|
HOW TO SOLDER |
|
| IF YOU HAVE NOT SOLDERED ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT BOARDS BEFORE PLEASE READ THIS Irons from 15W to 30W are good for most printed circuit board work. Anything larger in wattage and you may damaging either the component or the board. For myself I like a 20W iron for printed circuit boards. Soldering guns are not suitable for circuit board work. The best solder for electronics is a thin rosin core solder (60/40 .040" or smaller). Never use acid core solder on electronics. The surface of the component leads and circuit board need to be clean for good solder joints. If any surfaces looks dull or dirty, clean with a small peace of steel wool. If the leads on a part are sticky from glue residue use a little paint thinner to clean. Bend the component leads as necessary and insert on the board. To hold the part in place while you are soldering, you may want to bend the leads on the bottom of the board slightly. Sometimes a little paper tape on the component side of the board helps. Apply a very small amount of solder to the tip of the iron. This helps conduct the heat to the component and board. Next Lay the iron tip so that it rests against both the component lead and the board (this is where you will see how important a small soldering tip is). It takes one or two seconds to heat the component enough to solder. Next touch the tip of the solder to the component lead and solder pad, but not the tip of the iron (this only works well if the board is tinned). If you are not working with a tinned board apply the solder where the board pad, lead and iron meet. If everything is hot enough, the solder will flow freely around the lead and pad. Helpful Tips 1 - A cold joint is a joint in which the solder does not make good contact with the component lead or circuit board. Cold joints occur when the component lead or board moves before the solder is cooled. Cold joints make poor electrical connections. You can recognized a cold joint by the dull gray color of the solder. Good solder joints are shinny. 2 - If you need to clean up a messy solder joint or replace a part you can use Solder-wick to remove old solder. Solder- wick works great and you can find it at Radio Shack under the name Desoldering Braid Part #64-2090. 3 - Keep your iron tip clean. Use a damp sponge to clean the tip between soldering components. 4 - Solder small parts first and large pars last. This will make assembly easier. 5 - Heat sinks help prevent damage to components like ICs and transistors. Clipping a small alligator clip to a component lead makes a good heat sink. |