply some solder to the pot then melt them together. But I know for example the guy who did my guitar used flux or something, take a look.

(I had to crop the image a lot for the 2MB limit, but you can see what I mean)

(and yes the tone pots are wired but they have been bypassed)



What is the orange stuff under the blobs of solder? I assume that's flux? When does that come into the equation?
There's a lot of stuff that I don't know. I kinda wish I could pay someone to teach me this stuff, be there with me in person and guide through at least 1 wiring installation. That'd probably help.
If I can't do that then I'd like to do a few sketch wiring so I can get the hang of it and not render 40€ of pots useless. But even then the problem has always been that after one session or two the tip of the iron is destroyed. But I don't think that's just from the lack of tin or cleaning? Maybe it's from the heat itself? I've had one tip become curved after being on for a while. Wish I could show you a picture but I probably threw away those irons long ago.
Today I read somewhere that if you're not planning to solder something in the next minute you should lower the temperature or turn it off. Is that right? If that's right then I guess it kinda makes sense that my tips all got fucked from being hot for too long. Since I don't have a lot of practice I'm not that fast working and think a bit about my next move..

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Yeah,, that's the flux weeping out. There's no real need to try to remove it. Just looks unsightly.

That pic is correct.. tinner.. lot of differend brands. I haven't ever seen that one you posted but should be the same if it's for soldering. I have seen it vary from one brand to the next. The tinner I'm using now is a little different in appearance than my old one but they both work the same.

I start by heating up the iron and prepping the pieces to be joined. Helping hands are more useful when joining two loose parts like two pieces of wire. They're not as necessary if you're say... wiring up a pot that's already installed into a guitar cause the guitar isn't going to potentially move around.

Once the iron is hot, you want to tin the tip with solder.

Then it's recommended to heat up the surface of the part but I don't always like to do this with pots and stuff. So I'll dab a bit of flux on the part and then rest the solder wire on the tip of the iron ( or on the part... either way) and touch the tip to the part/ project. Also careful with that flux, it's toxic nasty stuff when it burns. But that's it. Then you should be left with a nice clean joint and not much excess. Also you want the hardened solder to be shiny... not dull. Just takes practice.

Where the tinner comes into play is after you've used the iron multiple times, it will start getting dirty. You can use a damp sponge or scrubber to clean the tip but it needs to be re-tinned and that's when you use the tinner as opposed to more solder. The tinner will recondition that tip in a way that solder can't. It's also inhibiting oxidation which keeps that tip cleaner for next time. I don't use a damp sponge at all anymore. The wire cleaning pad and tinner work better.

Looking at your pic. It looks like a little too much flux was used. And it looks like you had to hold the wire down multiple times... maybe in an attempt to adequately heat and subsequently distribute the solder. But it didn't flow very well and looks like the solder was a bit excessive. The tinner would've allowed the heat to be more consistant and the solder to flow faster, therefore putting less pressure and time on the pots and fewer attempts. The amount of solder that you would've used would have likely been much less as well.

But it doesn't look horrible for a first time job and if everything is holding solid, then you should be alright. As long as the pots roll cleanly and don't sound scratchy or with drops/ cutouts in gradual increase/ decrease then I'd guess they're not damaged.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Looking at your pic. It looks like a little too much flux was used. And it looks like you had to hold the wire down multiple times... maybe in an attempt to adequately heat and subsequently distribute the solder. But it didn't flow very well and looks like the solder was a bit excessive. The tinner would've allowed the heat to be more consistant and the solder to flow faster, therefore putting less pressure and time on the pots and fewer attempts. The amount of solder that you would've used would have likely been much less as well.

But it doesn't look horrible for a first time job and if everything is holding solid, then you should be alright. As long as the pots roll cleanly and don't sound scratchy or with drops/ cutouts in gradual increase/ decrease then I'd guess they're not damaged.

Oh that's not my work, that's the work of 2 different people who work in guitar stores. The 2 tone pots that you can see were done by one person, which to me being inexperienced looks like a good job, shiny joints, etc. But the problem is in less than a year they became scratchy and had problems, maybe they were just bad pots, I don't know. Then the 2 volumes from which you can only see one in the pic were done by another guy, who I went to when the pots became scratchy, so I had him install 2 new volume pots and bypass the tone pots because I didn't like how these tone pots acted and wanted an edgier tone.
The first job honestly I wasn't too happy with, because the store charged me a lot of money for it and kept my guitar for 2 weeks. And to top it all off the pots went bad shortly after.
The second job I'm okay with, the guy gets it done within less than a day for cheap and I never had any problems.
But still it's a pain in the ass having to take the guitar far away without a car and then doing another trip to take it back. And I'd like to get good at doing it myself.
I have a guitar where I did the wiring but it was an EMG solderless system so I only had to solder the toggle switch and the jack. The guitar is okay, I recorded an album with it. But you know, the joints are dull not shiny so nothing to write home about.

