Soldering...

[BrynF_UK]

Hopefully this is in the right place, but I'm trying to teach myself how to solder (well how to solder and do it well, since i have no problem making connections that don't need to be neat and tidy ) and I've already looked through all the how-to videos on youtube - which were generally quite good - but i still have some problems and i was wondering if anyone who knows how to solder properly (and do it well themselves ) could send me a PM so i can explain what i'm doing and see if i'm doing anything wrong?

or can email me bryn.f(a)hotmail.co.uk

im on msn IM too...

Thanks

{Edit} Email address modified for security reasons.

 

[mark thorpe]

its not too hard really.. lol, i do it all day every day at work, this pretty much sums it up:

 

[Celegorm]

^^ That just about sums it up. Just make sure you look at what your picking up when you work with that. I made the mistake two years ago in an electric class to assume I was reaching for a voltage meter, instead I grabbed of the solder iron. Owch.

 

[mark thorpe]

haha, i burn myself all the time.. the worst one was when i was holding a joint with one hand, and reached out for the soldering iron with the other.. unfortuantly the guy who passed it to me thought i had looked around.. grabbed it when it was set to 380C, that hurt.. lol

 

[BrynF_UK]

yes thats what i do try and do....but it never works - i always heat up the component legs with the iron but even after a good 5 minutes when i touch the solder against the component leg it doesn't melt it doesn't do anything the only way i can make a soldered connection is if i put the solder against the soldering irons tip (yeah i know not supposed to do that) but its the only way it works....

am i using the wrong soldering iron/solder?

At the moment im using lead-free solder and a 20W 230v iron.

 

[hascet]

It also helps to after cleaning the tip tin the iron with some new solder, and you may have to touch the solder to the iron to get it hot enough to melt onto the lead and board.

Edit: also clean the tip with a damp sponge(I always just use a paper towel) after your done, do it while its still hot.

 

[BrynF_UK]

well I've cleaned the tip and tried to tin it but it doesn't seem to want to work - if i just leave the solder touching the tip for a few seconds it doesn't leave any solder, but any more and it just melts the solder...im stumped

 

[mark thorpe]

you want the solder to melt onto the tip of the iron, once it has melted onto the tip you flick it against the side of the desk to remove excess solder, and you have a nice shiny tinned tip.

is your iron one of the temp controlled ones? if so, you might want to bump up the temperature a bit..

you need to make sure that the tip is shiny at all times, most of the time you can clean it by using the sponge that comes with the holder, but occasionally you will need to tin the tip.

 

[MikeReiner]

Cool stuff. I, too, am interested in soldering.

 

[mark thorpe]

haha, it does get tedious at times..