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Post subject: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:42 am
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OK... you like working on your own amps.

You have a decent Soldering Station/Gun, and it works well for 90% of the work you have to do.

Challenge: Many of the Fender amps rely on chassis welds to establish Grounds or to anchor Cap Cans, etc.

Your soldering gun is likely in the 35W-80W range and just doesn't supply the heat necessary to flow these welds. And even if you use these, you must keep the tool on the weld so long to flow it, you risk heat damage to neighboring components and considerably shorten the service life of the tool itself.

Some of us have old school soldering irons, which were intended primarily for sweating plumbing pipe connections, and these have the wattage necessary. But, they're old, ungainly and generally unsafe w/ their 2-prong, cotton cords. The one below was actually purchased new by my grandfather some 80 yrs. ago.

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A nice solution is this Butane Pencil Welding Torch:

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I got mine at Menards for $5.99. It is small, lightweight, delivers enough heat to flow the weld quickly before neighboring components absorb too much heat. It has a very fine pencil tip making it ideal for working in tight quarters. And it's refillable from any available Butane lighter Re-fill. Some of these even come w/ removable solder tips (though these cost at least double).

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Very handy tool to have for not much $$. Look for one on your next visit to the Big Box Home Improvement store of your choosing.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
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Last edited by Lightnin MN on Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:23 pm
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Lightnin MN, very nice write-up! I have an old-school 100 watt Weller. But, those little mini-torches are a great idea. Try it out, next time.

BTW... what type of solder do you use for chassis work? Large diameter 60/40?


Thanks! :D


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Post subject: Re: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:55 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
Lightnin MN, very nice write-up! I have an old-school 100 watt Weller. But, those little mini-torches are a great idea. Try it out, next time.

BTW... what type of solder do you use for chassis work? Large diameter 60/40?


Thanks! :D


Yep... 60/40 2.5mm.

I also prep the surface w/ a Flux Pen (Kester 951 ) after scratching the surface w/ a small wire brush. This is because the zinc coated chassis makes for a poor bond w/ the solder.

But, I always use just a small area that is fluxed and be sure to flow the solder beyond the perimeter of the flux. This seals it from oxygen and doesn't allow corrosion to take place.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


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Post subject: Re: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:24 am
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I use a 100 watts Weller soldering iron .

When it need, I just sand little bit a spot on chassis where I need to solder .

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-Soldering- ... B002I7X7ZS

Long time I use two 60 watts iron in same time for chassis . But I need a third hand for solder :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:51 am
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Stratele,

I use a heavy duty magnet that has a hook on it to hold wires down that need soldering to the chassis. These are very strong magnets. They will hold any gauge wire seen in most guitar amps to the chassis, no problem. Get ones with hooks --- as pulling them off the chassis is not easy.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IIT-2-PIECE ... 5b0c0bd5f2


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Post subject: Re: Here's a handy tool for chassis welds...
Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:40 am
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You heat a magnet often enough and hot enough, pretty soon all you'll be left with is a big hunk of pig iron.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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