Soldering Tips

I'm in the same boat - I know the basics and solder a few times a year. Great question! I'll be learning with you!

 

 

Hi Lionel Grandpa

 

Well this is why I love this forum ask a question you will get all kind of help. I figured why not ask the question about soldering it is one of the basic skill you need in this hobby.  I am not very good at it but I can solder something together but why not be better at it.

I'm no expert by a long shot, but I like the 63/37 rosin core solder. I use .020-.031 diameter which seems to be the best for me. For circuit boards (mostly what I have been doing lately) I use a small pointed tip. Use enough heat to be able to just touch the item you are soldering and quickly add a drop of solder and remove the iron tip. Keep your tip clean using a wet sponge or one of those tip cleaners that look like a brass scrubbee or both. I have some rosin flux that I sometimes dip my tip in before cleaning. If you are having trouble with something, sometimes dipping the tip of your solder in the flux will help. It also sometimes helps when trying to de-solder something. Sorry, I don't know the proper terminology for some of these items.

 

I have finally gotten one of the Hakko temperature controlled irons, the 880 around $85-$90, and that was a major upgrade to the old Weller I had before. I also got an assortment of tips for it, but I have really only used the small chisel and small pointed tips. Not sure I will ever use the larger ones, so I probably could have done without those? Time will tell. The Hakko might be the best soldering tip, the rest may become much easier after you get something like this for a soldering iron and find a temperature setting that works well for you. 

"For the novice who pick up a soldering iron twice or three times a years is there a place where I can learn more about the skill of soldering?"

 

   Did you try youtube? Most things are explained on there eventually. I found how to repair the door switch on my clothes dryer and how to remove and rebuild a Suburu outback engine. 

   The basics to keep in mind are have a clean tip and clean metal where you want the solder applied then heat the metal til the solder melts when touched to it( don't melt solder onto cold metal). A regular pencil type or trigger gun type works fine for occasional soldering, the fancy soldering stations are more handy for those doing long or frequent soldering sessions.One thing that's not often mentioned is be sure to keep the tips tight, for some reason using the soldering iron causes the tips to work loose then the heat doesn't get transferred to the work properly, if your iron seems like it's taking too long to heat the joint check the tightening screws.....DaveB

I recently got a temperature controled soldering gun.  It controls the heat electronically using electronic devices on the line power.  There is no transformer, which makes the gun much lighter.  I was pleasantly surprised at what a difference the lighter weigh makes. 

 

As as far as soldering goes, like has been stated above, clean parts, heat the part and let it melt the solder, right solder and flux.

I stink at it too. I fix a few whistles and car lights around Christmas. I rebuilt a few locos last Christmas and got better at it, but would like to learn more as well. We all know that experience is the best teacher, but we can certainly learn great pointers from those more experienced.

Matt

IMHO, the only way to become proficient at soldering is to practice. After reading / watching some materials on the web, get some scrap wire, and scrap terminals and practice.
A lot of the post factory soldering jobs that I see are sloppy, with a lot of excess solder on the joint. Even Lionel seems to have often used excess solder, but I guess that on a production line, a little extra was better than too little.

 

I thought I had a good document bookmarked, but I cannot find it at the moment. So far I have looked at three items on the internet. IMHO, all of them gave bad advice. Anybody have a specific link?

Truer words were never spoken!  IMO, this is one of those skills that you just have to spend some time doing in order to develop the feel for it.

 

If you're doing finer soldering, my advice is to get a good adjustable temperature controlled soldering station, that will certainly help with the quality of the job.  Between my Hakko FX888D soldering station and my Weller 100/140W gun, I have most of the jobs I do covered.  If I need more heat than the 140W gun, I get the Propane torch out.

 

Here is the tutoral I was trying to find: Electronic Construction.
Part 1 covers soldering.

I also agree with the practice and youtube tutorials. Didn't think of that earlier, but very good suggestions. Especially the practicing after watching the tutorials.

 

The soldering station I mentioned above that I got is actually the Hakko FX888D (digital readout), GRJ posted the correct number, it was not the 880 as I said earlier, got my numbers mixed up.

Search YouTube for the EEVBlog soldering tutorials.  They helped me out.   Actually for me, the soldering is easier than getting the items aligned and set up in clamps, helping hands, etc.

