i suck at soldering

[Brad Barker]

i figured i'd post this in effects, since the goal is to get good enough at soldering to eventually tackle some effects projects.

i went to radio shack last night and got a soldering iron and other supplies, including a printed circuit board and wire to practice soldering with.

my only previous soldering experience was back in seventh grade for an elective course, where i failed miserably at constructing a board that simply makes an LED turn on and off. (it was a red LED )

last night, i read some online instruction, and the sites said not to use the soldering iron to transfer the molten solder over to the "joint" (which i imagine is where the wire comes out through the hole on the pcb). alright, then. further, diagrams showed that you simply place the solder at the point where you want it fasten the wire to the board, and then touch the iron there. seems pretty simple.


but EVERY SINGLE TIME i try this, the solder simply gets "sucked" on the friggin' soldering iron!

i've attempted different angles of attack with the iron, but the solder just has to climb up the damn thing.


i'll go try to give some of my electrical engineering friends a ring, but i figure that we have a bunch of electronics wizards here.

[bongomania]

Soldering is an art. It took me a couple of years before I felt like i got it down well, and even now I run into frustrations like pot housings that take forever to heat up and have some sort of coating that inhibits solder from "grabbing".

Couple of tips: one, use some steel wool or sandpaper to abrade the surface you want to solder. This will remove any coatings, grease from manufacturing/handling/packaging, and oxidation that would inhibit soldering. Two, use the soldering iron tip to heat up the component leg and the circuitboard trace at the same time, then poke the tip of the solder wire into the joint where it is hottest.

[dubyaresee]

-Less is more
-Heat the work, not the solder
-Clean the leads and the solder pads
-"Tin" stranded wire ends before working on them
-Use good rosin core solder
-Keep the tip of the iron clean and tinned

Put the tip of the iron on one side of the component lead. Have the tip (assuming is it conical) contact the lead and the pad beneath.

After a few seconds of heating, put the tip of the solder on the opposite side of the lead from the iron tip. Once everything is hot enough, the solder will flow towards the heated side.

Pull the solder away, then the iron away soon after.

If you did everything well, you will have a nice, shiny, slightly concave solder joint that covers the pad.

If you held the solder or the iron on the joint too long after removing the other, you will see a point formed or a mishappen joint.

If you let too much solder melt, your joint will be convex. This is bad, as the solder will cool and harden irregularly.

If you didn't use enough solder, you will see voids in the joint.

If the lead and pad are not clean, you may see voids as well.

If you leave the iron on the work too long, you will see discoloration on the pad, and may lift the trace from the board.

When you first try this out, you will have the best luck with leads 90˚ to the pad. Make sure you are using fairly thin electronics solder wire near the diameter of the leads you are working on.

http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/telescope/soldering.htm

[aproud1]

dubyaresee and bongomania have covered the basics. The main thing that helped me was to practice. If you have any broke/crappy/old electronics laying around practice on that. You'll eventually get the hang of it.

[jaebee]

one thing that noone seems to have mentioned is FLUX!!!

you can't solderwithout flux. apply it to whatever you want the solder to go on, it cleans the area (as its heated) and helps the solder flow into the directed place.

also, solder always flows towards heat, so if you are having a hard time, try putting the iron on the opposite side of the pcb.

[K2000]

I bought some cheapo soldering projects (strobe light etc) to practice on. If you buy a pedal kit at Build Your Own Clone, new customers get a free "Confidence Booster" kit (easy boost pedal project) to practice on.

I'm not a good solderer either, but there is a certain rythm to it... just takes a few quick seconds/moments for the element to heat up, and then bang it's done.

[seanm]

And it can't be stressed enough, keep the soldering iron tinned!

[JonathanD]

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!
Really

[Tomass]

+1 on heating the work, if it gets a bit to hot for the components, then get a heat clamp (small pliers that take the heat away) as that destroys some components. It is really an art form. It also helps if you have a clean tipped soldering iron as well, as dirt on a tip can really make a mess of things.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by jaebee

one thing that noone seems to have mentioned is FLUX!!!

you can't solderwithout flux. apply it to whatever you want the solder to go on, it cleans the area (as its heated) and helps the solder flow into the directed place.

also, solder always flows towards heat, so if you are having a hard time, try putting the iron on the opposite side of the pcb.

