Tutorial
Updated
Soldering tips everyone needs to know
I thought i share some tips on soldering from my Reddit page. This can be very useful if your repairing electronics or getting into it.
Here is what you need to get started with
Avoid: Ali Express, eBay or any other supplier site when shopping for equipment. It’s filled with nothing but crap. Go to sites like Amazon and Specialised tool sites. I prefer Amazon it has less garbage and you can read the reviews.
You need a clean safe work area
A Soldering iron brands like Hakko, XTronic, Weller or even a generic soldering stations can last a long time though an expensive great branded one with an adjustable temperature and interchangeable tips can last you for decades i suggest checking out these pages.
Soldering Basics: Solder and Flux
Soldering Tools for Beginners
How to Solder
Fixing traces
Soldering Iron Buying Guide https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/articles/best-soldering-iron
Buying a Soldering Station
For practice, i recommend buying a bare PCB and get all your practice done there.
As for the equipment
Silicon Solder Mat you can organize your screws, tool, and components with this as well as it protecting your table/workbench
Soldering Mats https://makeradvisor.com/soldering-mats-review/
Solder you can’t solder without this. There is lead free solder and leaded solder. I recommend a good low melting point 63 37 Rosin/Resin Core Lead Solder from a reputable brand over lead free solder. Lead solder tends to be more reliable and has a lower melting point though lead free solder from a good brand like Weller isn’t bad either. Just be sure to stay away from generic/fake/ non reputable brands. Pay attention to the reviews. Going the cheap generic route is going to cause nothing but frustration and it will leave you with solder that is dull, unreliable, dry, cold and overall, doesn’t melt properly. It can also damage your tools due to the high melting point of generic brands. Save yourself the money and hassle and spend the extra money if you have to. More info is here i highly recommend Kester, Alpha Fry, C2G, EiioX, Weller, Electroloy, SRA https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-disadvantages-of-lead-free-solder-vs-lead-solder
Avoid Lead Free/Poor Quality Solder https://oscarliang.com/avoid-lead-free-solder/
Best Solder For Electronics https://solderingironguide.com/reviews/best-solder-for-electronics/amp/
Low Quality Solder VS High Quality solder
Flux is super important it makes solder flow and stick more easily to make sure your solder joints aren’t dry. Put some Flux on the PCB before soldering. I recommend Termopasty Flux.
Isopropyl Alcohol used to clean the PCB. Any excess Flux, dust, residue. Clean it off with a brush and a Qtip damped it with isopropyl alcohol. I recommend buying a brush set.
Solder Pump you have powered ones and manual ones, manual ones are cheaper and get the job done but the powered ones can clean solder up quicker and are more accurate then the typical ones. I recommend the Engineer SS-02 pump and a Solder Gun like the Hakko/ Duratool Desoldering station. The cheap ones clog up and break too easily.
Soldering/Desoldering Tips. These are used to replace any damaged/Oxidised tips, and each tip serves a different purpose. A pointed tip is for small joints, a larger tip is for big joints and Chisel tips are used for drag soldering, to remove excess solder as well as unbridging excess solder on ic chips. Make sure to buy a high-quality tip like the Hakko tips they will last much longer than generic ones. I use a small Chisel Tip most of the time. As for your desoldering station your going to have also replace the tips more, a desoldering station requires more maintenance, make sure it’s unlogged and make sure the chamber is cleaned, another thing is prep the part your trying to desolder by adding new solder to it along with flux, so that the solder can be easily sucked out, if you still have problem sucking out the solder then you may need to replaced the tip or use ChipQuik which is solder that stays molten for longer. Always try to clean the tip with copper wool and add fresh solder to it. Too see if it can still work. If not then that tip is done with and will need to be replaced.
Trace Repair Tips
If you have damaged a trace and are looking for ways to repair it. You will need to scrape away the paint of the trace to expose the copper and add some solder to it, to reconnect or connect a new trace. You can either use Kynar wire, copper tape or copper wire but for a more oem/professional finish. You will need traces and use high temp epoxy to glue them down and reconnect it to the new trace by adding solder. If your dealing with a through hole trace. You will need copper pcb eyelets of the right size along with precut traces.
