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| I am a terrible solderer |
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| Searcher7:
I was abou to ask if someone could make a video showing soldering in action, but I think I'll get a "coldheat" solder, because I'm making adaptors that only basically require soldering wires to fingerboards. I wish there was a local place to get it, because I need it yesterday. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. |
| fatbasta:
No Home Depot or Radio Shack near by? |
| Trimoor:
I just got a coldheat today, but I am not very impressed. It was very difficult for it to make an electrical connection and thus produce heat, even when trying to simply tin 18 gauge steel wire. It also seems like the tip material absorbs the flux from the solder, making an electrical connection very difficult. I only bought it to replace my portable butane iron (the stupid thing leaks), but it may not even be able to do that. More testing is needed. |
| ChadTower:
Grr... I still suck REALLY BADLY. I let the iron heat up for 15 minutes and still I can only seem to get the solder molten if I actually put the tip to the solder... aren't you supposed to heat up the component leg and touch the solder to the leg? |
| RandyT:
--- Quote from: ChadTower on April 29, 2005, 03:21:54 pm ---Grr... I still suck REALLY BADLY. I let the iron heat up for 15 minutes and still I can only seem to get the solder molten if I actually put the tip to the solder... aren't you supposed to heat up the component leg and touch the solder to the leg? --- End quote --- The textbook answer is that you should heat the pad/leg and put the solder to it. You need to be very careful with IC's though, as excessive heat can damage them internally. The reason you are probably not doing so well is not enough surface area of the tip is making contact with the part you want to get hot. Tinning and Cleaning the tip with solder and a damp cellulose sponge will help if you aren't already doing this. Tinning puts a thin layer of solder on the tip that will aid in good transfer of heat to the components you are soldering. Regardless of how you get there, a good solder joint is a good solder joint. The thing that is ultimately important is that there are no "blobs" or "balls" of solder and that the connections are nice and shiny when they cool. If they are "grey" or overly dull, there's a good chance that the joint is "cold" and will cause a problem over time. RandyT |
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