Except that most solder used for electronics already contains a flux core, and adding more flux is not always a good idea. Messy. I would only add extra flux to large/thick surfaces or fat stranded wires that need a little extra assistance with the flow.

[ChenNuts44]

Originally Posted by Tomass

...dirt on a tip can really make a mess of things.

That's what she said!

Focus: If you're using a separate application of flux (generally from a tube/syringe), remember to clean the away the excess when you've finished soldering. Also, don't breathe the smoke. Seriously.

[Munjibunga]

Don't forget to tin the wire you're going to attach. That means heat up the bare end of the wire and coat it with solder. You should get it hot enogh that the solder flows into the wire. Then pre-solder the spot where you're going to attach the wire. Just get a little solder on the clad or whatever you're soldering to. Then heat the part 'til the solder goes liquid and hold the wire to the part (with the soldering iron still on the part) until the solder flows together. Remove the iron and hold very still for 10 seconds until the solder hardens.

Use steel wool every once in a while to clean the tip of the iron. Then put a very thin coat of solder on the tip and wipe it off, so the tip is shiny.

[Brad Barker]

Originally Posted by K2000

I bought some cheapo soldering projects (strobe light etc) to practice on. If you buy a pedal kit at Build Your Own Clone, new customers get a free "Confidence Booster" kit (easy boost pedal project) to practice on.

I'm not a good solderer either, but there is a certain rythm to it... just takes a few quick seconds/moments for the element to heat up, and then bang it's done.

yeah, i was very relieved to see that each kit comes with an optional practice kit.


thanks for all of the help! i'm probably the least "handy" person on earth.

[Vin_MM_Sabre_79]

Hows the condition of your tip? iF you've ever left it on for a period of time the coating can disintegrate and do exactly what you're describing. I tried all kinds of fixit methods when this happened to me but the easiest (and in the long run cheapest) was to replace the tip completely.

[dubyaresee]

Originally Posted by Vin_MM_Sabre_79

Hows the condition of your tip? iF you've ever left it on for a period of time the coating can disintegrate and do exactly what you're describing. I tried all kinds of fixit methods when this happened to me but the easiest (and in the long run cheapest) was to replace the tip completely.

Good point. If you leave an iron on for a long time, and don't keep it tinned, the tip will oxidize. The oxidization (rust) insulates the tip, and acts as a pretty good solder resist.

You can recover it with sandpaper and steel wool, but it won't be as good as it came fresh.

When soldering, make sure your resulting joint is shiny. Cold solder joints (see http://www.tangible-technology.com/a...nt_update.html for examples) are death for RF, probably hurt audio circuits, and are very weak and susceptible to vibration. Make sure the joint is concave and shiny. See: "less is more".

Good luck, practice lots!

[bassman251]

yes, keep tip tinned regularly. The solder on tip help transfer heat to parts better. The idea is to heat the electronic lead & solder pad & let it melt the solder & not the solder iron directly. If you don't do that the solder does tend to flow directly to the solder iron. This also helps prevent cold solder joints. So keep tip on one side of lead, solder on the other, once component lead & solder pad is hot enough apply solder. Keep in mind excessive heat can damage electronic components, cause the solder pad come off too.

[willsellout]

I suck at soldering as well but after watching several tutorials on youtube and reading articles I think I've got a much better grasp. I also just went and bought the "Helping hands" with magnifying glass workstation which will make it a bit easier on me. I successfully soldered a new jack into my Warwick recently after doing some research. This was the first success after many failed attempts. I had all but given up but being out in the middle of nowhere I have no other choice but to fix my own stuff now. Read up on it and buy the tools that will make it easier for you. I'm also practicing on broken cables I have around the house which I think helps a little.



Dan

[Brad Barker]

Originally Posted by willsellout

... watching several tutorials on youtube ...

d'oh!

didn't think of that. awesome.

[jim primate]

it's ok, i suck at soldiering.

[Sean S]

question, then...does the solder conduct electricity to the joint of, say, the PCB?