This is how a PCB Eyelet is installed:
Installing precut traces
Gluing in a new pad using Epoxy
A HeatGun/Rework Station is used to removed/reflow mounted components like chips. I suggest a precision heat gun where you can interchange it’s parts depending how much surface area you need to heat up.
Kapton Tape is high heat resistant tape used to cover up and prevent shorts, and it is used when doing rework over a PCB. If you need to run a heat gun through a specific component use Kapton tape to protect the other components from overheating.
Electronic Tape wants to prevent shorts to use this or Kapton Tape.
Soldering Braid is used to get solder off a PCB, but rather then using a pump your heating up the copper braid to get the excess solder off the board.
Multimeter is used to check for continuity, resistance, and voltage. Whatever component you need to test. This is what you need to test that specific component with. I recommend multimeters like Astro AI, CraftsMan, Fluke more info here
Best Multimeters https://bestofmachinery.com/best-multimeter/
Multi Meter Basics https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Use-a-Multimeter-Basics/
Tip Tinner/ copper is used to deoxidize and clean your soldering iron tip so that the solder can stick to the iron again.
ChipQuik is a solder that stays molten for a longer period of time to allow for the removal of components. A nice alternative to using a heat gun.
How to remove Oxidisation from your iron https://www.google.co.uk/amp/blog.okinternational.com/metcal/how-to-remove-oxidation-from-your-solder-tips?hs_amp=true
Copper wool this is used to clean up your soldering tip such as left over flux and solder on your iron.
Kynar Wire is wire you need to fix a broken trace or to wire one point to another they come in many different sizes buy which ever one is suitable for your needs. I usually go with a 30 awg roll.
Wire Strippers this is used to cut the wire and strip off the rubber to expose the wire. I recommend Stanley, Irwin, Klein. Any precision cutter will do the job.
Best Wire Strippers https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/articles/best-wire-strippers
Tweezer set i recommend this for aligning wires and small components.
Epoxy is glue used for repairing broken traces.
Copper tape this is copper film used for for fixing traces
Craft knife i use this to scrape off some paint to expose copper from a trace if you need to reconnect a trace, buy a sharp quality craft knife set and gently scrape off the paint.
Any more tips and corrections share below.
Ideal Solder Joints
Here is what you need to get started with
Avoid: Ali Express, eBay or any other supplier site when shopping for equipment. It’s filled with nothing but crap. Go to sites like Amazon and Specialised tool sites. I prefer Amazon it has less garbage and you can read the reviews.
You need a clean safe work area
A Soldering iron brands like Hakko, XTronic, Weller or even a generic soldering stations can last a long time though an expensive great branded one with an adjustable temperature and interchangeable tips can last you for decades i suggest checking out these pages.
Soldering Basics: Solder and Flux
Soldering Tools for Beginners
How to Solder
Fixing traces
Soldering Iron Buying Guide https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/articles/best-soldering-iron
Buying a Soldering Station
For practice, i recommend buying a bare PCB and get all your practice done there.
As for the equipment
Silicon Solder Mat you can organize your screws, tool, and components with this as well as it protecting your table/workbench
Soldering Mats https://makeradvisor.com/soldering-mats-review/
Solder you can’t solder without this. There is lead free solder and leaded solder. I recommend a good low melting point 63 37 Rosin/Resin Core Lead Solder from a reputable brand over lead free solder. Lead solder tends to be more reliable and has a lower melting point though lead free solder from a good brand like Weller isn’t bad either. Just be sure to stay away from generic/fake/ non reputable brands. Pay attention to the reviews. Going the cheap generic route is going to cause nothing but frustration and it will leave you with solder that is dull, unreliable, dry, cold and overall, doesn’t melt properly. It can also damage your tools due to the high melting point of generic brands. Save yourself the money and hassle and spend the extra money if you have to. More info is here i highly recommend Kester, Alpha Fry, C2G, EiioX, Weller, Electroloy, SRA https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-disadvantages-of-lead-free-solder-vs-lead-solder
Avoid Lead Free/Poor Quality Solder https://oscarliang.com/avoid-lead-free-solder/
Best Solder For Electronics https://solderingironguide.com/reviews/best-solder-for-electronics/amp/
Low Quality Solder VS High Quality solder
Flux is super important it makes solder flow and stick more easily to make sure your solder joints aren’t dry. Put some Flux on the PCB before soldering. I recommend Termopasty Flux.
