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Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

instructables.com

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Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#101

Post by linker3000 »

gw99 wrote: post #73
bsder wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, every time I see a soldering "tutorial" that doesn't use separate flux--I facepalm. Flux is probably more important than the solder for good joints. A syringe of paste flux makes life ridiculously easier.

I did several years in production engineering. We never used flux. Not once. It’s a crutch for people who don’t know how to solder. What we did was use solder that wasn’t shitty. Big fan of felder 62/36/2 but it ain’t cheap. We also cleaned stuff properly before soldering it. The reason people tend to flux things to death is that they didn’t clean the oxide layer off before soldering. Or used shitty solder.

"It’s a crutch for people who don’t know how to solder."

This needs shouting from the rooftops.

So many people get sucked into the groupthink on this; yes it helps with less-than-perfect beginner's soldering skills, but it should not be normalized.

Flooding every joint with extra flux is unnecessary and a waste of money.

/Pet peeve (well, one of them!)

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#102

Post by bitdivision »

gw99 wrote: post #73
bsder wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, every time I see a soldering "tutorial" that doesn't use separate flux--I facepalm. Flux is probably more important than the solder for good joints. A syringe of paste flux makes life ridiculously easier.

I did several years in production engineering. We never used flux. Not once. It’s a crutch for people who don’t know how to solder. What we did was use solder that wasn’t shitty. Big fan of felder 62/36/2 but it ain’t cheap. We also cleaned stuff properly before soldering it. The reason people tend to flux things to death is that they didn’t clean the oxide layer off before soldering. Or used shitty solder.

felder 62/36/2 [0] is a flux-cored solder. So you were using flux every time.

It's also a leaded solder, which is much easier to get nice joints from than lead-free.

Flux is great, adding some before you solder is a good tip, and will likely help you make better joints if as you said, you haven't perfectly cleaned everything. The only downside is perhaps some more cleanup afterwards. There's no reason to disparage it's use.

0: https://www.felder.de/products/electronic-applications/manua...

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#104

Post by linker3000 »

lapetitejort wrote: post #83
outworlder wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just need a firmware that will connect to Home Assistant so it can track my soldering habits. Just joking... mostly.

As someone who has left their soldering iron run overnight, this might be useful...

Most soldering iron firmware includes a sensor routine that turns them off if movement stops for a set period.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#105

Post by linker3000 »

sandreas wrote: post #94
gw99 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kimwipes soaked in isopropyl pushed around with some guaranteed 100% nylon brushes (usually the black ESD brushes are fine for this). Toothbrushes bristles may melt. Not all of them are nylon and if they aren’t they will go sticky and this will wipe off on the surfaces.

Thanks, I keep that in mind for the next soldering project.

Check out 'Acid brushes' for use with IPA.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#106

Post by buescher »

gw99 wrote: post #73
bsder wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, every time I see a soldering "tutorial" that doesn't use separate flux--I facepalm. Flux is probably more important than the solder for good joints. A syringe of paste flux makes life ridiculously easier.

I did several years in production engineering. We never used flux. Not once. It’s a crutch for people who don’t know how to solder. What we did was use solder that wasn’t shitty. Big fan of felder 62/36/2 but it ain’t cheap. We also cleaned stuff properly before soldering it. The reason people tend to flux things to death is that they didn’t clean the oxide layer off before soldering. Or used shitty solder.

I agree up to... new parts shouldn't need cleaning. And cheapo hobbyist-grade RF and audio connectors often have a weird chrome + some kind of oil or varnish surface finish that just won't clean off or solder and flux is a godsend for those.

That said, I let someone borrow my bottle of liquid flux about a decade ago and have never bothered to replace it.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#107

Post by linker3000 »

outworlder wrote: post #62
sandreas wrote: post #20

Oh boy, nice idea, but this looks complicated and time consuming. I recommend to get some good equipment first: - solder fume extractor (see below) - extra thin high quality tin - a desoldering pump AND desoldering wire - high quality flux - a TS 100 soldering Iron with KU tip from ali express for 50 bucks - optional: USB-C Power Adapter for your existing power supply (so you don't have to buy one) - optional: a sold…

Why is it that the TS100 gets recommended so often? I took a look at it, ultimately got a TS80P. It's smaller, and fed via USB-C. Seems to work perfectly fine. > solder fume extractor How big of a deal is solder fumes of unleaded solder?

The fumes come from the flux, and they're not that great for you in quantity.

Soldering temperatures will not vaporize lead or the metals in unleaded solder.

There is also some conjecture that the fluxes used in unleaded solder produce more aggressive fumes.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#108

Post by buescher »

squarefoot wrote: post #88

Bad advice. Just use a good solder iron, thin solder (possibly leaded), and good no clean flux, then lots of practice. It's all about timing: too quick = cold solder joint; too slow = burned pad/track, or part. Learn also to understand about thermal mass and how to change the temperature and timings according to what you're soldering and its size. Also, that iron looks like a Hakko "936" cheap clone: they are barely…

I like my Metcal and wouldn't be without it. But by most accounts the '936 clones do fine with real Hakko tips.

A lot of technicians seem to like to have temperature knobs so they can dial the temperature around instead of swapping out for an appropriately sized tip: this works of course except when it doesn't.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#109

Post by Kirby64 »

amelius wrote: post #23

How would he solder two stranded wires together without helping hands/device?

Twist two wires together... lean them against something to prop them off your table, then gently add solder and your iron. No need for helping hands, you just can't be too brutal with it.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#110

Post by [deleted] »

mdturnerphys wrote: post #95
Whitespace wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have that many stripped wires to tin, you can use a tub of flux and a solder pot. Dip the wires into the flux, then quickly dip it into the solder pot. Perfectly tinned end with no plastic melting. Really hard to mess up vs a soldering iron, a wire, and solder wire. You can even dip multiple wires into the flux and solder bath at the same time, as well as use the flux tub again before you solder the tinned wir…

And if you have a lot of wires to strip, get a compound automatic wire stripper or a laser wire stripper.

[deleted]
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