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Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

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Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#1

Post by tosmatos »

Hello. I've recently started soldering, specifically wanting to repair the joysticks on several Playstation 4 controllers I have, but I also want to get good at electronic repair in general.

Right now I've busted a board, and managed to desolder and resolder a stick but the controller doesn't turn on anymore. I'm doing this all by myself, and I think I'm following good advice (ventilation, good iron tip, using flux etc...).

But there are many variables, and a lot of experts have different opinions on stuff. Does anyone know good resources that I could use for getting good and making less mistakes ? Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#2

Post by JohnFen »

You don't need any real educational resources to get good at soldering. Any random primer will do. It's genuinely a simple task that doesn't require a lot of explanation or have a lot of tricks.

What gets you good at soldering is just practice. Solder a lot. A fun and easy way to do this is to pick up those cheap ($5 or less) electronic solder-it-yourself kits and do a bunch of them. Include ones that contain small surface mount parts.

You can also practice desoldering on them, or pick up broken electronics and desolder parts from those.

> managed to desolder and resolder a stick but the controller doesn't turn on anymore.

There's a chance to practice repair (which is a completely different topic from soldering)! Odds are very high the problem is that you've made an unwanted solder bridge or you have a cold solder joint.

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#4

Post by mikewarot »

My late friend Ward was a strong supporter of Build-a-Blinkie[1] and their mission to teach people to solder by doing.

My friend Jim's been soldering since the 1950s. We solder a lot of things with leads, for this, his method is to get each item to be joined tinned, then use solder as a mechanical joint. Melt in the solder, remove the iron but hold them together, then once cool, tug on the joint to make sure it holds.

[1] https://build-a-blinkie.org/events.php

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#6

Post by brudgers »

JohnFen wrote: post #2

You don't need any real educational resources to get good at soldering. Any random primer will do. It's genuinely a simple task that doesn't require a lot of explanation or have a lot of tricks. What gets you good at soldering is just practice. Solder a lot. A fun and easy way to do this is to pick up those cheap ($5 or less) electronic solder-it-yourself kits and do a bunch of them. Include ones that contain small s…

Or both.

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#7

Post by ylynbuilds »

JohnFen wrote: post #2

You don't need any real educational resources to get good at soldering. Any random primer will do. It's genuinely a simple task that doesn't require a lot of explanation or have a lot of tricks. What gets you good at soldering is just practice. Solder a lot. A fun and easy way to do this is to pick up those cheap ($5 or less) electronic solder-it-yourself kits and do a bunch of them. Include ones that contain small s…

Seconding the practice-kit thing, but for the dead DS4 specifically: before you go hunting the joint you reworked, check whether you lifted a pad or cooked a via near the stick. On those boards the stick pins sit right next to thin traces and a hot iron parked too long will pull the pad up with the pin. Easiest check is continuity from each stick pin to wherever the trace lands, and check 3.3V is present with it plugged in - if the rail is gone you probably bridged something, not broken the stick.

Other thing that got me: no-clean flux residue plus a cheap iron with a bad ground can look like a dead board when it's just leakage. Clean it with IPA and a brush and retest before desoldering anything else.

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#8

Post by half_fish »

This gives me flashbacks to the last time I tried to replace the microswitches in my mouse...

After I finished, the right click felt like it was 'glued down' or 'stuck'...

I never heard the click sound again...

Yep, it was broken.

I've decided never to solder anything ever again...

But good luck to you!

Re: Ask HN: Resources to get good at soldering?

#9

Post by roland35 »

With the correct tools and materials soldering can be very easy or with the wrong tools very difficult!

There are probably some great videos on soldering on YouTube, luckily it's a mature field so not much has changed!

Some random tips...

Lead solder is easier to work with, but with lead free make sure you are using the right flux and temperature.

It helps to preheat things as much as you can. You want to have a hot pad and hot lead, then add solder to that. As opposed to putting a blob of solder on the iron and trying to apply it like glue.

Too much heat can damage the board or part of course.

Use the right tips. Fatter tips can help more evenly apply heat.

If there is a lot of copper like a ground plane, it can take longer to heat.

Watch for cold joints!

Just overall think about getting the parts you want solder on hot, touch solder to it, remove heat.

Don't eat it!

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