I have some industrial high temp pots and the contact posts defy all attempts to solder wires to. The solder doesn't stick due to the type of metal used.Does anyone have any idea what I need to connect wires to these things?-Leo

Here are some pics...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90982.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/90984.jpg

Leo,Did you try to file off a little of the coating?Kind regards,Stephan Haaswww.lemont.nl/b767flightdeckhttp://www.pic767flyingclub.com/images/sas544.jpg

Maybe you could tightly wrap bare wire around the pins and back onto itself, and solder the wire? Not certain about how well the contact will be, but at least the wire *should* stay on the pins since the pins have flared ends :)

Perhaps a high silver content solder will work.How is ElectronFlux progressing?Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

Stephan: "Did you try to file off a little of the coating?"Yeah I did and it still wouldn't stick. Some of the solder did hold but eventually broke off. I think it just stuck to the rough surface.Ceawlin: "Maybe you could tightly wrap bare wire around the pins and back onto itself, and solder the wire?"That finally worked but I had to solder it a few times as it kept breaking loose and spinning freely around the post. Not the ideal solution since it could break loose again.Mike: "Perhaps a high silver content solder will work."Thanks for reminding me. I do have a tiny roll of Silver solder but its only 2% Silver content. Not sure if that's enough but it

The reason why it's not connected is because the terminal isn't hot enough allowing solder to melt. With my experience, I have done it several time working as avionics bench technican for L3 company. This type of terminal is good for J hook type wire... So, what you can do is apply some solder on the wire end (If its already stripped) and bend it like "J" hook. Hook them up on the terminal so it'd hang it and hold it a little for you. Heat the solder on solder iron and apply it on terminal no longer than 3 mintues so it'll allow terminal become hot quicker, and it will also melt the solder that is already on the wire and then apply more solder on terminal (while solder iron is on the terminal) this will make a good connection. Hope this help

Thanks for the tip Arthur. That did it! I was too afraid to overheat the pot and damage it. I had to fight the urge to pull the iron away, but it worked like a charm using a 60W iron! I was previously using my station's 30W iron.Mike, I'm waiting for your book to arrive before I send EF off to the 'presses'. In anticipation I got these 360 deg continuous turn pots I plan experiment with as position sensors for possible use with multi-turn instruments. Seem pretty stable down to 10 bit resolution without any filtering.-Leo