Soldering for Dummies: A tutorial

[TheMagnolia]

Soldering for Dummies: A Tutorial

 
Written by: Neubit and TheMagnolia

Photos by: Neubit and TheMagnolia

 Basic Soldering

Tools Required:

• Soldering iron with a sharp tip for soldering small things (preferably between 15-20 Watts, no more no less)
• Soldering stand & wet sponge (to clean off the soldering iron)
• Solder (preferably 60/40 rosin core, but 63/37 tin-lead will also work, it is not recommended that you work with lead free solder)
• Desoldering braid or solder vacuum (because accidents happen)
• Wire strippers (or a pair of scissors work as well)
• A nice area to work in (steal a cutting board and solder on that, it is the easiest and safest approach but don’t use the cutting board for food anymore after this point)
• Good lighting and a magnifier (so you can see what you’re doing)
• Wires, LEDs and whatever it is you’re planning on soldering
• Goggles (safety first is FTW)
• A “third hand” if you have one
• Needle nose pliers or tweezers (just to hold things)

If you’re using a brand new soldering iron and also periodically as you use your soldering iron, it is a good idea to “tin” it (or coat the tip with solder):

1. Heat up your soldering iron
2. Clean off the tip by wiping it down with your wet sponge
3. Apply a little bit of solder to the tip
4. Wipe off any extra solder with your sponge

Do this every once in a while (or however often you want) to improve the thermal contact between the iron and the joint so the solder will flow more quickly and easily. 

STEP 1: Plug in your soldering iron, put it in the stand and wait for it to heat up.  Whatever you do don’t poke at the tip with your finger to see if it’s hot or not, remember that soldering irons are hot enough to melt metal.  Start by soldering simple things like two wires together first if you’re just starting out.  It is the most forgiving way to learn how to solder rather then just taking it to your PS3 and ruining it. 

STEP 2: Make sure that you’re working metal to metal, strip any wires if you have to to prepare for the surface for soldering. 

STEP 3: Bend before you solder!  Kink the end of the solder to help you get into tight places. 

STEP 4: When you solder, hold the soldering iron like you would a pencil or (for lack of a better word) like a magic wand.  Touch the tip of the iron to whatever it is you’re joining together to heat them and feed the solder onto them.  REMEMBER!!!!!  DO NOT TOUCH THE SOLDER DIRECTLY TO THE SOLDERING IRON!!!![/color]  It won’t do anything but cause the solder to bubble and evaporate.  Instead touch the tip of the soldering iron near the area you want to join together and THEN touch the solder to it. 



It will take a few seconds for the solder to heat up but once it does it will flow onto the piece that you are working on.  Allow the solder to flow over the pieces you’re trying to join together whatever pieces you were soldering together.  Tah dah you’re done.




What you should have is a nice, shiny and well rounded glob of solder sticking proudly to (whatever it is you’re soldering) that looks like a little volcano.  If it doesn’t look like that and instead it looks like a dull, :censored:ly heap you have made a “cold joint solder”.  That is a really weak joint that is caused by not enough coverage on the joint that you’re soldering.  You will have to remove the solder and resolder it again.



HOW TO REMOVE SOLDER:


Tools needed:

• Soldering iron
• Desoldering braid or solder vacuum

The “Before” Image (By the way, this is also a great example of what your joints should look like!  Notice how nice and shiny and round they are!)

STEP 1: Gently touch the tip of the soldering iron to the solder you want to remove and heat it.
STEP 2:
If you have a vacuum: Use the vacuum to suck up the solder as it melts off.


If you have desoldering braid: Touch the desoldering braid into the melting solder, the braid will pull the melting solder into it.


Desoldering braid

STEP 3: Rinse and repeat Step 1 and Step 2 until all the unwanted solder is removed.

And there we have it, the basics of soldering.  But before you go all wild soldering everything, here’s a few things to remember:

• WATCH THE HEAT don’t heat up your component for more then a few seconds, it might damage it
• KEEP YOUR SOLDERING IRON CLEAN[ wipe it every few solders on your wet sponge to keep the tip clear and free of solder

[spoiler=Image]
 

After Image when all the solder is removed


HOW TO SOLDER LEDS


Tools Required:

• Soldering iron with a sharp tip for soldering small things (preferably between 15-20 Watts, no more no less)
• Soldering stand & wet sponge (to clean off the soldering iron)
• Solder (preferably 60/40 rosin core, but 63/37 tin-lead will also work, it is not recommended that you work with lead free solder)
• Desoldering braid or solder vacuum (because accidents happen)
• Wire strippers (or a pair of scissors work as well)
• A nice area to work in (steal a cutting board and solder on that, it is the easiest and safest approach but don’t use the cutting board for food anymore after this point)
• Good lighting and a magnifier (so you can see what you’re doing)
• Wires (preferably kynar), LEDs (0603 in size) and whatever it is you’re planning on soldering
• Goggles (safety first is FTW)
• A “third hand” if you have one
• Needle nose pliers or tweezers (just to hold things)
• Soldering paste

STEP 1: Plug in your iron and heat it to the proper temperature.  Apply a small amount of solder to the tip to help the solder flow better.  You can apply more if needed but be careful not to apply too much.
STEP 2: In your dominant hand, hold the small 0603 LED with a pair of tweezers.  With the other hand hold the wire you are going to solder to the LED.  Remember to prepare your wire ahead of time by using a wire stripper to expose the metal wire.
STEP 3: Dip the wire into some soldering paste and carefully touch the LED with the tip of the wire.  Touch the tip of the soldering iron with your solder to put a little bit on it then gently touch the soldering iron to the LED and the wire.  REMEMBER when adding small LEDs you need a very small amount of solder.  This is one of the few techniques where you actually touch the solder to the soldering iron, this technique gets excellent results when used on very small LEDs (IE: 0630).
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