Isopropyl Alcohol used to clean the PCB. Any excess Flux, dust, residue. Clean it off with a brush and a Qtip damped it with isopropyl alcohol. I recommend buying a brush set.
Solder Pump you have powered ones and manual ones, manual ones are cheaper and get the job done but the powered ones can clean solder up quicker and are more accurate then the typical ones. I recommend the Engineer SS-02 pump and a Solder Gun like the Hakko/ Duratool Desoldering station. The cheap ones clog up and break too easily.
Soldering/Desoldering Tips. These are used to replace any damaged/Oxidised tips, and each tip serves a different purpose. A pointed tip is for small joints, a larger tip is for big joints and Chisel tips are used for drag soldering, to remove excess solder as well as unbridging excess solder on ic chips. Make sure to buy a high-quality tip like the Hakko tips they will last much longer than generic ones. I use a small Chisel Tip most of the time. As for your desoldering station your going to have also replace the tips more, a desoldering station requires more maintenance, make sure it’s unlogged and make sure the chamber is cleaned, another thing is prep the part your trying to desolder by adding new solder to it along with flux, so that the solder can be easily sucked out, if you still have problem sucking out the solder then you may need to replaced the tip or use ChipQuik which is solder that stays molten for longer. Always try to clean the tip with copper wool and add fresh solder to it. Too see if it can still work. If not then that tip is done with and will need to be replaced.
Trace Repair Tips
If you have damaged a trace and are looking for ways to repair it. You will need to scrape away the paint of the trace to expose the copper and add some solder to it, to reconnect or connect a new trace. You can either use Kynar wire, copper tape or copper wire but for a more oem/professional finish. You will need traces and use high temp epoxy to glue them down and reconnect it to the new trace by adding solder. If your dealing with a through hole trace. You will need copper pcb eyelets of the right size along with precut traces.
This is how a PCB Eyelet is installed:
Installing precut traces
Gluing in a new pad using Epoxy
A HeatGun/Rework Station is used to removed/reflow mounted components like chips. I suggest a precision heat gun where you can interchange it’s parts depending how much surface area you need to heat up.
Kapton Tape is high heat resistant tape used to cover up and prevent shorts, and it is used when doing rework over a PCB. If you need to run a heat gun through a specific component use Kapton tape to protect the other components from overheating.
Electronic Tape wants to prevent shorts to use this or Kapton Tape.
Soldering Braid is used to get solder off a PCB, but rather then using a pump your heating up the copper braid to get the excess solder off the board.
Multimeter is used to check for continuity, resistance, and voltage. Whatever component you need to test. This is what you need to test that specific component with. I recommend multimeters like Astro AI, CraftsMan, Fluke more info here
Best Multimeters https://bestofmachinery.com/best-multimeter/
Multi Meter Basics https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Use-a-Multimeter-Basics/
Tip Tinner/ copper is used to deoxidize and clean your soldering iron tip so that the solder can stick to the iron again.
ChipQuik is a solder that stays molten for a longer period of time to allow for the removal of components. A nice alternative to using a heat gun.
How to remove Oxidisation from your iron https://www.google.co.uk/amp/blog.okinternational.com/metcal/how-to-remove-oxidation-from-your-solder-tips?hs_amp=true
Copper wool this is used to clean up your soldering tip such as left over flux and solder on your iron.
Kynar Wire is wire you need to fix a broken trace or to wire one point to another they come in many different sizes buy which ever one is suitable for your needs. I usually go with a 30 awg roll.
Wire Strippers this is used to cut the wire and strip off the rubber to expose the wire. I recommend Stanley, Irwin, Klein. Any precision cutter will do the job.
Best Wire Strippers https://www.thearchitectsguide.com/articles/best-wire-strippers
Tweezer set i recommend this for aligning wires and small components.
Epoxy is glue used for repairing broken traces.
Copper tape this is copper film used for for fixing traces
Craft knife i use this to scrape off some paint to expose copper from a trace if you need to reconnect a trace, buy a sharp quality craft knife set and gently scrape off the paint.
Any more tips and corrections share below.
Ideal Solder Joints
Last edited by iVirtualPlays,