Posted by Richard W. on April 1, 2009, 5:11 pm
>> Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>
>>> Old solder works better if you pull it through creased paper a few
>>> times to wipe off the oxide.
>>
>> What a great idea!
>>
>> The temperature-controlled iron is also a good idea. I have an Oryx
>> temp-controlled iron that I like, although not as well as an old
>> transformer iron (really tiny) that grew legs.
>>
>> Try 0.032" or 0.025" rosin core 60/40 solder from Radio Shack. The 0.025"
>> might be a bit easier while you're getting started.
>>
>> Make sure that the iron tip is well-tinned. Should look like bright
>> silver.
>>
>> As Jim said - keep the iron tip clean.
>>
>> Don't even /think/ about a soldering gun for light work!
>>
> Thing I learned in ET Maintenance School years ago...
> Touch the solder to the iron lightly to form a just a tiny 'blob' on the
> iron. Then touch that blob to the workpiece. It will act like a 'bridge'
> to carry the heat from the iron to the work better. Then apply the solder
> to the opposite side of the work. When the work piece is hot enough, the
> solder should flow right in as you feed more solder.
> DON'T apply a lot of solder to the iron and then try and apply it to the
> work piece from the iron. Nothing good comes from this ;-)
> If the iron gets too much solder on it, wipe it as Jim and Morris said.
> daestrom
All of this is very good advise and written better than I could. It's what I
learned the hard way.
Richard W.
Posted by z on April 1, 2009, 6:01 pm
>
>>
>>> Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>>
>>>> Old solder works better if you pull it through creased paper a few
>>>> times to wipe off the oxide.
>>>
>>> What a great idea!
>>>
>>> The temperature-controlled iron is also a good idea. I have an Oryx
>>> temp-controlled iron that I like, although not as well as an old
>>> transformer iron (really tiny) that grew legs.
>>>
>>> Try 0.032" or 0.025" rosin core 60/40 solder from Radio Shack. The
>>> 0.025" might be a bit easier while you're getting started.
>>>
>>> Make sure that the iron tip is well-tinned. Should look like bright
>>> silver.
>>>
>>> As Jim said - keep the iron tip clean.
>>>
>>> Don't even /think/ about a soldering gun for light work!
>>>
>>
>> Thing I learned in ET Maintenance School years ago...
>>
>> Touch the solder to the iron lightly to form a just a tiny 'blob' on
>> the iron. Then touch that blob to the workpiece. It will act like a
>> 'bridge' to carry the heat from the iron to the work better. Then
>> apply the solder to the opposite side of the work. When the work
>> piece is hot enough, the solder should flow right in as you feed more
>> solder.
>>
>> DON'T apply a lot of solder to the iron and then try and apply it to
>> the work piece from the iron. Nothing good comes from this ;-)
>>
>> If the iron gets too much solder on it, wipe it as Jim and Morris
>> said.
>>
>> daestrom
>>
>
> All of this is very good advise and written better than I could. It's
> what I learned the hard way.
>
> Richard W.
Yeah.. I appreciate all the good advice too.
Posted by Ulysses on April 1, 2009, 11:00 pm
> >
> >>
> >>> Jim Wilkins wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Old solder works better if you pull it through creased paper a few
> >>>> times to wipe off the oxide.
> >>>
> >>> What a great idea!
> >>>
> >>> The temperature-controlled iron is also a good idea. I have an Oryx
> >>> temp-controlled iron that I like, although not as well as an old
> >>> transformer iron (really tiny) that grew legs.
> >>>
> >>> Try 0.032" or 0.025" rosin core 60/40 solder from Radio Shack. The
> >>> 0.025" might be a bit easier while you're getting started.
> >>>
> >>> Make sure that the iron tip is well-tinned. Should look like bright
> >>> silver.
> >>>
> >>> As Jim said - keep the iron tip clean.
> >>>
> >>> Don't even /think/ about a soldering gun for light work!
> >>>
> >>
> >> Thing I learned in ET Maintenance School years ago...
> >>
> >> Touch the solder to the iron lightly to form a just a tiny 'blob' on
> >> the iron. Then touch that blob to the workpiece. It will act like a
> >> 'bridge' to carry the heat from the iron to the work better. Then
> >> apply the solder to the opposite side of the work. When the work
> >> piece is hot enough, the solder should flow right in as you feed more
> >> solder.
> >>
> >> DON'T apply a lot of solder to the iron and then try and apply it to
> >> the work piece from the iron. Nothing good comes from this ;-)
> >>
> >> If the iron gets too much solder on it, wipe it as Jim and Morris
> >> said.
> >>
> >> daestrom
> >>
> >
> > All of this is very good advise and written better than I could. It's
> > what I learned the hard way.
> >
> > Richard W.
> Yeah.. I appreciate all the good advice too.
This thread is the most comprehensive and definitive guide to soldering I've
ever read!
Posted by Neon John on March 31, 2009, 9:39 pm
On Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:38:29 -0700 (PDT), Jim Wilkins
>>
>> Hey z, from where I'm sitting it sounds like your problem is the flux.
>> Without the right flux your solder won't flow but you have to be careful
>> about acid flux because it can eventually destroy some electronics.
>Rosin core flux, lead solder, CLEAN iron tip. No-clean, lead-free
>solder is harder to use. We electronic lab techs use temperature-
>controlled irons and wipe the tip clean and shiny on a slightly damp
>cellulose sponge frequently. Old solder works better if you pull it
>through creased paper a few times to wipe off the oxide.
Real men clean the iron tip with their fingertips. Really. Wanna see
my callouses? :-)
I ****HATE**** this new ROHS sh*t!!!! I'd like to throttle whomever
came up with this notion. Green weenie superstition at its worst.
What's even worse is that most parts aren't available anymore in
non-ROHS plated form. I have to go through and carefully tin each pin
before sticking it in the PCB to make sure it'll be solder-receptive.
Scraping with an Xacto knife follows to fix the pins that aren't.
BTW, Kester #1544 activated rosin flux is da bomb for hand soldering.
With a little special prep, I can even solder a copper wire to
aluminum with it.
John
Posted by Morris Dovey on March 31, 2009, 10:19 pm
Neon John wrote:
> BTW, Kester #1544 activated rosin flux is da bomb for hand soldering.
> With a little special prep, I can even solder a copper wire to
> aluminum with it.
John...
Please tell about the special prep!
--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/
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>>
>>> Old solder works better if you pull it through creased paper a few
>>> times to wipe off the oxide.
>>
>> What a great idea!
>>
>> The temperature-controlled iron is also a good idea. I have an Oryx
>> temp-controlled iron that I like, although not as well as an old
>> transformer iron (really tiny) that grew legs.
>>
>> Try 0.032" or 0.025" rosin core 60/40 solder from Radio Shack. The 0.025"
>> might be a bit easier while you're getting started.
>>
>> Make sure that the iron tip is well-tinned. Should look like bright
>> silver.
>>
>> As Jim said - keep the iron tip clean.
>>
>> Don't even /think/ about a soldering gun for light work!
>>
> Thing I learned in ET Maintenance School years ago...
> Touch the solder to the iron lightly to form a just a tiny 'blob' on the
> iron. Then touch that blob to the workpiece. It will act like a 'bridge'
> to carry the heat from the iron to the work better. Then apply the solder
> to the opposite side of the work. When the work piece is hot enough, the
> solder should flow right in as you feed more solder.
> DON'T apply a lot of solder to the iron and then try and apply it to the
> work piece from the iron. Nothing good comes from this ;-)
> If the iron gets too much solder on it, wipe it as Jim and Morris said.
> daestrom