Tips for the Novice Solderer

A

Alex W

New member
So I learned a couple of lessons the hard way (is there any other?) and thought I'd pass 'em along:

Rule 1 - TIN YOUR TIP
If the tip of your soldering iron is not bright and shiny with solder, it WILL NOT conduct enough heat for you components to get hot enough for the solder to flow. Simply melting some solder with your tip does not constitute tinning. If your tip is dark and grimy looking--it ain't tinned.

Rule 2 - DON'T CHEAT
Follow the rules of soldering--heat each component until the solder will flow onto it; then connect 'em together and heat the joint until they meld. If your tip is properly tinned, the flow should start within mere seconds. If you find yourself sitting there for longer struggling to hold the iron still long enough to heat whatever it is up--you need to clean and/or re-tin your tip. If you cheat and melt the solder with the iron and let it dribble onto the joint, you won't be happy with the results--trust me, I know from experience.

That's it for the rules; a final suggestion would be to get a soldering station with a holder and sponge for cleaning the tip off regularly (like every other joint). Radio Shack has a decent one for $20--well worth it.

Happy soldering!

Alex
 
I'll give ya one. I learned how to solder in the military. I worked on navigation and flight control equipment for helicopters. A cold solder joint could literaly cause a pilot flying by instruments alone to crash into the side of a mountain. The guy teaching the class was a total prick. When you stripped a piece of wire, you used thermal strippers. He would check the wire under one of those lighted magnifiers. If the wire was nicked, you did it over. If you disturbed the manufacturers twist, you did it over.

Anyway, most people do not solder the way I learned. I have tried the way most people do and it doesn't work as well. Here's what ya do.

First, tin the tip.:D Yep still gotta do that.
Second, apply a liberal amount of flux paste to the parts to be soldered.
Third, melt a fair amount of solder to the end of the iron.

Here's the good part. Just touch the tip to the parts to be soldered and the solder will flow right around it. Works every time to produce a beautiful shinny solder joint that anyone would be proud of.

One of the advantages is of course no excesive heating of the part prior to soldering. Try it some time. I think you will be suprised how well it works
 
Hey HangDawg,
Was it PACE equipment you were using/trained on ?
Just curious, as I had high reliability soldering training with them when I worked for Transport Canada. All the way up to multi level boards, surface mount and gold plating contacts.

I gold plated my guitar shaped roach clip at the time :D :D :D :cool:

mike
 
I don't think so. But you never know what the hell the military uses. $1000 hammer, ya know. So does this method sound familiar at all. Most people I know don't do it this way. They insisted we do it like that. Guess they had their reasons.
 
Yeah, flux really helps flow - don't forget to use isopropyl alcohol to get rid of the flux residue when the joint cools. A toothbrush works really well.
The residue causes dust to stick, which may cause overheating (more on circuit cards, but stiill good practice to remove it).

If you are soldering wire, tin the wire to within 2mm of the insulation/sheath (it needs that untinned portion to allow flexibility). Not too much, just enough to lightly coat the wire. You will then find the solder will flow better when you go to solder the wire to the connector.

Just some more things...

I rarely solder anymore - I'm sure I'm rusty.
 
Yep, when tining the wire, we used a little clamp on heat sink so the solder would not wick up under the insulation. To promote flexibility like you mentioned. I don't do much of it either anymore but it's a nice skill to have. Should come in handy when I decide to get me one of those preamp kits.
 
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