How To Solder
Post by y2kkmac
Hello, and welcome to what will hopefully be the first installment of a series of posts about electronics. Rather than first introducing the concepts, I'm going to go ahead and dive straight into showing you how to solder. Soldering is an important skill not only for making circuits, but also for life in general because one day you might discover that your headphones aren't completely dead; all that's wrong is one loose wire. Instead of wasting money on a new pair of headphones, you can whip out your trusty soldering iron and have it working using less time and money it would take to buy a new pair.
First off, let's talk about safety. When soldering, you will be dealing with molten metal. It will be very hot and so will all the metal parts of your soldering iron. Always have quick access to some cold water and keep some burn cream handy.
Some things you'll need:
A few words on solder
There are many different types of solder. The most commonly used kind for electronics is 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead) solder. If you plan on soldering small electronics, like things on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), you should highly consider getting some thin silver-bearing solder. I use 62/36/2 (62% tin, 36% lead, 2% silver) 0.022 inch diameter rosin-core silver-bearing solder (almost all solders are rosin-core).
Now we're ready to begin soldering. Got your burn cream? Good. Plug your soldering iron in and put it on the stand such that the metal bits aren't touching anything other than the stand itself. While you're waiting for the iron to heat up, soak your sponge in cold water and squeeze out the excess. Like I said before, you will use this to clean off the tip of your soldering iron, so you shouldn't use it for anything else. If you care at all about the surface you're working on, put down some wood/cardboard because you will drip hot solder. I normally use a few layers of newspaper because I don't drip very often.
Hot!
Before you start soldering things together, you need to tin the tip of your iron. Unfortunately this uses a lot of solder, but you won't need to do it often. Tinning greatly improves heat flow and makes your soldering experience a lot better. To tin your soldering iron's tip, coat it with the solder and then wipe off the excess on the sponge. Make a habit of wiping the tip, because this also removes the rosin on the iron, which is what's making the smoke and that smell. Other people will tell you to tin the entire tip. I won't tell you that because I think it wastes far too much solder. I only tin the tapered part of the tip, but you can tin the entire tip if you want to.
Before tinning:
After tinning just the tapered part:
You're done with the tinning, which you won't have to do again until you either get a new iron or a new tip. I will now show you how to solder two wires together the easy way. I will be using Helping Hands because they are incredibly useful and make soldering a lot easier.
First, get your two wires, make small loops in the ends, and hook them together.
Then apply heat and solder until the gap created by the loops fills in. A blob of solder might form on the tip of the iron. In this case just bring the blob over the loops and try to coax the blob to go in the gap by gently pressing it against the gap. Once that gap is filled, remove the heat and you're done!
This easy method creates a strong but slightly bulky bond between the wires.
The next method is quite difficult to get right, so don't worry if you can't do it on your first try. Bring the two ends of the wires very close to each other but not touching. Have a very tiny gap in between the two.
Now apply heat and use a very small amount of solder to fill in the gap between the wires. If you get it right, the solder should suck itself into place. Remove the heat and you are finished.
If you use too much solder, you might get spikes of solder coming off your wires. If you do, trim them because poking yourself with lead is not good.
Now, on to soldering on circuit boards. This is probably what you'll be doing most with your soldering skills, so read carefully. I'm going to be using a wire and an old circuit that I made for a metal detector. Strip your wire and run it through one of the holes. Make sure the end is poking out of the side of the board with the copper on it.
If you're working with an electronic component, it might be sensitive to heat. In order to divert the heat and not waste your time, put the heat absorbing clamp on the part of wire which is on side of the component (which should be the side without the copper). Let's pretend the black insulation is our component for this picture:
Then put your solder next to the hole on the copper side.
Apply heat and more solder until the molten solder begins to adhere to both the wire and the copper.
Applying the heat:
Now the solder is stuck to both the wire and the copper.
Remove the heat, and you're finished!
Desoldering
You will eventually make a mistake in soldering something. This is why I'm going to show you how to desolder something using a desoldering braid (A.K.A. solder wick) which is basically thin copper wires braided together. The process is so easy that I think it's easier than soldering.
Pull out a bit of the copper braid and hold on to the spool because copper is a good heat conductor and it will burn you quite badly if you hold the copper. Place it on top of the solder you wish to remove...
...apply heat until the wick soaks up the solder, and then remove the heat and the wick. That's all!
Thanks for reading and have fun with your soldering skills!
Next post: An Introduction to Electronics
First off, let's talk about safety. When soldering, you will be dealing with molten metal. It will be very hot and so will all the metal parts of your soldering iron. Always have quick access to some cold water and keep some burn cream handy.
