Read on Twitter
How to level up your soldering (a very long thread)
Maybe you know how to solder a bit, but you suck at it. Or it's frustrating and never comes out nice and you hate it.
Here's how to make it enjoyable, and get good results as a side effect.
Relax. You can't do anything good if you're tense. Find out whatever's making you not relaxed, and fix it.Make space.
Make time.
Need to hold something still? Make a jig, get a vice.
"Helping hands" are terrible, don't use those. Get one of these instead:
Control oxidation.Copper builds up a layer of oxidisation that gets in the way of solder wetting to the metal.
Get isopropyl alcohol. Even if something looks shiny, clean every surface, every time! IPA makes *so much difference!*
Read the datasheet for your solder. I bet you never bothered doing this.
It'll have a flux core; get the same kind of flux to use externally. Matching them helps it behave. Get a flux pen too, they're handy.
It'll have a flux core; get the same kind of flux to use externally. Matching them helps it behave. Get a flux pen too, they're handy.
- No need to tin pads, just cleaning is enough.
- Do tin wires.
A fiberglass pencil is handy for cleaning especially bad things, burnt flux, etc. Don't get the fiberglass in your eyes.
- Do tin wires.
A fiberglass pencil is handy for cleaning especially bad things, burnt flux, etc. Don't get the fiberglass in your eyes.
Control surface tension.With a small tip, the solder has nowhere to go, so it'll prefer to stay on the joint. Needle tips are the wrong tool.
Get a hoof tip. They have a big surface area, so they'll pull solder away from the joint, leaving just what's wetted to the metal.
Don't think of soldering as filling a space.
Instead your goal is to coat everything and then *automatically* wick away excess without solder wick.
That's how you get nice concave fillets, & how drag soldering works.
(credit: probably John Gammell) https://imgur.com/gallery/bmFDjM0/
Instead your goal is to coat everything and then *automatically* wick away excess without solder wick.
That's how you get nice concave fillets, & how drag soldering works.
(credit: probably John Gammell) https://imgur.com/gallery/bmFDjM0/
Care for your tips.Many people clean off all the solder before putting down a soldering iron.
Don't!
You want the coating of solder. It protects the tip from oxidisation.
Use brass wool, not a wet sponge; It's less thermal shock, and leaves thin coating of solder. Then *tin it again* before putting it down.
Care for yourself.- Use leaded solder. It's fine, just don't eat it.
Lead-free solder is incredibly difficult to use, it just doesn't behave.
- Don't work for assholes
- Unionise
Wire.Use thin wires when you can. They behave better,
and they shouldn't be holding any structural role anyway.
Glue the insulation down in spots to keep it still.
Thinner wire also steals less heat from the joint.
Solid core is best for most jobs, multi-stranded only for when it has to move.
Twist stranded wire before tinning. Strip the end, but don't pull the insulation all the way off, use that part to twist.
That keeps the metal away from oils on your fingers,
& gives a neater result.
Twist stranded wire before tinning. Strip the end, but don't pull the insulation all the way off, use that part to twist.
That keeps the metal away from oils on your fingers,
& gives a neater result.
Good tools.Get flat-edged side cutters. See how one side is totally flat? You can cut sticky-out things off.
Use curved tweezers to hold surface-mount things down, apply pressure with the point and they won't move.
For hand soldering e.g. a QFP, pin it down with curved tweezers, roughly tack down the corners, then let go before soldering the edges for real.
That way you don't hold something *and* solder, see? Do one thing at once, your hands are both free, and you're more comfortable.
That way you don't hold something *and* solder, see? Do one thing at once, your hands are both free, and you're more comfortable.
Control temperature.Your soldering iron doesn't need to be fancy, but it does need to be temperature controlled.
Read the datasheet for your solder again. Use the lowest temperature you can, just above where it melts easily.
Use low temperature solder when you can.
Pre-heat ground planes
Avoid wire with that plasticy PVC insulation, it melts and it's just annoying.
Use a heat shunt to protect meltable things, just a crocodile clip will do.
Avoid wire with that plasticy PVC insulation, it melts and it's just annoying.
Use a heat shunt to protect meltable things, just a crocodile clip will do.
Use thinner solder for smaller joints, you can control it more.
Sometimes you don't need any more solder when you connect things! if both things are tinned.
People use so much solder omg.
Use lots of flux, not lots of solder.
Sometimes you don't need any more solder when you connect things! if both things are tinned.
People use so much solder omg.
Use lots of flux, not lots of solder.
Control time.This all adds up to lots of preparation, and very little time actually setting the joint.
Get everything to touch naturally and be comfortable where it is, before you solder it. Think of soldering more as just fixing in place what's already there.
Picture what you're about to do in your head before you do it. It's the last step in a process, it's not the only step.
Breathe out as you make the joint.
It helps you stay still.
Breathe out as you make the joint.
It helps you stay still.
Clean the flux off your work. It's corrosive.Use yet more IPA.
Clean it even if it's "no clean" flux!
+ Diagnose what went wrong when you fuck it up.You can see when you didn't clean a pad well enough, and things like that.
Even if it doesn't matter in one particular case, it's nice to spot it when it's done. And with practice, you can spot things before they're done.
That was a long thread 'cos I had a lot to say.
I hope it made sense. I don't have my stuff with me here, so it's hard to show photos for each situation. But I didn't want to wait a year!
Thank you for reading <3
I hope it made sense. I don't have my stuff with me here, so it's hard to show photos for each situation. But I didn't want to wait a year!
Thank you for reading <3
GOOD LIGHTING!! I forgot about good lighting! it's so important. Get a *lot* of *uniform* light on the work.
More light than you'd think, whenever you work on anything with your hands. You can see more detail than you think is there.
thanks @sweharris for pointing it out!
several people objected about leaded solder; it's a little irresponsible of me to have recommended it. apparently lead-free alloys have improved in the last few years. I haven't tried these, but here's a recommendation. I still wouldn't eat it though. https://twitter.com/l_bohnacker/status/1350932073889079299
