Deepstar with new capacitors

[eduardo1979]

Did I cold solder the potentiometer eyelet ?

I took another look at the new On/Off Threshold potentiometer that I installed and thought to myself one of those power connections on the back of the potentiometer looked like I could do better. I checked the continuity and it was okay but I decided to reflow the solder and "fill" the eyelet. I also did this on the wiper connection seeing as I had the iron out and it was only seconds of work.
Anyhow.....the detector hadn't been switched on since yesterday and amazingly it fired up immediately with a good strong audio. I have since switched it on/off multiple times and (so far) can't replicate the audio delay problem that I haven't been able to solve.
I Googled whether those eyelet tabs need filling with solder and it appears the answer is YES for a full electrical signal to be delivered as well as the mechanical strength.
Early days but maybe that was the problem all along.
I really don't want to be known as a "cold solderer"......it fills with me deep shame and unworthiness I shall see how things work out and whether the problem returns or not.
Please be kind to me and hopefully Carl won't ban me from the forum....although he is well within his rights to do just that.

I told you yesterday that the problem could be related to the ON/OFF potentiometer switch.

[Octopulse]

I told you yesterday that the problem could be related to the ON/OFF potentiometer switch.

It was on my checklist.....thanks for the advice. Hopefully all stays well. Thanks again

[Carl-NC]

No bans for bad soldering, otherwise I might not be here. Filling the eyelet is not necessary; however, a cold solder joint on those is not uncommon because they are often oxidized and difficult to get good flow.

[Octopulse]

Thanks Carl and to everyone who offered their expertise. It may have been the reflowing of the solder contact points as well as some contact cleaner and engaging the pot wiper many times that got things to run without the audio delay. The new pot may have been sitting around loose for many years and needed some attention to spark it into life?
Anyhow, the detector is performing beyond my expectations.....a solid 18" on my average size 18K wedding band.
The detector looks like it just came out of Eric's workshop....hopefully Eric (RIP) might be looking down and giving his nod of approval. When I caught up with Eric some years ago, I remember telling him how I wished for a Deepstar when they were available around late 1999-2002. I was very lucky to have been gifted the Deepstar by someone locally....it only had seen a handful of hours run time but several of the electrolytic capacitors were essentially dead...amazingly the detector did still function with the old caps but the new ones have made a significant difference.