Son of a gun, after all the pedals, preamps, and tube amps (2 only) that I've built, it never occurred to me to zero the pot so that the resistive element doesn't be introduced the heat from the lugs. I imagine the wiper lug would be the most threatening. Now I wonder if I caused any damage that was at the heart of any longevity or adjusting issues. Such a worthy point. Thank you.
Thanks for posting this. I've been working on guitar/amps, etc, and I thought I had all the tricks down. I didn't. I never knew about the pot trick and a couple of others. Good job.
Thanks for the tips. I’m a complete newbie to soldering and this helped a lot. Also, I have to say I absolutely love your amps. A buddy of mine just got a Z-Lux combo and I couldn’t be more jealous.
I learned the hard way when soldering pots. Always good to lightly sand or scuff the back of a pot to make soldering easier. The less heat and time spent on a pot is best.
Great last "tip"...idle that solder tip! That's what I was instructed to do in the US NAVY Micro-Miniature repair school. I get several months out of a tip just by keeping it clean and tinned like that.
I thought to myself "do I really need to be taught how to solder after all these years?" Well ... yes. The pot soldering makes total sense ... but I didn't think of it until Dr Z told me. Thanks Mike.
Thank you always for sharing your wisdom and experience. I find your videos to be a great resource. When my piggy bank gets healthy, maybe I can splurge for one of your Dr. Walsh, Z-Master Outfits! Great Times Ahead. Thanks Dr. Z
Sorry if I have some more tips to share. I've had 20 years experience soldering, taught by the Air Force, and on the bench repairing aircraft avionics components. Keeping a bead of solder on your iron tip will help it last much longer, keeps it tinned and oxide-free so that more solder will flow the next time it's used. Clean the tip before use using a copper/brass wool ball (they make these specifically for solder stations), then tin with solder. Flux! Flux is your friend! It will help deoxidize the surface of the component, as well as act as a catalyst to allow the solder to melt at a lower temperature. One may think it is too messy or gets everywhere. Just clean everything with isopropyl alcohol afterwards. Solder bridge. When first flowing solder to bond components, place your solder wire in between the iron tip and component, creating a bridge of freshly melted solder. This will reduce the dwell time heating the component that can lead to damage. Then, continue feeding more solder wire at the point of contact as needed to fill any voids. Always use an ESD strap from wrist to ground, especially when handling sensitive component (i.e., transistors, op amps, IC chips, capacitors, tubes). I hope these tips can be helpful, and are taken as me wanting to be helpful and supportive. I love your videos and can't wait to watch more!
Thanks for a great informative video. My personal preference is to use liquid rosin on the back of the pots to help burn off any oxidation. This helps tremendously on making a nice clean, quick wire connection to the back of the pot. I use just a drop to the back of the pot. Then hit it with the soldering tip to burn off any contamination. Then immediately solder a wire to the pot. Never had a cold joint, and always looks nice and tidy. Lastly, with a Qtip wet with alcohol, I will brush over the joint I just soldered to remove any excess flux that didn’t get burned away. I think that using Nail polish on a cooled joint is overkill, but it is a great indicator to see if anyone has tampered with the solder connection. Again, thank you for the video.
Soldering is tricky, I bulit many amps and work on radios weekly, and I can tell you, it's the most important thing, don't overheat by you gotta get it hot enuff, I go through at the end and check every joint, with solder and continuity test. Then when turn off he amp on I poke each wire with a chopstick and make sure I have no noises from the joint,Bim no expert but never had afailure yet. He is right about the pots, I've done ruined afew pots that way
Damn. See, this is what I mean about pros, and why it pays to hire them. I've soldered my fair share, but NEVER did I consider the idea of ensuring the pot wiper is off the strip. I've never burnt out a pot (by grace of God), but those are great tips. Heat-sinking a $20+ cap is damn smart. My Achilles Heel has always been DESOLDERING. The bane of my existence. Especially on PCBs. I've ruined more than a couple brand new Boss pedals doing some GearPage or Wampler mod. Burned the frickin pads right off the board. Although I have solder-suckers, they never work for me? I can't make it work. I use the braid, which naturally winds up sticking to the damn pads, needing more heat which adds up to disaster. Almost happened to the PCB in a Vox AC4 I souped up, but got lucky.
Critical Mindset if you can remove the PCB I would suggest either using a bulb solder sucker (not spring loaded) as its faster and you can get a bigger suction on it. Or heat pad quickly then flick the back (away and down from you) and it should shake the hot solder onto your bench.
