Soldering help needed !!!!

[joyrider]

Hi,

i'm making an arcade controller and everything works fine but now i've come to the point where i was going to solder wires to the contacts of a joypad that i'm going to use. But i can't seem to get the tin to stick at the contacts of the joypad although ive seen pictures of people doing this, what am i doing wrong ?
i got tin solder and a cheap solder tool with a point

any idea's ? the pad i'm using is a playstation pad

[tetsu96]

You should probably find a site that has a basic soldering tutorial...  As far as making the solder "STICK", the proper way of soldering is heating the element / wire and then touching the solder to it.  Melting the solder directly on the soldering iron isn't quite right and if it doesn't melt when you touch the wires / element with it, you didn't heat it enough...

Just try not to burn anything...

[aramis]

what do the contacts look like that you are trying to solder to? If they are a dull black, you have to scrape that off first to reveal the copper underneath. Then, get the soldering iron good and hot, and put just a little bit of solder on the tip (better heat transfer this way). Then, touch and hold the wire to the tip, and feed solder into the wire to "tin" the end. Do the same to the contact. Finally, hold the tinned wire to the contact and apply the soldering iron to melt the two together.

This is a lot easier than trying to hold the wire and contact together, while also getting the tip and solder in there at the same time. It also minimizes the amount of time that you are applying heat to the contact.

[tetsu96]

See?  Now there's someone who read a FAQ on soldering at one point...  

[Frobozz]

LOL!  God I hate soldering.  Soldering the modchip into my old PSX was as far as I ever want to go.

"OK, now that I've poured the molten metal all over my circuit board, now what?"  

[joyrider]

Hi thanks for reply's i din't know i could scrap the black thing of anyway i tried it and i still get the same results i was already doing it how u explained but it still comes lose to easily i tried 3 soldering tins and one of them stayed sticky a bit.

anyway i'm going to try some more (i don't give up easily) but if that fails i was thinking on making a small hole trought the circuit plate trhough the contact put the wire trought and solder it like that would that work ?

but to do that i have to be sure one can do this and that there are no other electric paths in the circuit board wich i can't see
any iead's if a playstation pad has this ?

[aramis]

for tinning the contact pad, make sure that you are appyling the soldering iron tip to the pad, and then touching the solder to the pad also. Don't try to put a glob of solder on the tip and then transfer it to the pad, that won't work well.

Also, make sure you are using either soldering flux or rosin-core solder. This is VERY important for getting the solder to "stick".

Make sure you've scraped the contact pad clear of the black stuff, as I've seen that the solder definitely will NOT stick to it, and in fact can cause the solder to splatter, making it hard to get it to stick to the copper pad.

A hole wouldn't help much, since you still need a good ELECTRICAL contact. The only thing the hole would do is help hold the wire for you will you were soldering.  

How much wattage is your soldering iron? It may not get hot enough to keep things melted long enough to "stick". I would say 30W or better should work, though...

Just keep practicing..but make sure you don't heat up the board too much, as you stand a chance of frying the chip or whatever. Let it cool between tries...and keep practicing!  

[OSCAR]

Scraping the black off the contacts will definitely help, but so will using some soldering flux.  Even when using a good rosin core solder, flux will help make the solder stick to connections that don't want to take.

If you drill the board, just use care to not wreck the traces on the pcb.

Although this isn't a PS pad, this picture shows how I scraped the black off the d-pad connections for a ms sidewinder:  http://www.oscarcontrols.com/files/sidewinder/MVC-910F.JPG

If you look closely, you can see a tan, jelly-like stuff around the connections.  This is the flux residue.  I'll say it again, flux helps!


--OSCAR

[1UP]

On the other hand...

I never use flux, but I use a rosin core solder.  Drilling a hole through the PCB should help things a bit.  It's ten times more difficult to solder a wire held against the side of a contact than it is to pop it up through a hole surrounded by copper.  Just make sure it's BARE copper that has been scraped clear of any protective covering.  And check the other side of the board to make sure that no circuit traces run thru the spot you'll drill (these should be readily visible at the surface.)  Make the hole with a small drill bit or by twisting the tip of a hobby knife.

In my opinion, there are 6 essential tools for soldering projects.  1) A good soldering iron with a pointed tip.  2) rosin core solder.  3) Soldering tin!  This is necessary to keep your tip from corroding, as well as facilitating the transfer of heat to your joint.  4) A set of "extra hands".  You've probably seen this around Radio Shack, it's a set of alligator clips and a magnifying glass clamped to a weighted base.  The clips hold your work while you hold the iron and feed the solder.  A real time saver, which means you're less likely to melt your components, or your flesh!  5) A clip-on heat sink.  This is a must when soldering on (or close to) sensitive components.  Literally draws the heat away from the contact, so you have more time to solder before meltdown!    6) A copper desoldering braid.  This stuff is dirt cheap and will save your life when you inevitably splatter a gob of solder across your PCB!  Also handy when you need to remove a component from the board.

All of these tools will help make your soldering easier, safer, and more permanent.  Once you learn the proper technique and assemble the necessary tools, you'll turn endless hours of solder-dropping, rug-burning, board-melting, flesh-searing frustration into quick, one-minute, professional-looking, works-like-a-charm solder jobs.  Trust me, I used to be the world's sloppiest (and most dangerous) soldering hack!

Allow your soldering iron a couple of minutes to really heat up after plugging in.  When soldering, you first place the wire or component lead onto the contact to be soldered, preferably thru a hole in the copper.  Use your "extra hands" (or an alligator clip or clothespin) to hold the two together.  Touch the tinned tip of your iron to both the contact and the wire, holding it at a 45 degree angle to the board (for better heat transfer.)  If you're doing it right, it should only take a second or two to heat it enough that you can feed the solder.  Touch the solder to the contact and wire until it melts enough to cover the joint between the two.  Quickly withdraw the solder and iron, and hold the wire still for a few seconds while the solder cools.  You should have a nice, neat connection when you're finished.  Piece of cake!

BTW, solid core wire works much better than stranded wire.  It heats up quicker and stays put while soldering.  If you're using stranded wire, twist the end together and coat it with some solder.  This is called "tinning", and will keep the wire from fraying while you work with it, and makes it bond with the solder more readily.

Lastly, make sure you're not using headphone wire or something.  This stuff seems to be coated with something to make it more flexible, and is just about impossible to get a good joint with.  It actually seems to repel the solder!  I recommend 22 AWG solid core wire for both PCB soldering and general control panel wiring.

Good luck!

[joyrider]

thanks for all the help !!!
i got it working now (without drilling holes)

thanks again