TWIST LOCK CAP SOLDER HELP!

[byobkim]

I am replacing the filter cap in my 65 Princeton. What is up with th concrete solder this stuff wont budge- at 900 degrees. I am affraid I am going to ruin my solder station.

Does this take a torch?

Stumped?

any ideas?

[Phil_S]

oooooooooooooookey dokey. This is a tough one. You see, I've encountered these on derelict chassis that I didn't have to worry much about anything except setting the house on fire.

You should be able to melt the solder with a high power gun. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/welle ... 4Aodqn_Dmg Forget about your ordinary iron. You might get it done with two irons simultaneously, but that requires three hands and two brains. The hands part isn't so hard to coordinate, but I don't know about the brains.

I have somehow managed to employ both my electric iron and propane Portasol at the same time by myself. It is very tricky, but you can melt the solder that way.

If you must have the high heat of a torch, you should find an old fashioned soldering iron, the kind that is meant to be heated in a fire. Use the torch on it to get it good n hot.

In the end, forget all of the above. I think the Dremel tool is your best friend for this. Just be real careful not to damage the chassis.

[byobkim]

I tried the grinder but not the blade- I was afraid of getting alot of metal flackes in the pots.

Let's say I get the puppy out- will ordinaty Lead solder hold the new one in place?

[dynaman]

Need a big hot iron. Clamp would also work just as well.

[xtian]

+1 for small torch (i.e., Weller Portasol) for melting solder connected directly to chassis steel. Funny thing happened to me, though, when the solder had finally heated to melting point, it ran right through the hole onto my work mat like a volcanic flow. Ended up looking like my mat had stopped a bullet.

[byobkim]

How did you keep from burning the cables did you desolder the surounding cables or did you have a heat resistant material to protect the cables?
Also,
once the metal starts to flow how did you wick it?

[Randy Magee]

I use a 150 watt soldering iron with a 1/2"chisel tip that I got off eBay...

[selloutrr]

I've had the best results with a hot air rework station (900 degree) along with my soldering iron (700 degree) together adding flux to my soldering iron tip and the solder blob before touching the heat to the solder. As I touch the solder I turn on the suction and by the count of 6 it's gone. the chassis is cooler then if I used a large chisel and it's clean and ready for a replacement.

your problem is you don't have enough flux or heat to get it moving.

[byobkim]

I will try the two irons as soon as I figure out how to vacuum the flow.
I do not have a vacuum pump. Only two hands also.

Attached is a picture of the cap area.

[passfan]

I've had good luck on these with a 40 watt iron and a solder sucker. The key is to wet the tip good with solder and then apply it. The hot solder on the tip melts the older solder and I suck it up. A couple of times and I twist the lug back straight in line with the chassis. one more time with the wet tip to get it moving in the hole and if you wiggle it while it cools, what solder is left will not re-bond. Then it's on to the next lug.

[selloutrr]

you will have better luck as well if you snip the can lug from the body as the body absorbes the heat. then you should be able to heat the blob with two irons and flick it down the hole the cap set in.

[rp]

If you're thinking of doing this just spend the money on the big Weller pistol. Seriously, even if you only do this once it's worth $40 to do right by the BF Princeton. That site posted by PhilS has great prices. Buy a Weller as the cheap RS ones will burn out the 5th time you use it. I think Fender used something like this: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/welle ... /sp175.htm not sure how much power you really need, though experience tells me you can't have enough when soldering to a chassis. I've replaced can caps on lots of old amps, and soldered some PT CTs too. Tried to go cheap with what I had dremel and a torch. The dremel will scar and the torch will blue the metal and it'll look like a hack job. For $40 you can make it look as nice as factory original, and you get a new tool.

The giant pencil has the advantage that you can use it around pickups, which the pistols with their big coil supposedly can damage, though I knew an old timer that used one around hundreds if not thousands of pickups for 40 years including very famous stars with pafs and no one ever reported any damage or changes.

[Richie]

the big iron is what your supposed to use. And probably need one to install the new cap and solder like that to the chassis. BUT.. if you want to get that off another way.
Use a sharp wood chisel,like a stanley,a blade about the same size or width of the blob.
Set it at the base of the blob at a horizontal angle, then tap it with a hammer. I know it sounds weird, but usually the whole blob will pop right off.

[rp]

Use a sharp wood chisel,like a stanley,a blade about the same size or width of the blob.

I recall doing that too and remember it worked great, but I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do it now with what vintage amps are worth. On the other hand, I never walk away from an opportunity to use a hammer. It's always the right tool for the job.

[jelle]

I never walk away from an opportunity to use a hammer. It's always the right tool for the job.

And Richie is right again, I have experienced this too. In addition, some BF fenders need some more hammer time than the SF ones. Weird....