Guide: The Art of Soldering

The guide is back! Hosted on WebNG, only the soldering component of the site works btw.









12 Sections, 78 Pictures, 5 Flash Clips, 10 Hours of work, Enjoy and solder safe!

 

Thank you!!! Iv'e been needing stuff like that to read, I suck at soldering.

 

ridiculous! simply ridiculous!

i think i now feel good enough to voldmod my x800gto2

 

Nice tutuorial.

 

Same here, & welding too:

(Looks like massive "scar tissue" when I try to do either one... seriously UGLY!)

* Seems that I can't do a good "bead" if my life depended on it (lack of practice probably, to get 'the touch' & all that).

APK

 

thanks mate

 

Thanks that helped my alot.

 

nice one, i think im finally gonna get round to replacing the duff caps on an old leadtek nforce2 now (had some jap caps for it for months, never got round to lookin for a decent soldering guide) though i think ill have a trial run on some real old gear first though!

 

I have a question I have a sunbeam 8 channel fan speed controller it hooks up to a 12v supply and a usb if the usb is not plugged in it looks like it only gets half the power led lite up but fans don't turn do you know eany I can change that? and I would really like to put the card on a switch so I can turn it off and on if you can help my I would appreciate it

 

I am the same way Alec, but I am better at soldering than welding. Nice tut!

 

glad im a auto tech cause soldering and welding is a basic class! But I still learned alot from this! I never stop learning new ways about the stuff I know how to do

 

theres no way u can damage a transistor or a capacitor with heat. unless u press the solder right thru its case ( the plastic black thing) matter of fact u have to heat the pins to perform a good connection: If u leave the pins intact u perform a so called cold solder, wich dosent last that long. so when soldering components, make sure u heat the pin, and add solder in to the pin.

 

Well, that can be true for bigger transistors, resistors and wires, but capacitors and most electronic components (not to mention the PCB itself) will be damaged if they get too hot. That's why "timings" are very important: average quality solder melts at about 182° C, so we need to keep the soldering iron at about 250-260° C to melt the solder in no more than 3 to 5 seconds; fast enough to avoid overheating the components but long enough to heat the surfaces we are going to joint.
Most important, keep the soldering iron clean and wet with solder for faster melting.

 

sorry, my mistake on that one: the average heat time for a IC for example seem to be about 10 seconds before they get hot, and probly get damaged. But on the other hand I've yet to kill a IC or CAP or PCB with overheating the pins, so I quess that 5-10 second rule is a "safety" rule.

 

thank you so much

 

Just a heads up:
I'm canceling my web hosting service with yahoo small business since the site is pretty much dead (but still cost me $14 a month). I will redo the links ASAP and move it to a free web host. Sorry about the downtime.

 

It's back!
Thanks for your patience and sorry about the down time, took me a while to find a nice and free web host.

 

Hey -Thrilla- A question:
I have 5 "superbright" LED's and I want to create a "light" to use for my system. The "light" I have right now is a Flat-LED (flat superbright LED). But it's blue. The other's are white. What do I need to connect it to 12V from the computer's PSU? I have a switch, I have cables long enough. The problem is , I don't know "how" to connect them and what each "leg" is (negative or positive)?

Thanks.

 

Well. . I just learned some new aspects of soldering. Fantastic Tutorial!

 

That was great.

A quick question however. Do I need to take special care when soldering to a button cell?
Thank you.

 

Pretty good guide, but a couple of extra points.
Alcohol & a stiff bristle brush to remove flux, especially at the finish.
Never pry with soldering tip for safety and it will cut through the cladding and tip goes bad quickly.
An alternative to the solder sucking bulb and desoldering iron is the sucking plunger. With any of these the appropriate size tip is necessary. The plunger is easier to control since you cock it before use. And hit the release button when the joint is ready, giving a very rapid pull on the melted solder.
Also, when working with small spaces or needing to remove thick films of solder, solder wick is a must. It looks like copper braid and when the piece you are working with gets full of solder, cut off the end of the roll giveing a fresh piece to work with. Also solder is drawn to heat so once the wick starts drawing the solder work the iron tip onto the wick.

If you expect to do much soldering, you might invest in a variable temp with interchangeable tips. That way you will have the proper tip, big or small, and temperature to handle the job. A wiser investment than a desoldering iron in my opinion.
And putting a blob on the iron is not proper technique. Always put iron to both parts of the joint and solder to the joint, not iron. (I cheat sometimes by putting the tiniest amount of solder on tip to speed heat transfer.)
BEWARE THAT TOO MUCH HEAT WILL LIFT TRACE FROM PCB!
I thought I'd mention that here because it can be avoided to some degree by making first contact of the tip to the lead which is usually much heavier guage metal than the runs on the PCB. Thus it takes a greater quantity of heat to bring the lead to soldering temperature than the very thin lead on the PCB. Don't forget the heat sinking the author mentioned, if it is necessary.
PCB where you have ruined a run by applying to much heat can be fixed, if it is on the surface. If it is one of the internal in a multi-layer board, chances of repair get smaller. In either case, if the run is not repairable, locate a nearby point that has the same electrical connection and use a length of hook-up wire.
Rosin should not be breathed indeed, but also lead fumes. And washing hands before eating or smoking should be done.
If working through the board, start soldering at point farthest from component.
And when working with heat producing components such as resistors and transistors, if possible create a strain relief in the connecting lead if possible. The stiffer the lead, the more necessary if the component gets quite hot. The strain of heating and cooling can break the internal connection.

 

Hey I'm doin some stuff similiar to that... if you would let me know of any pointers that you pick up ( or have picked up, I just noticed how old this post is) I'd appreciate it!

also, check this website out.
http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

 

I was wondering if anyone has any (good or bad) experience with this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/
The ColdHeat soldering tool.

 

No Experience, but nice to know that it has three tips available to help with the job.
Of note is the size of solder and wire limitation, meaning it is for smaller jobs also.
But, it still has no temperature control and not damaging components from overheat becomes a matter of guessing the time allowed to complete job.
I also have different shaped tips for my Haiko including one that is a very thin cylindrical point. Perfect for very small work such as under magnification. Of note is that this tip would not be good for medium to small because it would be overloaded on its heat transfer capabilities at the very tip. That is if it gets hot enough, it takes too long, subjecting components to the heat longer. Heat sinks help, but they are still best when you can heat to needed temperature quickly but not beyond.
Even with its sensitivity for small work, I've soldered with one of the larger tips 8 guage wire at under 800 degrees.