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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

#91

Post by GuB-42 »

fifteenforty wrote: post #50
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…

100% on the fume extractor. Avoid the cheap little "carbon filter" models though. You need particulate filtration and a bit of organic vapour extraction, so HEPA +/- carbon if you are going to recirculate it within your work environment. Don't take my word for it, it's all explained in the NIOSH and OSHA handbooks.

You don't get the same exposure from working in a shop soldering all day than from the occasional hobby project. And if you have a simple fan, you are already doing more than most hobbyists.

Safety is not priceless. Regulators carefully calculate how much impact various safety equipment and practices have relative to their cost. And you too should consider how much you need it. Solder for hours a day, get the best fume extractor you can find, do a hobby project every other month, you can go cheap.

Anyways, I wonder if a simple small desk fan fitted with a surgical mask you probably have too much of would be a good compromise of simple, cheap, and better than nothing for hobbyists.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#92

Post by DoingIsLearning »

InitialLastName wrote: post #53
orangepurple wrote: post #49

Soldering is good, BUT... You should avoid soldering when possible because connectors are detachable for module maintenance and solder is prone to cracking in high vibration environments. Typically you will see a connector soldered and otherwise secured mechanically to a PCB where vibrations are unavoidable. Crimping is better whenever feasible

This is probably true for scaled production, BUT... Most people following Instructables for tips on soldering wires to vector boards aren't likely to need to maintain their prototypes, and roughly 0% of those prototypes will be in a high-vibration environment.

Still the GP comment is in the right direction.

For wires like the ones in the video you can still use something like a small phoenix connector and just screw your wire connections in, just like you would wire up a choc box, no crimp tools required.

The advice in the post will likely create a cold joint and intermittent/noisy connections.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#93

Post by spfzero »

phs wrote: post #68

As someone who only wants to occasionally perform one-off firmware flashes on my devices, soldering always felt clumsy and heavy-weight. For actual chips, SPI programmer clips have been great. For test pads, I just ordered one of these [1], which will hopefully work just a well. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MKHH7DY

TAG-Connect makes a nice one of these. I use their target footprint on all my MCU projects now. The guide holes and pins make it easy to hold with one hand and know it will stay put as you initiate the programming with your other hand.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#94

Post by sandreas »

gw99 wrote: post #89
sandreas wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I modified the "advice" a bit... What would you recommend to clean up?

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.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#95

Post by mdturnerphys »

Whitespace wrote: post #36
duped wrote: post #16

This looks like a recipe for cold solder joints and solder bridges and doesn't seem like it saves time. What you really want to do when you have dozens of jumper wires is to do an array-of-struct to struct-of-array transform on the steps. Instead of cutting, stripping, tinning, and soldering one wire at a time, cut all your wires, then strip them all, then tin them all, then solder them one by one. Here's a pro tip:…

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.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#96

Post by lagrange77 »

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.

There are laser wire strippers? Shut up and take my money.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#97

Post by picture »

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…

The PineCil looks like a TS100 clone, though I'm not too sure which came first. The huge benefit of these microcontroller irons are their monolithic heating element that integrates the temperature sensor. This allows for much better temperature control compared to cheap Hakko-style irons where the tip is a metal piece that sleeves over the heating and sensing elements. It makes a very meaningful improvement in terms of the time it takes to heat up parts with high "thermal inertia"

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#98

Post by teaearlgraycold »

duped wrote: post #16

This looks like a recipe for cold solder joints and solder bridges and doesn't seem like it saves time. What you really want to do when you have dozens of jumper wires is to do an array-of-struct to struct-of-array transform on the steps. Instead of cutting, stripping, tinning, and soldering one wire at a time, cut all your wires, then strip them all, then tin them all, then solder them one by one. Here's a pro tip:…

Oh no. We’ve invented the assembly line again.

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#99

Post by mdturnerphys »

lagrange77 wrote: post #96
mdturnerphys wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

There are laser wire strippers? Shut up and take my money.

Here's the one I've used: https://www.laserwiresolutions.com/product/mercury-4/

Re: Soldering Wires – Here's a different way

#100

Post by pclmulqdq »

fuckstick wrote: post #67
pclmulqdq wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The temperature you need is very dependent on the PCB. I have heard of macbook repair techs using 850-900C irons because of the amount of metal in that PCB and its heat dissipation capabilities. I usually end up around 700-750 for hobby projects with 2-4 layer PCBs because I like to do the joints fast.

Show me a professional soldering station that goes anywhere near 900C - I think most max out at 500. I doubt the tip alloys could withstand that heat very long. Sounds ridiculous. 700C is excessive for just about anything.

Sorry, I meant 900F, which is almost 500C.
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