Popeye and Mae West

[vespacar]

I used Ersin 'Savbit alloy' multicore 1.22mm solder along with a gas-powered 'Solderpro70'. I love gas irons but learnt an expensive lesson when I melted the first one - the tip fell off and rolled across the carpet leaving a molten trail behind it... dont ever ever EVER use a conventional iron holder as heat always travels up towards the gas tank!!!


Been there, done that, nice to see I'am not the only one,

[pfurman]

All the general advice about soldering is great, but I believe our dear friend is trying to solder the Pachislo.com board mounted mini-pot style volume controls.

I've done a fair bit of soldering and I consider myself to be reasonable good at it for a hobbyist. I have to say that after soldering dozens of these particular volume controls, they are a MAJOR Pain in the Butt! Something about the way that the board is layed out causes the solder to go everywhere BUT where you want it to go. I get them soldered on, but they often involve too much solder and I'm not proud of the way they look at all.

I think the problem is the relatively large area of the metal surface you're trying to solder to. The solder wants to flow over the whole pad.

As mentioned above, it may be far easier with these controls to strip the wire, tin it, and solder it flat to the board rather than trying to get solder to stick right around the hole.

Autoslot's Volume controls are 10,000 times easier to solder, but unfortunately he is out of stock at the moment.

Wow. It's like you were peekin over my shoulder while I was solderin.

But seriously, that's exactly what kept happening. Eventually, I found that by setting the angle of the helping hands device "just so", I could kind of control the flow of the solder better, especially with using the "push the wire through, then wrap it back around on itself, then solder" method. The wrapping/twisting of the wire provided great mechanical strength, then I could focus just on the electrical conductivity aspect of the solder joint. I definitely found that less solder was better. I am satisfied with the end result, to be sure. However, I'm interested in Autoslot's controllers. Only one question: Who/What/Where is Autoslot?

Also, I don't know the life span of a radio shack tip, but mine has become noticeably deformed. Instead of a nice full conical shape, it's kinda swooped out on the top side. Hmmmmmmm...the best way to describe the shape would be...no, that won't work...you didn't know me when I was 15.

Anyway...Now all this talk has got me thinking...I guess it's time for some new tips.

(For my soldering iron, of course)



P.

[dalto]

Who/What/Where is Autoslot?

www.autoslot.info/pachitalk

Also, membername autoslot on pachitalk.

[pfurman]

www.autoslot.info/pachitalk

Also, membername autoslot on pachitalk.

Thanks Dalto. (I'm pretty sure I tried that last night but it wasn't connecting; it is connecting now.) Only thing is, he's not just out of stock on those vol controllers, he's not planning on getting any more in the future. So it looks like it'll be Syscom's, and the battle to keep the solder from runnin, for me.

[ssdcinc]

Thanks Dalto. (I'm pretty sure I tried that last night but it wasn't connecting; it is connecting now.) Only thing is, he's not just out of stock on those vol controllers, he's not planning on getting any more in the future. So it looks like it'll be Syscom's, and the battle to keep the solder from runnin, for me.

here's a little trick i use when soldering to pc boards, helps
keep the solder in one place.

Take a piece of masking tape and place it over the area to be
soldered, then make a small hole around the solder point,
as long as the tape is fairly tight if should stop the solder
from flowing too much, keep in mind that too much heat
will burn the tape.

good luck and happy holidays

[pfurman]

here's a little trick i use when soldering to pc boards, helps
keep the solder in one place.

Take a piece of masking tape and place it over the area to be
soldered, then make a small hole around the solder point,
as long as the tape is fairly tight if should stop the solder
from flowing too much, keep in mind that too much heat
will burn the tape.

good luck and happy holidays

Kewl. That's an interesting idea. I don't know if the ones from Autoslot are easier to solder, but I can say this: The ones from Syscom SURE ARE DURABLE!! I mean, I was certain that I'd burnt up the one I'd experimented on. Not only did I end up with mounds of solder everywhere, I also attempted to DESOLDER the thing. By the time I'd finished, the copper wicking stuff I was using was hot 7 inches away from where I was desoldering. (It did remove, eventually, most of the mounds of solder that had accumulated.) But just in case, before I tossed it in the trash, b/f hooked it up, along with one I'd done a better job on, in a machine he was working on. AMAZINGLY, it WORKED! That little sucker took a lickin, and kept on tickin!!! So even though it might be harder to keep the solder from running, that thing is really tough. And I've found that it gives a very nice, smooth adjustability range as well. It's really hard to fault it, aside from the problem of trying to keep the solder in one place. (Note: I don't know if it makes any real difference, but instead of using a phillips head screwdriver to adjust it, I use a small jewelers flat head, and it works great, especially for very small adjustments. We just ordered a bunch more of these from Aki at Syscom.)

