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How To Get Started In Soldering

popularmechanics.com

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Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#21

Post by CarVac »

sb618 wrote: post #10

Aaah, this is really not a good beginner's guide to soldering! Cranking up to max temperature might work a lot of the time but runs the risk of frying ICs and causing PCB traces to come off. Also using a wet sponge can cause the tips to rust. It's much better to clean them with a brass "sponge" leaving the tip tinned to protect it. Finally the real key to easy soldering is solder flux (and leaded solder if you're all…

A wet sponge doesn't cause rust, it's occasionally blamed for cracking plating when you use a high temperature.

If you use a moderate temperature (650°F/340°C) it's a gentler way to clean flux residue off the tip.

Brass wool I reserve for scrubbing oxidation off the tip, but this eventually wears through the plating so I don't do this often.

Leaded solder is both toxic and completely unnecessary for hobbyist use. I like SAC305 but SN99.7 works well too—the key is a good quality flux core.

No-clean flux is convenient but if you do want to clean it, it's gummy and makes a mess. "Yes-clean" flux leaves conductive residue so it must be cleaned, but it is easier to clean.

As far as temperature goes, the better your iron is at transferring heat, the lower the tip temperature you can use, which improves tip life and, as you mention, reduces the chance of part damage.

I am a lead dev on an open-source hardware project (PhobGCC) and I've seen damage caused by bad soldering irons time and time again. Don't cheap out. I recommend a Weller WE1010.

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#22

Post by mcshicks »

I found the eevblog tutorial videos very helpful in setting up my office for soldering and getting comfortable doing through hole soldering, connecting wires etc.

Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYz5nIHH0iY

Part 3 is surface mount which I don't do much. A friend I had who is a skilled assembler turned me on to chipquik flux and kapton tape to hold down the parts and that helped immensely

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#23

Post by CarVac »

smiley1437 wrote: post #11
someweirdperson wrote: post #4

> It’s a metal alloy comprised of tin and lead (often 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead) used to bond items together. No more lead in the EU, with few exceptions.

Learning on lead-free nearly turned me off of soldering until a buddy gave some Kester eutectic, that is a freaking joy compared to lead-free

Lead-free is fine.

Lead-free with poor quality flux is abhorrent to use.

Get good quality lead-free with good flux from a reputable manufacturer (Kester is good, as you mentioned) and it's fine.

In fact, I prefer how thin and quick to wet out SAC305 is over the lower melting point of Sn63Pb37.

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#24

Post by bambax »

> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too

I beg to differ.

I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temperature.

When using bad tools you don't know if it's you or the tools that are bad, and the path to improvement is unclear.

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#25

Post by the__alchemist » 

  - No mention of tip types/quality
  - No mention of flux outside that embedded in the solder
  - No mention of braid etc
  - Recommends  a wet sponge to clean (This shocks the tip)
  - Defaults to leaded solder without mentioning the risks (I admit this is hot-take territory!)

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#26

Post by Havoc »

Yeah wouldn’t go ultra cheap on first iron. Something like the pinecil is a good compromise especially if you have a power source on hand that can power it (eg some laptop bricks work)

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#27

Post by nimajneb »

the__alchemist wrote: post #25

- No mention of tip types/quality - No mention of flux outside that embedded in the solder - No mention of braid etc - Recommends a wet sponge to clean (This shocks the tip) - Defaults to leaded solder without mentioning the risks (I admit this is hot-take territory!)

What do you suggest other than wet sponge to clean the tip? I usually try and use a damp sponge, instead of a wet one. This is how I learned like 20-25 years ago as a kid though. I never learned how to professionally solder.

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#28

Post by whstl »

bambax wrote: post #24

> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…

I agree.

I don't personally think it's necessary to go up to €150, but a low-quality entry-level soldering iron will cause a lot of problems, and you'll be blaming yourself for the lack of progress. I learned on a crappy one and always thought I sucked. On university I used one that was alright and it was night and day.

It is important that the soldering iron provides the correct amount of heat, and with entry-level irons it's always a gamble, in my experience.

On the other hand, spending the €150 from the start will save you a lot of time testing irons.

Re: How To Get Started In Soldering

#29

Post by CarVac »

bambax wrote: post #24

> just be careful not to overspend on your first iron. I first learned how to solder on an ultra-cheap hardware-store unit, and you should, too I beg to differ. I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temper…

I 100% agree.

They say "a good craftsman doesn't blame his tools" but when you start out you need good tools.

A non-temperature-controlled soldering iron is a huge impediment to learning because the temperature varies with usage and so its behavior is hard to predict for a new solderer.

Even between temperature-controlled ones there can be a large difference in ability to conduct heat into a part: my Pinecil takes far longer than my Weller (I recommend the WE1010) to heat a joint to the point where solder will melt. (the Pinecil is still nice to have as a mobile soldering setup)

More heating duration results in more part damage: overheated ICs and traces popping off the PCB.

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