I have been soldering wires and on some electronics gear much of my 55 year old life, never came across this one. I am making minor repairs to a Pride 100a bilinear amplifier, such as replacing a capacitor and trimmer capacitor. I am having trouble getting the solder connections to take hold. The components fall off or out of their position. Also, I tore a small section of the PC board but was able to repair it with a small patch wire. Does gear get more difficult to repair with age (1975), or can I be using the wrong solder? Never happened before.
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Trouble soldering on old gear
- Thread starter Dave Meyers
- Start date
Yes it does due to oxidation of the copper traces. It will oxidize even under a thin layer of solder.
Try re-flowing solder over the area and then remove it prior to soldering. You can also tin the lead of the component you are installing. If you are using lead free solder it is more difficult to get a good connection. If you don't care about small traces of lead use 60/40 or 63/37 rosin core solder.
Don't ever use acid core solder in electronics work.
Thanks very much guys. No, I did not use your suggested methods, but will now do so. I appreciate the input. I don't want to do more harm than good on this gear.
Sounds like cold solder issues.
Reference this soldering iron modification video by the always educational and entertaining Mr Carlson. Good for heavy copper clad boards and such that act as large heat sinks. Easy mod to Weller guns and works well too:
Reference this soldering iron modification video by the always educational and entertaining Mr Carlson. Good for heavy copper clad boards and such that act as large heat sinks. Easy mod to Weller guns and works well too: