4 ms·

Thanks for sharing your experience! I've been soldering for quite some time but even still there is a limit to my precision that seems magnitudes of orders wors

Thanks for sharing your experience! I've been soldering for quite some time but even still there is a limit to my precision that seems magnitudes of orders worse than the ability of others. I guess that's why I'm not a surgeon haha. Follow up question, how do you know what the right temperature for the iron should be or a particular solder/desolder? Too hot and you'll burn the PCB but too cold and you'll just make a mess of scratches/half melted solder.

ksaj 7y ago
Yea, I forgot about that - you can burn the board or piece you are soldering or desoldering. There is a sort of rhythm between when the solder starts to flow and when you remove the iron and/or trigger the sucker. The moment you "get it" you'll be able to do it every time without thinking. Kinda like using clutch on a motorcycle - hard as heck when you're trying to figure it out, then second nature when once you get muscle memory happening. You pretty much have to look at the two things that will be connected, aim your iron in whatever direction will make the solder flow the most direct way, then get in / out in a fairly swift (but not rushed) move. Make sure the solder looks like mercury - sometimes the surface isn't melted all the way (parts of it look dull, or you can see it "stretch" when moving the iron) and you end up with either cold joints, or an ugly partly roasted area - or worse, solder bulging through the other side and burning components if it manages to get hot enough to melt properly. If your solder has flux "built in," the solder should flow really easily. If the solder forms a blob or ball on the iron, the iron isn't hot enough yet, or you don't have enough flux. You'll learn to identify which one it is by observation. The colour/shininess of the solder is a good hint, though. If it happens, wipe it off, let it heat a bit longer, and try again. I would say "never let solder build up on the iron" except that's actually pretty much the technique the GPIO guy I mentioned was using - he melted it onto the iron separately, then quickly placed it. I would assume your iron needs to be sufficiently hot to ensure you don't end up with cold solder joints, but all of his were really clean. But definitely don't let flux build up anywhere, as it'll eventually burn and make things ugly. This is really the heart of soldering - knowing instinctively how fast the solder will begin to melt, and in which direction it will flow. That you obtain from practice and paying attention to your results. Not just saying "yea, it's sloppy" but asking yourself what you did wrong and correcting it on the next pin. Solder with intent. Depending on what you are soldering, you might benefit from using clips until you have the skill down. That way you're not trying to focus on positioning pieces and soldering them at the same time. Clips also pretty much guarantee you won't burn anything. EDIT: About "scratches" - you only need to hold the gun against the parts to be soldered - no pressure (no quid quo pro! kidding...). Literally you never need to press hard enough to scratch even if you're moving the iron around. You can use the pointy tip for stability, but you never need to push. It probably feels like pushing harder on it makes the solder melt faster - it doesn't. It just makes being accurate harder. Also, I just reread my comment and had to say phrases like "trigger the sucker" are exactly why I like the name of that device so much.

ksaj 7y ago

Yea, I forgot about that - you can burn the board or piece you are soldering or desoldering. There is a sort of rhythm between when the solder starts to flow and when you remove the iron and/or trigger the sucker. The moment you "get it" you'll be able to do it every time without thinking. Kinda like using clutch on a motorcycle - hard as heck when you're trying to figure it out, then second nature when once you get muscle memory happening. You pretty much have to look at the two things that will be connected, aim your iron in whatever direction will make the solder flow the most direct way, then get in / out in a fairly swift (but not rushed) move. Make sure the solder looks like mercury - sometimes the surface isn't melted all the way (parts of it look dull, or you can see it "stretch" when moving the iron) and you end up with either cold joints, or an ugly partly roasted area - or worse, solder bulging through the other side and burning components if it manages to get hot enough to melt properly. If your solder has flux "built in," the solder should flow really easily. If the solder forms a blob or ball on the iron, the iron isn't hot enough yet, or you don't have enough flux. You'll learn to identify which one it is by observation. The colour/shininess of the solder is a good hint, though. If it happens, wipe it off, let it heat a bit longer, and try again. I would say "never let solder build up on the iron" except that's actually pretty much the technique the GPIO guy I mentioned was using - he melted it onto the iron separately, then quickly placed it. I would assume your iron needs to be sufficiently hot to ensure you don't end up with cold solder joints, but all of his were really clean. But definitely don't let flux build up anywhere, as it'll eventually burn and make things ugly. This is really the heart of soldering - knowing instinctively how fast the solder will begin to melt, and in which direction it will flow. That you obtain from practice and paying attention to your results. Not just saying "yea, it's sloppy" but asking yourself what you did wrong and correcting it on the next pin. Solder with intent. Depending on what you are soldering, you might benefit from using clips until you have the skill down. That way you're not trying to focus on positioning pieces and soldering them at the same time. Clips also pretty much guarantee you won't burn anything. EDIT: About "scratches" - you only need to hold the gun against the parts to be soldered - no pressure (no quid quo pro! kidding...). Literally you never need to press hard enough to scratch even if you're moving the iron around. You can use the pointy tip for stability, but you never need to push. It probably feels like pushing harder on it makes the solder melt faster - it doesn't. It just makes being accurate harder. Also, I just reread my comment and had to say phrases like "trigger the sucker" are exactly why I like the name of that device so much.