I'd like to solder *videos added*

[gadget_lover]

When you put the iron back on it's stand, you must first put a coat of solder on it. If the tip is not covered with solder the exposed surface oxidizes. I melt enough on there that it forms a bulge.

To get rid of that blob of solder... a quick addition of a touch more solder adds flux to weaken the surface tension, then either gently wipe on a damp (not wet) sponge or paper towel. If the sponge is not handy, a tap will dislodge the excess.

You do not want to scrape the tip. You do not want to clean all the solder off. You just want to get it down to a light coat so that when you add solder to the joint it does not drip off the iron and flood the joint. You must have enough solder on the tip to make good contact with the part you are heating. A dry iron does not conduct heat well.

As I said before, immediately after wiping the tip you add a touch of solder to it. Then you touch the iron to the joint. Then you touch the solder to the joint.

If you are having to rub the tip around on something to tin it, then you have either scraped off the tip's cladding (leaving a surface to which solder does not easily adhere) or you have got something wierd on the tip (oils?? plastics???) or you are too hot or using the wrong solder.

You do NOT want to use old, contaminated solder drippings for tinning.

Good luck,

Daniel

 

[Linger]

are too hot

That was it. I wouldn't admit to it except that it's dead obvious from my posts: my tip was way to hot when I entered this thread. (The first thing I ever did was de-solder, so I didn't focus much at all on my tip but rather the component and the desoldering braid. The dry tip didn't conduct heat very well so I slowly worked my way up in tempurature until I found a setting that did begin to de-solder the parts.)

 

[TexLite]

Hi Linger, glad to hear your becoming successful.

Keep at it and you'll be proficient in no time.

Its sounds like you've got everything going your way now, Daniel and bluepilgrim have given some great advice. The only tip I could add is one that you've already figured out, more is not always better. Thats an 80W station, and using too much heat will cause the tips to oxidize very quickly, among other things.

You know you have the right temp when it takes just a moment to heat the joint to a high enough temp for the solder to flow. This will vary with components, wires, traces, etc., but you will soon get a feel for whats right. The digital temp readout will be a great help in this area.



A word or two about some of the other comments:

Its all too easy sometimes to judge something without actually being familiar with that product. I did the same thing with the previously mentioned soldering station.

I got a good deal on one so I figured I had little to lose if it was a flop. After spending some time with it, I was actually quite pleasantly surprised. Its a seemingly well made station and holds the set temperature very well, to within a few degrees. Its not top of the line, but it works very well. I don't think a name brand station would have any effect on the learning process being discussed here.

Also, the replacement tips are the same as the original in every respect except for the ends, the replacements being standard, fine and chisel.

-Michael

 

[London Lad]

Hi Michael,

I have to say that I strongly disagree with you if you last para was referencing Metcal but hey we are all different and entitled to our opinions

 

[Linger]

Thats an 80W station, and using too much heat will cause the tips to oxidize very quickly, among other things.

TexLite, good to hear from you!
Thank-you.
I am happy with the station you sent me. It seems the major problem was user error. I've been playing around with configurations for a bicycle helmet light and getting better each time I pick up the soldering iron.

Let me say, I've bumped the tempurature down (reduced by ~ 160 degrees celcius!) to almost miniumum. Last night I worked with a setting of 220c (200c is minimum on temp) and I had a beautifully tinned tip. Took the iron out of the holder, wiped it on the sponge, touched it to some flux, touched it to solder, and for the first time ever, the solder wicked along the tip and it glowed with the light of truth while angels sung in the background. Almost anyway.
Seriously, the soldering station is working out very well for me, attributable %90 to the sage wisdom of the contributors here. I am glad we talked me into the radio shack digital soldering station.

Best,
Linger

 

[London Lad]

That's all great except you will soon ruin the tip if you keep dipping it in flux and you can't solder much if anything at 200C !

 

[gadget_lover]

He set it to 220C, which is just about right for many uses.