I start by heating up the iron and prepping the pieces to be joined. Helping hands are more useful when joining two loose parts like two pieces of wire. They're not as necessary if you're say... wiring up a pot that's already installed into a guitar cause the guitar isn't going to potentially move around.

Once the iron is hot, you want to tin the tip with solder.

Then it's recommended to heat up the surface of the part but I don't always like to do this with pots and stuff. So I'll dab a bit of flux on the part and then rest the solder wire on the tip of the iron ( or on the part... either way) and touch the tip to the part/ project. Also careful with that flux, it's toxic nasty stuff when it burns. But that's it. Then you should be left with a nice clean joint and not much excess. Also you want the hardened solder to be shiny... not dull. Just takes practice.

Dude thanks for writing process step by step, that's what I really need. This is the flux that I got, I just apply a small coat of it on the back of the pot where I'm going to do the connection? The applicator is like the ones for nail paint..



Yesterday I watched a bunch of videos where they kept stressing how important it is to get a good soldering station. But the one I got is this one.



15€ 40W iron, according to manual it goes up to 380°C. Idk should I give it a chance before buying a more expensive iron? I mean as long as I take good care of the tip it should be okay right? There's a really popular soldering iron with guitar players here in Spain but I think it's only 26W? And it costs 50€. But the tip is obviously of a different quality, very good stuff apparently.

So my idea is to make 2 sketch wirings with the old pots, then if the iron is still holding I should be good to go to do the real deal. I'll get myself helping hands to tin the wires too. I have +7,5 meters of guitar wire so that should be enough for a while

I still have a few questions. Should I turn off the iron if I'm not going to solder anything in the next minute? Then heat it back up again when I know what connection I want to do next.

 

[NickK-UK]

the key to a good solder joint is ensuring both surfaces are at a high enough temp.
If you have large areas you’ll find a smaller iron not provide the heat at the rate needed to solder before it’a conducted away. Then you’ll try heating for longer and the whole piece gets hot. This is why I have a 25W for small things/surface mount, and an 80W for chassis (tube amps).
A 40W should be fine for the average work for a guitar. As long as the things are kept clean and the iron is allowed to heat up properly.

A good flux is a must and it helps to give it a rub with emery paper to remove any oxidisation.

A bit of iso on a bud will be good for any clean up after.

One point is most lead free solders end up with a dull joint. A 70/30 leaded mix will give a shiney joint but you’ll not have the lead free rubber stamp.

You’ll also find that leadfree solder requires a higher temperature than leaded solder. Steer clear of bitumen solder for guitar works, it may be lower temp but it will result in a very brittle joint that’s unsuitable for guitar work.

 

[NickK-UK]

I tend to stick with Bourns or CTS for pots, but if there's a deal on Fender, Gotoh, or Alpha branded stuff I'll bite. I like the consistency of value (as in the resistance) and they tend to last vs. the gamble on the cheapos. As long as they're not the dime sized, plastic garbage ones you find on really sketchy stuff it's usually decent enough. Not to mention if you do get a dud with the better brands you can sometimes get a refund or replacement.

Switch wise, unless it's something specialty like an Ibanez VLX, I'll grab whatever will fit with the lug layout needed and isn't really sketchy. I haven't noticed a significant difference in quality or reliability of the usual suspects like CRL, Oak, AllParts, WD, Alpha, etc. Get what works for your project.

Jacks are jacks. The only thing to watch for is sometimes the cheapos have contacts that need bending immediately or finish bleed on the contacts.

For wire I use solid core in 22 or 24 AWG.

CTS, Bourns I’ve not had a problem with. People have alao suggested Alpha but often it simply works for you or not.

I use audio/log taper pots. Also work sticking a multimeter on to check min and max resistance.
I have a switched pot which a smaller wiper and higher minimum resistance but lower max resistance. A normal pot has a better range spread with a lower low and a higher high.
I may switch to a proper 5 position rotary if I can get enough length to get through a carved top.

For the amps etc I’ve had no issues with CTS/Bourns.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I would just keep the iron you have now. No need to replace it until the tip wears out.

I wouldn't turn it on and off between passes if it's just a few minutes. I would stress though being very careful if you're not storing it in a stand. Really dangerous to have a hot iron just laying around while turned on.

Yeah.. .those joints looks pretty lame especially for the ones you paid a lot of money to have done. I wouldn't be happy with any of those if I had done them... especially on someone else's guitar. I'm confident that if you take most the steps offered here, that you can produce better joints than these.

And not to go on much more about the tinning but as suggested above, you want your project pieces to get hot so that they will take the solder... but you also need to keep that tip and the solder clean. The solder will flow more quickly and you potentially won't end up with the whole 'blob' thing. When you use tinner, it will allow the pieces to heat up more quickly so not as much damaging heat gets transferred to your sensitive electronics because you're not holding the iron to the pieces as long.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Okay, thanks for the great advice everyone. I think I know where I can find the tip tinner now. Gotta wait until Wednesday though because of festivities tomorrow and the day after.