Thanks for doing the video! Could you give us a few tips on desoldering a wire? I've always found it difficult desoldering a wire that has been wrapped around a turret
Doc, if you ever decide to upgrade to nicer stations, the Hakkos have good support from Kimco right there in Ohio. I've ordered a dozen tips from my 951 from them. Also, this station has tips that last almost forever. I bet you could pay for new stations in just reduced tip cost.
My tips for you. JBC CD2BQE soldering station or better with C245-763 point. Fume extraction. Make mechanical connection and then solder it even on the potmeters. So twist a wire true and around the eyelet. You will not belive the JBC active tips. Speed ans power and dynamics. Gave up Weller long ago. Was the best long ago thought.
Something I always struggle with eyelets and espec replacing components amongst existing, is judging length and trying to get the other side in after the first is soldered in place. Always have to bend the lead which I worry is stress and often not pretty. Any hints? Thanks in advance.
Dr Z, what advice would you give on soldering a ground wire to an old tube amp steel chassis; such as an old Fender Super Reverb? I've always had problems with this; due to: the chassis absorbing & dissipating too much heat, very rapidly. BtW,Thanks for the great tips!
I NEED TO WORK FOR YOU! After watching this soldering vid, everything you talked about is exactly how I solder.. I build my own amps and I'm a perfectionist, which means that everything must be perfect or I'm not happy with it. That includes soldering and, well, everything else.. I even use the same Weller soldering unit.. However, you never mentioned any kind of Flux, and I'm wondering why.. I do use no clean Flux, but being a perfectionist, I clean it off.. I also solder "no solder" connections, and for the same reason.. Just because I want it to be physically and electronically perfect, and to make sure the connection will last forever.. So, if you need another builder, here I am!
another tip for beginners: Soldering takes time. Heat takes time to spread. at least 3/4 seconds ... a very fast solder will make colder joints. I had one on my first orange amp, and it was hand made... they were clearly in a hurry!
No, we use rosin core solder which includes a mild flux suitable for the materials we are soldering. Flux paste is more useful for soldering to steel parts.
My father repaired electronic keyboards for a living, and he would always wipe the iron tip on a damp piece of sponge when the iron was to sit for a bit (several minutes). He said this was to keep the flux from corroding and pitting the tip. Is this something you'd recommend, or is it a waste of time and sponge?
Darn I was hoping you'd talk about chassis grounds. I've been trying to get a cap can ground on a stainless amp chasses. I bought a 300 watt iron with a honking massive tip on it and STILL cannot get the solder to melt to the chassis. It's driving me nuts.
DoctorPatient That’s why I bought such a big iron. I am convinced that if this was an old Fender chassis it would have soldered no problem. This is a new chassis and thicker and stainless. I ended up using some buss wire to go to a close ground from one of the cap can ground lugs. It works I guess.
I’ve never soldered a single joint in all my 37 years. Don’t know dick about electronics. I just play guitar and like good sounding gear. And here I am enthralled in a full 13 minute video on soldering. Ha!
@@DrZAmplification Thanks for your reply. I use both and like 63/37 for new work and connectors. I feel it makes a more solid joint. I use 60/40 for repairs because I feel 63/37 doesn't mix well with old solder . But always interested in what everyone else is doing.
Doc! You even included your Mother’s wisdom. Bless you, Son. Ha ha…But seriously, thank you. Thanks for sharing Your wisdom. I know that I’d love to be working for You. JJZ…(°¿.°`)),,
NebulaStudios1 we use rosin core solder, so additional flux isn’t necessary. If you look at some of your solder joints in your amp you may see a little bit of brown residue. That’s flux. And it should be there.
Two question (many years late): Have you used tinning flux to tin your wires? And have you ever considered a small solder pot so wires could be tinned with a quick dip? (seems like in an industrial situation that could speed things up. But maybe there's an issue I'm not seeing.)
Another tip is don't waste money on expensive caps, they all sound pretty much the same, don't buy cheapo just for duribility, but I've used every kind of coupling caps, and never noticed much a difference, the type of cap makes a difference though, I used metalized poly most of the time and tad elyctros, mojo tone Dijon are really good and Mallory mustards are good and cheaper. 20 dollar for 1 cap is a gimmick, same type caps different label.
Everything is great except… sahder! Solder is the word that needs to be told. Would anyone say that they Sahd something? No they sold it. Would you ever hahd anything or would you hold it? Remember this and get used to it. Have you ever Todd anything? You have’nt. You’ve always told them. Remember.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xwIHFmagmyk.html I would not use caulk to repair that joint. I would use solder, even though caulk would take half the time, it would last half as long a good solder repair.