From http://indium.com/documents/applicationnotes/97773.pdf

As a rule of thumb, the soldering temperature
should be 30°C to 50°C higher than the liquidus
temperature of the alloy. This insures that
there is enough heat energy available to form
a good metallurgical bond between the solder
and substrate. With lower temperature solders,

and

The most common solder is tin/lead-based. The
eutectic version, Sn63/Pb37 has a melting point
of 183°C, the Sn60/Pb40 variation has a melting
range of 183-188°C (183°C is the solidus, 188°C
is the liquidus). Higher lead versions of this alloy
system have higher melting ranges. Often, 2%
silver is added to the 63/37 to strengthen the alloy
somewhat or to prevent excessive silver dissolution
from silver plated circuitry. This alloy, Sn62/Pb36/
Ag2 has a melting range of 179°C - 188°C.

I have a chart that I pasted to the top of my soldering station. It has hints for the right temperature for soldering and de-soldering, as well as the slightly higher temps you might use if doing production as opposed to one joint every 10 to 15 seconds.

Daniel

 

[bluepilgrim]

You need a solder-man. You get yourself a box of paper clips and some thin wire, and some needle nose pliers. You bend it into the shape of a man, something like http://www.kimhunter.ca/images/wire_sculpture_man_thumb.jpg and solder it up. By the time you've finished you have enough practice that it's no big deal to solder, and you can set your wire sculpture on the workbench to bring you good luck. It really is 90% practice.

 

[gadget_lover]

I forgot to post the little chart that I cribbed off the web somewhere. I usually run a bit cooler than indicated, but not much. The higher temperatures for production work account for the iron losing a little heat as you do 30 or 40 joints in a row.

60/40 solder

Melting point           419F       215C
Normal operations       518-572F   270-300C
Production line ops     608-716F   320-380C
Desoldering small joint 599F       315C
Desoldering large joint 752F       400C

Daniel

 

[London Lad]

You are supposed to be aiming to heat the work to the melting point of the solder, not melt the solder with the iron.

For general use a tip temp of 600F will heat the work sufficiently to melt 60/40 promptly.

Numerous soldering problems can be attributed to an iron that isn't hot enough for the job or melting the solder with the iron rather than melting the solder on the work.

 

[bluepilgrim]

You melt a little solder on the tip of the pencil so that the heat transfers well and touch it to the joint, then heat the joint where you want to solder to flow to, and touch the solder to it there. Just heating the solder gives you the dreaded "cold solder joint' -- as does moving the wire on the joint before the solder hardens.

I rarely used anything fancy like a temperature controlled pencil -- sometimes in a pinch I even heated up a nail or something in a flame to use as an iron -- but if you get the right heat in the right place, and it's clean, then it works. I can't tell you what the temperature is because I go by how the solder melts -- how long it takes and if it oxidizes too fast.

In plumbing, when sweating a joint, you also heat the joint in the middle where you want to solder to flow. Doing stained glass or tin pot work is similar.

Once you get the feel of how the metal moves and reacts it's almost 'second nature' -- like making an omelet or fired eggs -- not too hot and not to cold. Just practice, and one learns how (but don't practice on expensive components.) I don't think it's that complicated -- just have to learn the skill by doing it.

 

[gadget_lover]

As noted earlier in this thread, the temperature changes with the solder mix, the iron type and the size of the thing you are soldering. I was taught to use just enough heat to get the junction up to melting temperature in 2 to 3 seconds.

An uncontrolled iron is often a big heat sink ( the barrel ) whose temperature is regulated by 1) how much heat the element can produce and 2) how much heat is radiated and conducted away from the barrel. It's amazing how stable the heat output is when the barrel is 1 pound of iron and the part you are soldering is just a 20 gauge wire to a 10 gauge post. Of course, that iron may take 30 minutes to heat up

Too much heat can have interesting results. It can cause the solder to oxidize so it does not conduct heat well. it can burn traces right off the circuit board. It can melt components. It can melt insulation.

My favorite 'too hot iron story' was working on a board with bumpy silver colored traces. I had to replace a component. It turned out the traces were solder. As I touched my iron to it the component leads the traces melted back, away from my iron. I tried bridging the gap with a dab of solder and it was like the traces were running away from me! I was finally successful when I lowered the iron temperature to just above melting and added a strand of wire to bridge the gaps. The iron was only applied to the strand of wire.

Daniel

 

[London Lad]

............Metcal............