You're right about that.  I have some boards that I have to solder one thru-hole component on after they come back from the assembly house.  I had to make a fixture to hold a bunch of them in alignment so I could solder them on.  The soldering is the easy part, it's getting the parts in the right place with the board upside down that takes the time.

 

Kris and Lionel Grandpa,

 

On the Forum click on SEARCH, then click on FORUM LIST, and then type in SOLDERING and you will see many soldering threads and can learn just about everything you want to know about soldering, solder, solder irons, soldering stations, guides to tutorials and the list goes on.

 

You will find with a little practice soldering gets easier and easier.  Good luck.

 

Jim

ALL YOU NEED IS PRACTICE 

 

The projects I wanted to build in brass, required learning to solder.  So I did: by practice and reading articles/watching videos.

 

Here's some of the stuff I use:

 

 

63/37 Rosin Core solder in different gauges, various tips, a 30 watt iron (leave the high wattage Craftsman in the tool box-few projects require it), a resistance soldering unit (pricey but makes detail work so easy) and different fluxes. 

 

Don't use the RSU on circuit boards.

 

The two best items are thesolder (63/37) and LIQUID flux.  Flux makes it so much easier to get the solder where you want it and 'adhere' to something.

 

 

 

 

Rarely, I use a propane torch some projects.

 

Wet towels soaked in cold water will act as a 'heat sink' when doing delicate work.

 

WITH some PRACTICE, you'll be able to do things like this quickly or delicate electronic work in no time:

 

 

 

Good luck, now get busy!

Although my father taught me basic electrical soldering and I was a jewelry major for a few years (silver, brass, and copper soldering), I too am new to the wonderful world of model railroad electronics, newer soldering guns, and etc.  In addition to the great tips here, I've found YouTube videos that were specifically targeted for automotive soldering/splicing and wiring to be particularly helpful.  It kind of surprised me but there are lots of useful parallels (likewise troubleshooting electrical problems).  So, don't pass those by if you happen to see any.

 

One question that I have is: does solder wire age/degrade over time?  I've got some that probably dates to my father's American Flyer S gauge or Heathkit days.  I snipped the darkened end off the wire before using it but wondered if the flux core degrades over time. So far, the limited soldering that I've had to do looks dull.  I'm not sure whether it's because I need to practice more to get the desired shiny solder flow or if it's because the solder is older than I am.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Oh yeah ... I've also been curious about some Kestor TV-Radio Solder 40/60 (tin/lead) resin flux core I have. The box says not to use it on aluminum and to only use aluminum solder for that. Of course, all the various wire connectors at my local electronics store are aluminum. When I asked the owner for aluminum solder, he said there is no such thing.  What's the story here?  Is it a matter of the best melting point for the specific metal, the type of flux, or rather the best electrical connection? Can I use this or not with aluminum connectors?

 

Thanks!

 

TRRR

I've used 20-30 year old rosin core solder and if it's degraded, I can't really tell much difference.  What would go bad is the flux and not the solder, so assuming you have a clean surface and the proper heat, it should still solder fine.  I don't think the lack of a shine on the surface is due to the age of the solder.  If you think you're having issues due to the age of the solder, buy a small amount of fresh stuff and see if it changes anything.

 

the only thing that usually give you a cold solder joint is over heating the solder or moving as the solder is cooling off  and touching the solder again,moving will cause a cold joint, so hold perfectly still away from the joint as solder solidifies (cool off and gets hard) and the joint will be perfect.

Alan

yes, there is aluminum solder, but it is a slight misnomer since it typically contains no aluminum.  you should not use lead based solder on aluminum.  typical solder used is a tin/zinc mix on the order of 90% tin, 10% zinc.  even more important, however is to use the correct flux.  aluminum oxidizes fast and forms a harder coating than copper oxides, so the flux must be quite aggressive.  the last difficulty with soldering aluminum is its substantial heat sinking property.  bringing the joint up to temperature before applying solder is critical to a good connection.

 

bigger question, though.  what sort of connectors are you finding that are aluminum?  most Al electrical connectors are crimp-style or clamp-type with a set screw.  remember that solder should not be used for strength or where shear forces exist.  a well crimped or screw-terminal-strip secured wire will provide just a good of an electrical connection as a soldered wire.