Some things you'll need:
- Soldering Iron
- Solder (see below for some details about solder)
- Desoldering Braid (you will eventually make a mistake)
- An old sponge (you will be using this to clean off the tip of your soldering iron)
- A stand for the soldering iron (most come with stands)
- A well-ventilated workspace
- Helping Hands (they are very useful and usually have a built-in stand for your soldering iron)
- A small, heat-absorbing clamp (Note: this is required if you're working with electronic components.)
A few words on solder
There are many different types of solder. The most commonly used kind for electronics is 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead) solder. If you plan on soldering small electronics, like things on PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), you should highly consider getting some thin silver-bearing solder. I use 62/36/2 (62% tin, 36% lead, 2% silver) 0.022 inch diameter rosin-core silver-bearing solder (almost all solders are rosin-core).
Now we're ready to begin soldering. Got your burn cream? Good. Plug your soldering iron in and put it on the stand such that the metal bits aren't touching anything other than the stand itself. While you're waiting for the iron to heat up, soak your sponge in cold water and squeeze out the excess. Like I said before, you will use this to clean off the tip of your soldering iron, so you shouldn't use it for anything else. If you care at all about the surface you're working on, put down some wood/cardboard because you will drip hot solder. I normally use a few layers of newspaper because I don't drip very often.
Hot!
Before you start soldering things together, you need to tin the tip of your iron. Unfortunately this uses a lot of solder, but you won't need to do it often. Tinning greatly improves heat flow and makes your soldering experience a lot better. To tin your soldering iron's tip, coat it with the solder and then wipe off the excess on the sponge. Make a habit of wiping the tip, because this also removes the rosin on the iron, which is what's making the smoke and that smell. Other people will tell you to tin the entire tip. I won't tell you that because I think it wastes far too much solder. I only tin the tapered part of the tip, but you can tin the entire tip if you want to.
Before tinning:
After tinning just the tapered part:
You're done with the tinning, which you won't have to do again until you either get a new iron or a new tip. I will now show you how to solder two wires together the easy way. I will be using Helping Hands because they are incredibly useful and make soldering a lot easier.
First, get your two wires, make small loops in the ends, and hook them together.
Then apply heat and solder until the gap created by the loops fills in. A blob of solder might form on the tip of the iron. In this case just bring the blob over the loops and try to coax the blob to go in the gap by gently pressing it against the gap. Once that gap is filled, remove the heat and you're done!
This easy method creates a strong but slightly bulky bond between the wires.
The next method is quite difficult to get right, so don't worry if you can't do it on your first try. Bring the two ends of the wires very close to each other but not touching. Have a very tiny gap in between the two.
Now apply heat and use a very small amount of solder to fill in the gap between the wires. If you get it right, the solder should suck itself into place. Remove the heat and you are finished.
If you use too much solder, you might get spikes of solder coming off your wires. If you do, trim them because poking yourself with lead is not good.
Now, on to soldering on circuit boards. This is probably what you'll be doing most with your soldering skills, so read carefully. I'm going to be using a wire and an old circuit that I made for a metal detector. Strip your wire and run it through one of the holes. Make sure the end is poking out of the side of the board with the copper on it.
If you're working with an electronic component, it might be sensitive to heat. In order to divert the heat and not waste your time, put the heat absorbing clamp on the part of wire which is on side of the component (which should be the side without the copper). Let's pretend the black insulation is our component for this picture:
Then put your solder next to the hole on the copper side.
Apply heat and more solder until the molten solder begins to adhere to both the wire and the copper.
Applying the heat:
Now the solder is stuck to both the wire and the copper.
Remove the heat, and you're finished!
Desoldering
You will eventually make a mistake in soldering something. This is why I'm going to show you how to desolder something using a desoldering braid (A.K.A. solder wick) which is basically thin copper wires braided together. The process is so easy that I think it's easier than soldering.
Pull out a bit of the copper braid and hold on to the spool because copper is a good heat conductor and it will burn you quite badly if you hold the copper. Place it on top of the solder you wish to remove...
...apply heat until the wick soaks up the solder, and then remove the heat and the wick. That's all!
Thanks for reading and have fun with your soldering skills!
Next post: An Introduction to Electronics
Tags: electronics, soldering
Comment by MostBestestBuddy on 9 Cado 2:3 - 18.16.60
Additional safety tip: make sure you unplug/remove the batteries from what you are soldering, otherwise you might get a nice shock when you complete the circuit. :)
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