[cwstnsko]

I can verify that I have heated these beyond reasonable temperatures and they have survived as well It's pretty common on these to melt the solder at the pot before getting it to stick to the wire. Maybe they're treated with some sort of anti-flux when the pot end is being soldered?

[pfurman]

I can verify that I have heated these beyond reasonable temperatures and they have survived as well It's pretty common on these to melt the solder at the pot before getting it to stick to the wire. Maybe they're treated with some sort of anti-flux when the pot end is being soldered?

Well, despite my "successes" with the more traditional soldering approach, I went and bought (along with some new tips) a pack of those "low heat solder strips" from The Shack tonight. Haven't tried em yet. I'll post after I do.

[dalto]

Well, despite my "successes" with the more traditional soldering approach, I went and bought (along with some new tips) a pack of those "low heat solder strips" from The Shack tonight. Haven't tried em yet. I'll post after I do.

I actually got a chance to try mine the other day. They worked quite well for my application. I just wrapped them around the wire and applied heat.

I am not sure how well they will work with syscom volume controls. Mybe you could put them on the wire, heat them up and then stick them in the hole?

[pfurman]

RadioShack sells these solder wraps that you just wrap around the area you want to solder. You than apply a little heat and it melts into place.

A little bag of these little things cost about $1

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

I bought some a couple of weeks ago but have not had an oppurtunity to try. I thought they would be good for hard to reach areas.

Hmmm...I was thinking about cutting off about 1/4 of the strip and just laying it down on top of the wire that's been pulled through and twisted back on itself, then zapping it with a lighter from the side(s)? Think that oughta do it?

[dalto]

Yeah, it adds more solder than it looks like will. It seems to expand a little when it melts. Make sure you use the blue part of the flame on the solder. If you use the outer yellow part it will blacken.

[d mowery]

Ya all need to go back to the reg way and use less solder and less heat as I solder all the time on fine electric wire for radio control , all i hear is cone shape and running solder everwhere , use less solder and less heat and remove heat soon as solder runs dont keep the iron on the spot to long as it heats everthing around it and thats a no no, ya all makin a big thing out of something simple as far as puting solder on the wire then puting it in the hole forget it old solder dont work and thats a wee bit not enough

[pfurman]

Well, I tried the strips and that was a bust. Went back to push wire through, twist, then minimum amount of solder, and I'm getting a better feel for it now. One joint was almost perfect.

Some things I've learned:

1. The first soldering iron I got was defective, and that set the course way off and made me really wonder what was going on.

2. The way I have the volume control set in the helping hands is very important. If it's straight, or aimed back just a little towards the hole/wire spot, the solder pretty much goes where I want it to. If it's not straight, the solder runs everywhere but where I want it to.

3. I definitely prefer these volume controls to the more standard, round post with knobs pots.

4. Attaching the wires to the Syscoms outside of the machine, then adding them inline to each positive speaker wire definitely works best for me. I knocked out 6 complete (soldered with wires) volume controls tonight, and b/f and I installed all six into 3 machines (Beast Sapp, Nidaime Goemon, & Panic Saurus) and it was a snap.

5. The more you do something, the better and easier it gets.

[slotter]

da shadow's advice above is right. Soldering really is easy and soon you'll be shaking your head wondering why you had so many problems and worries. (That defective soldering iron definitely set the course for problems.)

[d mowery]

Glad it finaly worked for you , I know ya was gitten POd about it , Hang in ther we hep when we kin, Hi Slotter

[pfurman]

Glad it finaly worked for you , I know ya was gitten POd about it , Hang in ther we hep when we kin, Hi Slotter

Thanks. And with everything cwstnsko was able to say about trying to solder these particular devices, I honestly do not think it was as easy as some people were making it out to be. Eventually, however, things did come together, and that's always a great feeling. (Even being able to salvage my original "test" controller was a fantastic feeling.) Then it becomes a double good feeling when the controllers are installed into machines that were just obnoxiously loud before, and now can be appreciated at a whole different level.