soldering pots and wires to the pcb.....

[bmcash]

Hey guys.  What is your technique for soldering pots?  Wrap the wire around first?  Do you prime the pots with solder first or prime the wire with solder?  Just wanted your take on this.  To me its the most difficult technique.

Thanks
B$

[Haberdasher]

I have a little tub of flux paste and i lightly dip the lugs of the pots into it.  Then I clamp the pot in my little bench vise with the lugs hanging down or up, depending on which way I want the wires to run.  I tin the wire ends and bend them into hooks.  Hang them from the lugs, lightly crimp the hook closed with mini needle nose, solder, and finally clip off any excess wire.

I don't really have any tips on soldering the wires into the pcb other than I tin the wires as soon as I strip the ends so they won't fray.

[midwayfair]

With some practice, you can hold and guide the solder with unused fingers on the hand you also hold the wire with. It's almost like chopsticks. Though to be honest, most of the time, I just stick the wire through, bend it, and rest the whole thing on the desk. The PCB keeps the wire from wriggling.

For pots, I do it just like Haberdasher, except I use a third hand instead of a vice. If you solder the wires to the board first, they'll stick up in the air and you can solder the pot to them without the wires moving. If you solder the wires to the pot first, they'll hang down and you can stick them in the PCB without them moving.

I suppose a fourth hand would help, too, if you've already got a third one.

[bmcash]

Thanks for the info.  Its alwaya nice to hear about others techniques.  Sometimes I feel like a bear with boxing gloves trying to solder.

[hammerheadmusicman]

It gets easier, after a while you'll get much quicker and neater

Good luck


George