So you go to start your new DIY project, and you realize, soldering is not as easy as you thought it was going to be. After doing your best, you have cold solder joints that break with the slightest movement. There has to be some secrets to make soldering easy. The answer is that there are some. This will not be an all inclusive guide that gives the finest details of soldering, but I will try to tell a few basic tips that I have picked up in my day. If you have any extra tips, feel free to leave some comments. First lets go over some rules.
Rule #1. You have to get the solder hot enough to flow evenly. A proper solder joint will be nice and shiny.
Rule #2. You have to let the solder harden before moving the component. If you don’t, you can get a cold solder joint.
Rule #3. You have to have a clean surface to start with so that the solder will stick to both the component, and the circuit pad.
Rule #4. Use a heat sink to protect ICs. This is usually a small metal clip that will clip on the IC lead on the other side of the board from where you are soldering. This keeps the heat from ruining your chip.
Rule #5. Melted solder is hot, you WILL burn yourself at somepoint.
That is enough rules for now. The next thing to know are some techniques.
Technique #1. Get the right size soldering iron. The right size will probably be a 15 to 30 watt iron. Sometimes a bigger iron is needed. When I was working on TVs, and I had to desolder a large heat sink, my little 15 watter just would not do it. I needed more power.
Technique #2. When you solder, you need to “tin” the soldering iron. This just means to put some solder on the tip of the iron. It is also important to keep the iron clean. I always use a wet sponge. It does a good job of getting the solder off of the tip.
Technique #3. Make sure the part you are working on is not plugged in, or powered on. You don’t want to short anything out by accident with the iron. After making sure of this, it is important to place your part that you are soldering, and making sure it is secure. This is important to get a good fit.
Technique #4. What I always do, is place the soldering iron tip on the pad, and make sure it is also touching the component lead. I then take the solder and place it on the opposite side of the lead from the iron. I make sure that the lead gets hot enough that it is what melts the solder. After this, I remove the solder, and then remove the iron. I make sure to let it sit there without moving so that it can cool off. If everything is done right, you will have a nice shiny joint that has flowed evenly around the component lead. If your solder looks grey, and dull, then you probably did not have enough heat, so try it again.
I found a few sites that also give some tutorials on soldering. It is a good thing to learn, and you always improve with practice. I know I still have a long way to go. I don’t think you can ever become a master at soldering, but there is always room for improvement.
LINKS:
http://www.aaroncake.net/electronics/solder.htm
A Nasa site with videos on soldering
Just in case you made a mistake, and need to desolder
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[...] Hi! Just a quick one - I just stumbled across DIY live’s How to Solder guide (including the links at the bottom of that entry - pure gold-dust!. [...]
[...] So if you have decided that it actually is worth your time to make some cables, how would you go about doing it? You need a soldering iron, the only “real” investment you actually need to make. If you think that this is something you would want to persue long term (and most studio owners do), be it making cables, or experimenting in the DIY world of audio, then I would suggest investing in something a little more sturdy. Something slightly more expensive and industrial will last you a long time and get you though bigger projects. Not only that, but about ten 10′ cables will pay for a nice Hakko or Weller station. However, an iron capable of producing temperatures of around 700° (20 watts or so) should suffice for any cable that you want to make. Solder is a cheap but crucial component in this project, so I would suggest some 63/37 tin/lead mix solder, availible anywhere solder is sold, and a pair of wire strippers. Next you need to learn to solder (or learn as you go), which is nowhere near as hard as you might think. There’s a great general guide on how to solder over at DIY Live which will get you going in the right direction. While that seems to focus a little more on circuitboard soldering, the techniques are still solid and relevant to this project. There is also a compilation of soldering resources at MAKE Blog. Basically soldering comes down to melting soft metal onto the two places you want to connect. Pretty simple, huh? It is. [...]
Just a note, but the image used on this article came from my website.
[...] How to Solder [...]