I would stress though being very careful if you're not storing it in a stand. Really dangerous to have a hot iron just laying around while turned on.

Yeah, I've learned that already
I used to do it with the guitar sitting on my knees. I once tinned the tip with solder which rolled off, fell down, went right though a kitchen sponge and on my skin. Also once I touched the iron when it was hot, must have been a fraction of a second, instant burn mark, looked a bit like when you fry a hotdog. So I have bought a stand with a sponge and have a table to do it separately.

On another note, I was browsing online and found out Seymour Duncan have a free tech course on soldering and installing pickups. Like, on their website, not on YouTube. So I signed up for that.

Yeah.. .those joints looks pretty lame especially for the ones you paid a lot of money to have done.

I can't tell , the joints are shiny so apart from that I don't know what makes them crappy or good just from looking at them.
Do you have any pictures or YouTube videos of what you consider to be a good solder joint? For me to use as an example...

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I could prob take a few shots of my own work but I'm sure there's better images across the web on nice joints vs crappy.

What makes them bad is as I mentioned before, there is excessive flux all around the work. It's not going to cause issues and some residue is to be expected but they at least should've come back in and cleaned it up a little. Then you have the wires that either were not trimmed/ terminated cleanly or were mashed down onto the pots. Notice also that red wire on the bottom left for example is bare. That's not necessarily a big thing but you only need a small amount of exposed ( un- insulated) wire to solder. And if they had experience or more likely if they cared, they might've addressed that prior to soldering. Also, again... looks like too much solder was used and that heat transfer wasn't sufficiently keeping that solder flowing. So it not only globbed up, but also "spit" all over... not horribly but still. You can see the little drips, most prominently on that pot at the bottom right. Overall looks like a rushed job with lack of adequate heat or heat transfer, and too much solder trying to compensate for the lack of sufficient heat. Also looks like they weren't keeping things clean or were using an old worn out soldering tip with possible embedded oxidation and / or contaminates.

 

[torchlord]

I had one of those pen-type soldering irons but found it rather difficult to use, but that might be just because I didn't do any tip-tinning and never have, never even known about it till now. The one I had just could have been a piece of garbage though.

I bought a Solderwerks BK 3000LF which has a digitally controlled heater, and a removable tip, soldering got so much easier. Normally if I don't want to ruin plastics or whatnot I'll set the temperature to something low and just raise a few degrees at a time till the flux reacts with the solder and it melts. I usually don't care how clean or nice it looks just as long as my multimeter shows that I got continuity through the soldered connection. I normally want the connection not to come apart as well.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I had one of those pen-type soldering irons but found it rather difficult to use, but that might be just because I didn't do any tip-tinning and never have, never even known about it till now. The one I had just could have been a piece of garbage though.

I bought a Solderwerks BK 3000LF which has a digitally controlled heater, and a removable tip, soldering got so much easier. Normally if I don't want to ruin plastics or whatnot I'll set the temperature to something low and just raise a few degrees at a time till the flux reacts with the solder and it melts. I usually don't care how clean or nice it looks just as long as my multimeter shows that I got continuity through the soldered connection. I normally want the connection not to come apart as well.

Yeah, I'll give it my best with this new cheap iron with the tip tinner and everything. Hopefully the tip doesn't get destroyed after a few uses. If that fails I guess I'll buy a soldering station. But it's curious how here in Spain there's this brand JBC with highly praised irons and the most recommended one is also a pen type iron, just more expensive and has a really good tip apparently.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Yeah, I'll give it my best with this new cheap iron with the tip tinner and everything. Hopefully the tip doesn't get destroyed after a few uses. If that fails I guess I'll buy a soldering station. But it's curious how here in Spain there's this brand JBC with highly praised irons and the most recommended one is also a pen type iron, just more expensive and has a really good tip apparently.

The tinner will absolutely save your tip and it's so quick and easy to use. Back when I used to only use flux, I would burn up tips pretty quick. For the first couple projects they'd be fine but then they'd oxidize pretty quickly and become dirty with debris... no matter how much I'd try to keep the tips clean with flux and constant wiping with damp sponge. As soon as you use it, you'll see the results and you'll be hella glad that you waited for it. Conditioning that tip from the get-go will greatly extend it's life and make clean secure solder joints quite easy to achieve ( although I feel I'm overselling it with all those "o's" lol). I look forward to seeing your project. Fwiw Please make sure to practice joining some wires or wire to scrap plate prior to you actually doing the job. That way you'll get a good sense for the process and what to expect.

BTW- Someone else would have to confirm this but you may want to lightly scuff your pots prior to soldering. I'm not sure that it's necessary but I know that some people will use the tip of a razor blade or sandpaper to gently rough up the area... not the entire pot, just a tiny spot where you intend to make the connection. I've done it both ways but really am not sure if that step is needed assuming that the heat and prep are sufficient.