 

[mknewman]

Great thread. I'm a software guy but have done some soldering over the years (built my first computer, ham radio stuff, etc) but I've never really been comfortable doing it. I see a lot of stuff now about solder paste and surface mount stuff being done by hobbyists, could someone give a primer for that? I did find this but it's pretty primitive http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200006/oven_art.htm

Marc

 

[IcantC]

Help me solder

So I want to start soldering and learn to do some custom work, any links to help me learn? Especially soldering LEDs and led stars.

Thanks

 

[Borad]

Re: Help me solder

So I want to start soldering and learn to do some custom work, any links to help me learn? Especially soldering LEDs and led stars.

Thanks

Use flux, and for health reasons use lead-free solder. I put just a little flux where the two parts to be soldered touch, and I hold the tip of the soldering iron against one of the parts, close to where the parts touch but I don't let the tip of the iron touch the flux. Then I hold a piece of solder with pliers, hold the solder against the flux and both parts, and usually it melts within a few seconds. I also have a little tin of stuff that cleans and coats the soldering iron tip (I think that's called "tinning"), which I think helps transfer heat to the part that the soldering iron is touching.

Watch this Youtube video. The only thing missing in that video is how to tin the soldering iron tip, but I think you just rub it in the tinning compound when the iron's hot and you're done. I wipe the tip with a paper towel after tinning to get some of the dirt off.

 

[DonShock]

Re: Help me solder

You might want to check out this thread on soldering from a few years ago. It's got a lot of discussion on equipment and techniques.

 

[qwertyydude]

Re: Help me solder

Actually if you use lead free solder it'll make learning how to solder much more difficult. I suggest getting high quality 63/37 solder. Lead free solder melts at a higher temperature so you're much more likely to overheat components and without a proper temperature controlled soldering iron lead free solders tend to oxidize the iron's tip more and also dealloy when overheated. Lead based solders are much easier for beginners to work with.

 

[AVR Mark]

Re: Help me solder

When I was in the Navy, I was sent to a two week long school to learn how to solder. Here are a few pointers: Never use Acid Core Solder on electronic equipment. Use a temperature controlled iron. 63/37 solder (which is mil spec) melts at 740 degrees f. Make sure that the iron has a grounded tip, because static electricity will destroy many types of semiconductor devices. Always use Iron Clad tips and never use bare copper tips. When a copper tip is used, the copper in the tip erodes into the joint that you are soldering and can cause it to be less reliable. When soldering, never make joints that look like a ball (convex surface) Always make your joints have the minimum possible solder to properly do the job. (concave surface) If a component needs to have its leads cut off after soldering, cut the leads with flush cut pliers and then reflow the solder so the cut surfaces are covered with solder. Never use a file on a soldering iron tip. Clean the tip with a wet sponge or a wet paper towel. As soon as a black film forms on your iron tip, it is time to clean it again. After cleaning the tip, add a little solder to it (tinning) to aid in heat transfer. I have had soldering iron tips last over ten years in regular use. Your solder joints should be really shiny. If they are dull looking, something is wrong. (probably a "Cold Solder Joint") To minimize the inhalation of fumes, use a fan to move the smoke from the flux away from you. If you are using a quality brand of solder such as Ersin Multicore (recently I heard that Ersin was bought by Kester) you should not really need additional flux. More generic solder (60/40) has a Plastic State between Liquid and Solid. 63/37 solder has no Plastic state. If what you are soldering is moved while it is cooling (In the Plastic State) it can fracture causing a cold solder joint. Never melt the solder with your iron onto a joint. Instead, heat the joint with the iron and add the solder to the joint where it will melt. I prefer to use a desolder braid made by Chemtronics called Chemwick Lite. (the name has changed a couple of times that I can remember.) The Chemtronics product just seems to work better for me and I have tried most every brand you could ever find. Soldering is as much an art as a science. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them for you.

Mark

 

[qwertyydude]

Re: Help me solder

I also went to ETMS school in the navy. You forgot the most important lesson, make sure the surfaces you're soldering are clean, clean, clean. Use alcohol to remove oils and scuff up the surface if possible. And it's not the least possible amount of solder to do the job, it's the proper amount, if soldering multi-strand wire you should have enough to coat the wires but still see the individual strands, and the convex joint should not go under the perpendicular tangent the wire creates with the flat surface.