View Full Version : Can Someone Help Me Use Flux?!?!?!?!?!
BrodieBear
10-27-2006, 05:24 AM
Hey guys, got a bit of a problem here.
Playin at a gig last night, and the control plate on my jazz bass, comes off!! the screws don't hold it into the wood anymore, but i can sort that no probs.
The problem is that when the plate came away, one of the connections inside broke. not good.
now, i pretty much know what i'm doing with solder to put it back together, but i need to find out if and how to use flux?
when i got my soldering iron, i got the iron, a thingy of solder, and a tub of nasty lookin paste which i think is meant to be flux. what i really need to know is, do i really need this, and if so, how do i go about using it?
i know this would normally go in the Luthiery forum, but i'm slightly desperate.
cheers in advance for any help guys,
Brodiebear.
SixnStones
10-27-2006, 05:53 AM
get it professionally done and don't break your bass forever?
Misanthropic
10-27-2006, 07:18 AM
Don't take my word on this, but I think it's only used to make soldering easier on "glossy" surfaces (on which the solder won't stick well).
I see no danger in not using it.
Polyamarous
10-27-2006, 07:41 AM
Stop being cave men and buy solder that is made with flux cores.
It's as easy to come by as non-fluxed solder.
Flux serves as a agent to allow solder to melt more easily with less heat requred which can potentially damage the delicate potemiters.
Polyamarous is right, just do yourself a favour and pick up some flux cored solder.
Most solder these days does come with a flux core, but having a tub of flux can help the process.
Basically what you want to do is smear a little (and I do mean a little) od the flux onto the portion you will be soldering the wire too.
Then wait for you soldering iron to heat up to appropriate temperature, test this by touching the tip of the solder to the iron and see it it melts.
Ideally you want to have a droplet of solder on the soldering iron itself, that way you will have a hand free to hold the wire needing soldering in place.
Hold the wirte down onto the portion it needs to be soldered to and then touch the iron with the solder droplet to it. It will take a few seconds for the surface to reach a temerature that the solder can adhere to it and not just form a droplet on the surface.
It can be a tricky process, and if you feel the component that is being soldered is getting too hot, then stop and let the components cool, rather than getting them soldered and damaging them in the process.
moghes69
10-27-2006, 11:01 PM
Ideally you want to have a droplet of solder on the soldering iron itself, that way you will have a hand free to hold the wire needing soldering in place.
you're supposed to heat up the component you are soldering before you melt the solder. the idea is to get the metal hot enough so it sort of "absorbs the solder and produces a solid weld.
you're supposed to heat up the component you are soldering before you melt the solder. the idea is to get the metal hot enough so it sort of "absorbs the solder and produces a solid weld.
I have found the technique that I use works pretty well also.
The reason I do it is that I am not having to mess around with trying to hold several things at once, it just free's up one of your hands
Each to his own as they say.
Playin at a gig last night, and the control plate on my jazz bass, comes off!! the screws don't hold it into the wood anymore, but i can sort that no probs.
The problem is that when the plate came away, one of the connections inside broke. not good.
.
Screws won't hold it in? Use bigger screws. Or maybe fill it with some wood filler or toothpicks, and redrill.
What connection was it? Chances are, you can fix it with just regular solder, no flux needed. Use lead free unless you want to inhale lead...
Son of Magni
10-28-2006, 12:14 PM
Stop being cave men and buy solder that is made with flux cores.
It's as easy to come by as non-fluxed solder.
Yeah, it sounds like you're using plumbing solder and flux. This would be a very bad idea since that would be acid based flux. For electronics you have to use rosin based flux, which normally is already in the solder if you use electronics solder.
pitchfork
10-28-2006, 01:21 PM
I use a flux pen it was about 2 quid at maplins, damn good job it does too.
As well as using flux cored lead solder.
moghes69
10-28-2006, 02:34 PM
I have found the technique that I use works pretty well also.
The reason I do it is that I am not having to mess around with trying to hold several things at once, it just free's up one of your hands
Each to his own as they say.
i know that it works, i was just told that using that technique can result in possible insecure connections. but if someone gets it to work well, then i guess it doesn't matter.
Electric Requiem
10-28-2006, 02:44 PM
The important thing to do is to inhale as much of the fumes as possible.
IPolkaLikeThis!
10-28-2006, 05:00 PM
"The smoke from the flux is filling his lung, ans he's earning minimum wage..."
Jamie
10-28-2006, 08:32 PM
LEAD BASED!
...:shifty:
For you UKers: I'm guessing Maplins supplies flux core solder? I've got about 2 inches of solder left :p
BrodieBear
10-30-2006, 07:50 AM
Screws won't hold it in? Use bigger screws. Or maybe fill it with some wood filler or toothpicks, and redrill.
That will indeed be the plan, and it shouldn't be too hard a fix, so no probs there.
What happened with the screws was that they simply didn't hold in the wood anymore. if i tried to screw them back in, the screw just kept on turning. but i can sort that.
With regards to the soldering, it was the connection between the bridge pup and it's volume pot. but i got the flux cored solder, and it was all good.
thanks for the help guys, means i can still buy a multitrack at xmas, and not a necessary replacement bass.
although both would be nice.
"The smoke from the flux is filling his lung, ans he's earning minimum wage..."
thats just what i was thinkin. nice.
angry armadillo
10-30-2006, 08:54 AM
LEAD BASED!
...:shifty:
For you UKers: I'm guessing Maplins supplies flux core solder? I've got about 2 inches of solder left :p
B&Q, homebase, any DIY store pretty much
just while the subject has been rasied, my bass has a loose connection (i am assuming i havent looked) and i am a fairly competent with a soldering iron. is there anything in a bass that will get damaged by the heat, it is an active bass, but i dont imagine there is anything, is there?
Even if you couldnt fix it it's nothing to get a new bass over.. I disconnected the wire from my tone pot to the output by accident and it cost me probably $10 to get it fixed.
moghes69
10-30-2006, 08:21 PM
B&Q, homebase, any DIY store pretty much
just while the subject has been rasied, my bass has a loose connection (i am assuming i havent looked) and i am a fairly competent with a soldering iron. is there anything in a bass that will get damaged by the heat, it is an active bass, but i dont imagine there is anything, is there?
if its just soldering together some leads it shouldn't be a problem. just don't be stupid and leave the iron on the wire for five minutes and you should be fine.
vBulletin® v3.8.1, Copyright ©2000-2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.