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Soldering Tips

haitch

By haitch
in DIY Astronomer

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haitch

haitch

Posted
Posted

(Or rather tips on soldering) Edit: and it helps to check the spelling of your titlle before clicking the post button!

Well I've never really got along with soldering (apart from pipe work - that's dead easy). I always seem to melt everything attached to what I am trying to solder before I can get it to stick.

Is it just me or is there something I could be doing to make my life easier?

My solder is just the lead free stuff from Maplins (with a core of flux I think). Would I be better off with Silver? Would separate flux help?

Should I use the iron very hot so it heats things up quickly or on a cooler setting? (It's a Maplin solder station with a dial for heat but no indicator of the temperature - I've also got one of those chunky gun things where you squeeze the trigger to heat it and let go when actually soldering).

Please help - I'm fed up with soldering onto pins of DIN sockets and finding the pins are sticking out at all angles afterwards! :)

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The Sailor

The Sailor

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Hiatch, am in exactly the same position, can do all types of lead work in plumbing and windows but when it comes to electronics I am a dunce :) . I would love to be able to put boards together but I destroy all I touch, all the gear is there, from gas to vairable heat irons but have now found someone local who is cheap but still hanker to do it myself :).

Jim

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rfdesigner

rfdesigner

Posted
Posted

I'm an electronics engineer, I don't solder as much as I used to but, I can still put down an 0402 component or replace smaller BGAs if I need to (and our lab monkey is AWOL)

Soldering:

1. Tools

For lead free soldering you will need:

An iron, very preferably a digitally temperature controlled one. I bought my personal one from uk.farnell.com for £30 including solder and tip cleaner.

Solder,

Flux, usually the solder comes with fluxbuilt in, but it's still worth having as some surfaces really need the extra flux.

Soderwick, (copper braid) used to wick solder off the board.. excelent stuff when you've put on too much solder.

Antistatic precautions: not generally needed unless silicon is involved. In which case you'd need to ensure good grounding of the iron, you and the work.

2. Technique.

Heat the work not the solder: bring the joint up to temperature first then add solder, this is where you usually need that third hand or you make use of a vice/grips etc.

Iron Temperature: for lead free we use soemthing between 320 and 350C, higher for bigger items or where we need to be really quick.

3. Comiserations

Lead free is sometimes a b&*^%%^&d to work with, if you can get hold of leaded solder life will be easier, however mixing lead free and leaded is not generally recommended (as I understand it a slow chemical reaction starts which can end in premature joint failure.. a few years rather than 25+ years joint life)

Specifially soldering a wire onto a pin in a plastic socket.

Speed is the key.

1. use vices / grips to hold all the bits in place.

2. (optional, do this if you have trouble) coat it all in flux

3. get a little solder onto the iron to maximise heat trasfer, set iron to ~340C

4. apply iron and immedately show the joint a little solder, once it has consumed enough solder (half an inch maybe) withdraw the iron.

5. blow hard on joint to get the temperature down.

If this fails use some fine nose pliers with an elastic band round the handle and use it to hold the pin between the plastic connector body and the solder joint to act as a heat sink.

HTH

Derek

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The Sailor

The Sailor

Posted
Posted

Thanks for that Derek, as said have the gear, including those arm thingys with a magnifier glass to hold items. Can see where I have been going wrong, have been putting the solder on the iron and then onto a cold item, grateful for that, will look to start putting this into prcatice soonest :), ta.

Jim

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yesyes

yesyes

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I totally agree on the lead free solder... I had a reel from Maplins and I just couldn't get on with it. It didn't want to melt properly and didn't really flow around the solder point.

I then bought a few reels of "old stock" leaded solder with flux off ebay and life was good again...

And yes, when you solder a DIP chip or other component, heat up the pin *and* the copper on the PCB first (~1-2 seconds), then add the solder while still holding the solder iron tip to the joint. Once it has made a nice looking joint remove the solder first, then the tip immediately. If you remove the tip first, you'll have soldered the solder wire to the joint. ;-)

And I find it very important to have a quite small, pointy tip. Not one of those flat ones...

Another very important thing is to have your solder tip tinned properly. If you haven't done this, clean the tip as good as you can when it's cold. Then switch on the solder iron and while it is getting hot, hold the solder wire to the tip. As soon as the tip is hot enough to melt the solder, melt the solder all around the tip of the tip making sure it is completely covered in solder.

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johninderby

johninderby

Posted
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Good advice there. Temperature controlled soldering stations with digital readouts aren't that expensive nowadays. You don't need much solder to make a good connection. Also keep the tip of the iron clean so that you can control the soldering better (look up soldering sponges).

John

PS

I hate lead free solder, work of the devil. :)

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yesyes

yesyes

Posted
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.... Also keep the tip of the iron clean so that you can control the soldering better (look up soldering sponges).

On that note... I have recently realised that the soldering sponges seem to ruin the tinning on my solder tip. maybe it's just the cheap sponges I bought but I have changed to these brass-looking tip cleaners.

In fact, this is the soldering station that I recently bought. It came in a Maplin box, so I guess it's the same as the one you can buy from Maplins. The brass tip cleaner came with the package...

Variable Temperature Soldering Station Iron Kit - NEW ! on eBay (end time 01-Jul-11 20:10:37 BST)

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haitch

haitch

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Funnily enough I was just looking at that solder pen.

My shopping list keeps growing - just out of interest would my tub of plumbing active flux paste be any use (if use carefully in sufficiently tiny amounts of course - not slapped around the joint like a plumber would :))

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rfdesigner

rfdesigner

Posted
Posted
Funnily enough I was just looking at that solder pen.

My shopping list keeps growing - just out of interest would my tub of plumbing active flux paste be any use (if use carefully in sufficiently tiny amounts of course - not slapped around the joint like a plumber would :))

All fluxes are specific to the solder they are trying to work with, so I could not recommend a plumbers flux for this. Haing said that it might work and as you have some you could try it if you're prepared to waste another connector. EDIT: on second thought the iron tip might object and replacing that could cost you so, best avoided unless you have reason to expect success.

Oh and I just remembered.

Wet sponges and lead free don't sit well together.

We were told about this by our supplier and have gone over to these scratchy 'ball of swarf' type tip cleaners and our tips last a little longer, but nowhere near as long as they did with leaded solder.

Derek

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haitch

haitch

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I'll leave the pen in the basket then.

Will I have any issues switching from lead free to leaded (i.e. will my tips object?)

Cheers

PS - I don't think I'll ever do enough soldering to wear out a tip in normal use - it would have to be abuse.

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rfdesigner

rfdesigner

Posted
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I need to get myself a "lab monkey" just finished 4000 lead free through hole plated solder joints since 7 am this morning... 1000 more than yesterday... :)

Billy....

I hope you have a fume extractor... you already have my sympathy

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