Solid Soldering Advice DIY keyboard Pro in all of us!

[HotRoderX]

I just wanted to give some advice from a amateur to others about soldering. Given this is sorta a common since thing but!!! Still if anyone reads this and goes! Hey remember that post! It will have been worth it.

Do not get Cocky and rush.

1st build took for ever ((4+ hr's)) but went smoothly for the most part.

2nd build took almost no time at all and was smoother then silk. I even added in LED's and everything was solid and worked great right out of the box

3rd. Build was a nightmare. I rushed everything. I thought I knew what I was doing and got sloppy. My second build went so well. My first build went great. lesson learned. I ended up screwing up the PCB and having to hotwire it. I ended up damaging several switches. That had to replace. I screwed the stabs up. I was thankfully able to fix everything with out a complete desolder. also desoldering LED's with a pump is a nightmare best reserved for the sadist in all of us.

All of it could have been avoided by simply me taking my time and not getting cocky are over eager. I wanted to just throw this out there as a warning. Happy Building!

[futurecrime]

Sounds familiar! Highly relatable. 

[SBJ]

I'm so scurred about trying to solder.
I need to buy a couple of the smaller memeboards to practice on.

[tp4tissue]

How long the totality of a project takes is INDEPENDENT of how long HEAT is APPLIED to the JOINT.


You should always have a Soldering-pump and Desolder/Solder as QUICKLY as possible

Take as long as you need to Aim and Prepare yourself,  But as soon as the Hot touches Metal, Be Swift,  like an Eagle diving for the kill..

The Timing window is ~3 seconds for Soldering,  ~1.5-2 seconds for Desoldering


Any longer,  you start melting the plastic that the copper is attached to.. 

The consequence is Potentially,  chattering/ bad switch feel.

[Sup]

the tip you need  good equipment and and a lot patience don't rush stuff take your time.

[Blaise170]

Honestly it's far easier to use high heat as the solder melts much quicker and you spend less time on the PCB. Think of it this way, would you rather have a 400C iron be pressed to your skin for 1 second or a 200C iron pressed to your skin for 5 seconds?

[tp4tissue]

Honestly it's far easier to use high heat as the solder melts much quicker and you spend less time on the PCB. Think of it this way, would you rather have a 400C iron be pressed to your skin for 1 second or a 200C iron pressed to your skin for 5 seconds?

What.. ??  hahahahhahaha neither,  it should be ~200 for 1 second or less (using eutectic)..

if you're using unleaded or different mixes, check the charts.

It really has to do with melting the plastic vs melting the solder, solder might not care,  but the plastic will go bad..

https://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Documents/Knowledge%20Base/Alloy%20Temperature%20Chart.pdf

[Blaise170]

Sorry, used the wrong symbol. That was meant to be Fahrenheit. 400F is 200C. Oops. 

[tp4tissue]

Sorry, used the wrong symbol. That was meant to be Fahrenheit. 400F is 200C. Oops. 

Remain calm..

We've all made such mistakes..

[HotRoderX]

Thanks guys and yea I got another kit coming in soon so hopefully it goes smoothly I know where I made my mistakes and yep totally going to try to correct them.

[jcoffin1981]

Lets not forget the soldering tip, one of the biggest variables.  Needs to be clean and tinned or it DOESNT WORK.  Also, choosing the right tip like chisel vs conical and using the correct angle.  This takes practice.

[bitzie]

What.. ??  hahahahhahaha neither,  it should be ~200 for 1 second or less (using eutectic)..

if you're using unleaded or different mixes, check the charts.

It really has to do with melting the plastic vs melting the solder, solder might not care,  but the plastic will go bad..[/size][/color]

https://www.kester.com/Portals/0/Documents/Knowledge%20Base/Alloy%20Temperature%20Chart.pdf

Wow.. Thanks for posting that chart. I've been using my iron WAY too hot. Like at 700F when it only needed to be at 450F or so. That is if I'm reading it right for Sn99.3Cu0.7 having a melting point of 441F, so I don't really need to be that much above that right?

[tp4tissue]

Wow.. Thanks for posting that chart. I've been using my iron WAY too hot. Like at 700F when it only needed to be at 450F or so. That is if I'm reading it right for Sn99.3Cu0.7 having a melting point of 441F, so I don't really need to be that much above that right?

It could come down to what you're doing.

If you're trying to desolder lots of Big capacitors or on a thick ground plane..

For speed purposes, you might consider running hotter so you're not there all day..


This chart is specific to Kester's line of solder,   for YOUR solder, double check their manufacturing website.

But in general, it won't be a difference of 300f between products of similar compositions.

[HotRoderX]

also not sure if this holds true for every soldering iron but my cheap-o amazon special seems to run warm .. like at 350 degree's f it will burn thought 70/30 like its nothing. I know if I go north of 475 it will burn solder are least think its burning it turns it to this disgusting blackish stuff

[Blaise170]

Your solder is turning black? Sounds dangerous!

[tp4tissue]

also not sure if this holds true for every soldering iron but my cheap-o amazon special seems to run warm .. like at 350 degree's f it will burn thought 70/30 like its nothing. I know if I go north of 475 it will burn solder are least think its burning it turns it to this disgusting blackish stuff

That's probably burnt rosin core,  the solder should come out dull if too hot, but it shouldn't burn black.

