Posted: 8/25/2013 9:07:18 PM EDT
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Help me out learning to solder. I've read some instructionals and I'm just not doing it right. Can't get any solder to take onto the wiring.
Can you guys point me to some quality writeups or vids that can show me the basics? Thanks. |
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Try this video.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&v=fYz5nIHH0iY |
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It's all about heat conduction. The heat is conducted by molten solder.
1. Touch the solder to the tip of you iron, so that you get a tiny droplet of molten solder on it. 2. Immediately place the tip of your iron against the wires to be soldered, so that the wires are immersed in the droplet. This rapidly transfers heat to the wires. 3. As the wires heat up, apply more solder. 4. Remove the tip as soon as the wires are saturated in solder. |
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Solder pots are really the best way to do wires by them self. You just dip. It's super easy
If using an iron use alotta flux on the wire. Put the iron on the wire for a few secs after u apply flux on wire. Then feed the solder right where the iron contacts the wire .. Kinda half on the iron half on the wire. It will be sucked up by the wire. Don't add too much solder because it will be sucked under the insulation which is call wicking. It's practice. You are gonna mess up alot of stuff before you get it. |
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Quoted:
It's all about heat conduction. The heat is conducted by molten solder. 1. Touch the solder to the tip of you iron, so that you get a tiny droplet of molten solder on it. 2. Immediately place the tip of your iron against the wires to be soldered, so that the wires are immersed in the droplet. This rapidly transfers heat to the wires. 3. As the wires heat up, apply more solder. 4. Remove the tip as soon as the wires are saturated in solder. This is really the best description of the basics. The only thing Skibane missed is that if there's oxide on the tip of the iron (i.e. the tip is not shiney) wipe it on a damp sponge to wipe the oxide off. Then start with #1 above. |
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I always wipe the PC board and component leads with alcohol. It removes skin oils and whatever crap is leftover from the manufacturing process. Worst case is working with salvaged parts where I sometimes have to scrub the connection with Scotchbrite to get the corrosion off. After the board is assembled I wipe the board again with alcohol to remove the flux.
If your solder joints look like little Hershey's kisses then you've probably done it right. Soldering is easy. Here's how to do it. |
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Use the right iron for the job. For most electronic soldering on circuit boards, etc, a 40 watt pencil iron is just right. You run less risk of overheating parts with a 40 w rather than 25 or 30 w irons as you can heat the spot, solder, and get off it quicker. I haven't smoked a diode, transistor, or IC in 40 years from soldering. For surface mount and other small components, there are special small irons. You will also need a jeweler's hood, or clip on magnifiers, or other magnification. http://www.ngineering.com/soldering.htm For larger objects, such as soldering PL-259s, you need a large, hot soldering gun. 150 watt through 250 watt. The Weller 260/200 watt is perfect for this. The 100/140 watt gun is marginal for PL-259s. The problem is that the plug acts like a huge heat sink, and will wick away the heat as fast as you can heat the spot... I'm talking about the holes on the side where you solder the braid. With the hotter gun you can heat it up quickly, get it soldered, and get the iron off. Another tip for PL-259 soldering, use good silver plated (or silver with gold tip) Amphenol plugs. There are cheap ones that have a plating that is very difficult to solder. |
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Use the right solder for the job. For electronics, use ROSIN CORE 60/40, or better, 63/47 solder. DO NOT USE RoHS or "lead-free" solder. Kester 44 (.031") is the old standby. Never, ever use acid core solder for electronics. It will corrode. Rosin core only. For very small parts, circuit boards, use the smallest diameter solder you can find, .020" is good. Even for PL-259s I never use solder larger than .040" diameter. |
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Use the right flux for the job. Flux coats the hot metal surfaces to be soldered and stops them from oxidizing until hot enough for solder to melt. Solder will not wet, or "tin", oxidized metal. Rosin Flux only for electronics. You can get a small jar of flux only from Kester or Radio Shack. Never use Acid Flux for electronics work. Sometimes applying a little more flux will help get the job done. When using Solder Wick (1/8" wide copper braid), used for desoldering components, many times dabbing a little flux on the braid will help it tin and wick solder better. Don't think you have to use flux all the time, but sometimes a little extra flux helps. |
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Oxide is the killer. Hot metal oxidizes very quickly. The tip has a shelf life of about 10 seconds after it's been cleaned and fluxed tinned. oops A clean tip is a happy tip. If it's dull metal, or black crusty flux residue you are in for a long, frustrating day. Use a slightly damp sponge, and get one of the "tip cleaner/tinner" pots to use periodically. There are some brass-wool cleaners that look like a brillo pad that work wonders for cleaning an abused tip. Every time you pick up the iron, clean the tip on the sponge, tin it, and wipe it again just before applying the heat. If you don't apply the iron to the work part within 10 seconds, clean, tin and repeat. Before you park the iron, tin it again generously. The solder provides a sacrificial layer that will oxidize and preserve the tip. If you're leaving the iron sitting for more than 30 minutes, either switch it off or "idle" it by turning the temperature down to about 300 F. Too much heat is a killer. If the tip oxidizes to a sort of purple color it's too hot. The temperature is about right when the joint achieves soldering temperature in, say, 5 seconds. If you can, post pics of your iron, paying close attention to the tip, and the solder joint. If the tip has a lot of gunk or oxidation on it, many times it can't be salvaged and must be replaced. Just the tip, not the whole iron. Pb-free solder is an abomination. If you're trying to use it, give up now and get some proper flux-core 63/37 or 60/40. Kester and Alpha are my go-to suppliers. Read their documents regarding flux and alloys, and you are on your way to becoming a soldering ninja. Edited because I typed this before coffee. |
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Make sure the items you are soldering are solderable.
A while back my club was given what looked like some good TV type 75 ohm coax. This can be used and still get acceptable SWR, especially if you cut it to the length. Try as I may, I could NOT solder the shield. Then we figured out it was ALUMINUM braid. 
Solution, crimp on PL-259. Or we could have crimped on a TV cable type F-connector, then used a F socket to PL-259 adapter on each end. We were able to find some crimp-on PL-259s online. To add to TNC's post above, when a tip get eroded enough, I use the bench grinder to grind it back to a smooth point. Then I immediately flux and tin the fresh copper tip. I agree with TNC 100%, the soldering iron tip must be clean and properly tinned. You will find a lot of good Youtube videos on this subject. It is an easy skill to pick up that you should have no fear of. The resulting solder joint should clean and shiny silver. If it is "frosty" looking, it is a "cold solder joint". It has either been insufficiently heated, or the parts moved as they were cooling, just when the solder solidified. If this happens just reheat the joint. The solder should flow out on the pad, and up the lead, neatly "wetting" the metal. If it looks like a little ball or droplet, it is not a good joint. In that case it has not wet the pad. Sometimes for very small parts or wires, it is best to tin both spots to be soldered first, touch them together, touch the soldering iron to them, and remove the iron, letting the wire or part to cool without moving. A little prod and tug will tell you if it has been soldered well. |