[zappysnap]

Lets not forget the soldering tip, one of the biggest variables.  Needs to be clean and tinned or it DOESNT WORK.  Also, choosing the right tip like chisel vs conical and using the correct angle.  This takes practice.

So, I just built my first board, and it went fairly smoothly.  Had a few bad joints that I was able to desolder and redo, and they turned out ok.  However, the tinning process just never seems to go right for me.  I cleaned the tip, then plugged in the soldering iron, and tinned as it warmed.  However, it tended to form blobs on the iron instead of a smooth coating, and after tinning, it would almost immediately oxidize and turn the tip blueish green, then go dark.  If I ran the tip through my brass wool tip cleaner, it would get rid of the excess and usually leave me with a temporarily silvery tinned tip, but it would also oxidize after a few joints, and then upon trying to retin the tip, it would take about 3 seconds and not flow great.  I spent way too much time trying to keep the tip clean...however, eventually got it to where I was cleanly doing joints in about 2 seconds, and so I didn't mess with it again. (and yes, I was applying heat to the pin and pad and melting the solder with the other side of the pin and pad and not the tip of the iron.)

Anyway, I got the board done, and really got the hang of the joints by the end, but I have to imagine there is something I'm doing wrong with regards to tinning the tip, so I'm hoping for some tips to reduce that frustration.   Is it just the fact that my iron is cheap? (it has adjustable temperature and removable tips, but it's like a $20 iron).

[Blaise170]

Could be that you have a poor quality tip, but in any case tinning isn't too hard. It will blob if you put too much; you need very, very little to actually coat it. Any excess you can just wipe off with the sponge and it should still stay tinned.

[ScottPaladin]

So, I just built my first board, and it went fairly smoothly.  Had a few bad joints that I was able to desolder and redo, and they turned out ok.  However, the tinning process just never seems to go right for me.  I cleaned the tip, then plugged in the soldering iron, and tinned as it warmed.  However, it tended to form blobs on the iron instead of a smooth coating, and after tinning, it would almost immediately oxidize and turn the tip blueish green, then go dark.  If I ran the tip through my brass wool tip cleaner, it would get rid of the excess and usually leave me with a temporarily silvery tinned tip, but it would also oxidize after a few joints, and then upon trying to retin the tip, it would take about 3 seconds and not flow great.  I spent way too much time trying to keep the tip clean...however, eventually got it to where I was cleanly doing joints in about 2 seconds, and so I didn't mess with it again. (and yes, I was applying heat to the pin and pad and melting the solder with the other side of the pin and pad and not the tip of the iron.)

Anyway, I got the board done, and really got the hang of the joints by the end, but I have to imagine there is something I'm doing wrong with regards to tinning the tip, so I'm hoping for some tips to reduce that frustration.   Is it just the fact that my iron is cheap? (it has adjustable temperature and removable tips, but it's like a $20 iron).

I've had a similar experience when I've got my tip set to too high a temp. I'd see if your solder has a listed melting temp, then adjust from there in 10 degree increments either up or down until you get better results. It also pays to get into the habit of turning your iron off if you're not actively soldering. Your process should be something like: get things in place, flip iron on, wait for it to warm up, solder, turn iron back off, and get the next batch of LEDs/switches/headers in place. The longer your iron sits around above the solder's melting point, the more it'll oxidize. If the iron's not in your hand, you should probably have it turned off.

At least, that's what I've found with my experience.

[zappysnap]

So, I just built my first board, and it went fairly smoothly.  Had a few bad joints that I was able to desolder and redo, and they turned out ok.  However, the tinning process just never seems to go right for me.  I cleaned the tip, then plugged in the soldering iron, and tinned as it warmed.  However, it tended to form blobs on the iron instead of a smooth coating, and after tinning, it would almost immediately oxidize and turn the tip blueish green, then go dark.  If I ran the tip through my brass wool tip cleaner, it would get rid of the excess and usually leave me with a temporarily silvery tinned tip, but it would also oxidize after a few joints, and then upon trying to retin the tip, it would take about 3 seconds and not flow great.  I spent way too much time trying to keep the tip clean...however, eventually got it to where I was cleanly doing joints in about 2 seconds, and so I didn't mess with it again. (and yes, I was applying heat to the pin and pad and melting the solder with the other side of the pin and pad and not the tip of the iron.)

Anyway, I got the board done, and really got the hang of the joints by the end, but I have to imagine there is something I'm doing wrong with regards to tinning the tip, so I'm hoping for some tips to reduce that frustration.   Is it just the fact that my iron is cheap? (it has adjustable temperature and removable tips, but it's like a $20 iron).

I've had a similar experience when I've got my tip set to too high a temp. I'd see if your solder has a listed melting temp, then adjust from there in 10 degree increments either up or down until you get better results. It also pays to get into the habit of turning your iron off if you're not actively soldering. Your process should be something like: get things in place, flip iron on, wait for it to warm up, solder, turn iron back off, and get the next batch of LEDs/switches/headers in place. The longer your iron sits around above the solder's melting point, the more it'll oxidize. If the iron's not in your hand, you should probably have it turned off.

At least, that's what I've found with my experience.

Good tips. Thanks!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

[ScottPaladin]

Good luck! 

[captsis]

****. Ive been soldering at 300~350C for everything.

Way too hot according to the chart.

The more you know i guess.