 

cheers...gary

Thanks for the background on aluminum solder and special flux, Gary. I was curious.  You are right: my electrical connectors are crimp-style and that *should* be enough.  Unfortunately, my grip isn't (enough) even with a crimping tool, pliers, chisels, and other things I've tried.  So, I solder.  So far I haven't toasted any connectors or their plastic insulators by soldering, whereas I have wasted a *lot* of connectors by trying to crimp them -- only to have the wire pull out upon testing.

 

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Thank you one and all on this subject. As the old saying goes "practice makes perfect".

Now that everyone is getting better at soldering, we can move on to one of these.

 

Just did my first 8 contact one on a circuit board. Got it, but I am not sure I could get one like this without investing in some more tools!  G

 

quote:

I've used 20-30 year old rosin core solder and if it's degraded, I can't really tell much difference.

 

The solder I am using is fairly old. A roll lasts a long time for me. Like John, I have not had a problem using it.

I think it is worth noting that some of the Kester solder I have on hand is marked with an expiration date. I am planning to use it well after the expiration date.

 

Sometimes, when I are resoldering a joint that has old wire and/or an old lug, I will use a small amount of either liquid or paste flux (for electronics, not plumbing/metal) to help things along.

That one looks a bit on the difficult side, those are .5mm spacing contacts, right?  The four sided ones would really be a challenge with an iron.

 

I made a mistake on on of my prototypes and specified some TSSOP-8 chips with .65mm spacing, they are a giant PITA to do!  I ended up trying a different technique that actually worked, and I got them on properly.  I just soldered one side without regard for bridging, as there seemed little chance I could avoid it.  Then I heated up the whole row with the iron and sucked the solder off.  It left the legs attached, and sucked up all the solder bridging the leads.  Worked way better than I expected!

 

I limit myself to the SO package spacing, 1.27mm now.  I can deal with those with standard soldering techniques.

 

Do you guys use one of those swing arm magnifying lamps (extremely strong magnification) for all that fine work? I would need one of those lamps just to find the chip. Sure makes you appreciate the through hole stuff with nice wide spacing. 

 

If anyone does use the magnifying lamps, can anyone recommend a good one? How about the Micro-Mark ones? Just got my cataracts fixed (WOW, what a difference, could barely see before that) and no longer need glasses for the most part, except for close up work. One of those lamps might be just the ticket now.

Tomlinson, might you be mistaking the tin coating on most connectors for aluminum?

 

One of the common train repairs is replacing the wires that feed center-rail power from the rollers into the tender or other chassis.  This repair can be frustrating because it will not last long if done improperly.

 

When you solder, some of the solder wicks up into the wire, making it stiff and brittle.  The frequent rotation of the power-pickup truck can cause the wire to break up inside the insulation where the wicking stops, and that is sometimes overlooked in troubleshooting.

 

Some tips:

1. Rather than attaching the wire so that it sticks out radially from the power truck, attach the (pretinned) wire so that it routes back toward the center pivot of the truck, then add a U-turn to the wire.

2.  Maintain a generous service loop of wire so that the swiveling is distributed over a longer length of wire.  I sometimes use a 360 degree circle about the diameter of my little finger.

3.  When available, use super-flexible wire that has lots of tiny strands rather than just a few larger strands.

4.  Try to minimize the amount of wicking by using less solder.

5.  Add some shrink tubing to the wicking area to minimize flexing at the critical point.

I got the new Rev E Power Supply Power trench on with the iron.  First one I have seen fail and I hate letting a board go to the trash bucket.  I have not had problem with the TSSOP chips, but these newer designs would need a hot air gun to get I imagine.  The audio amp on PS-3 is like the above chip.  Alignment can be an issue, but I guess they say it will self align if you do it right with liquid flux and the right heat source.

 

Watched some videos it take time, distance, known heat source and a lot of faith!  G

I'm going to stick one level below these.  I opened up an old cellphone, and I marvel at how anyone builds those!  Clearly, they're all machine built.

 

I specified a 201 sized resistor by mistake on the board with the find pitch parts, good luck soldering those on.  I couldn't even get it positioned with the tweezers!   I lost the first one, it dropped an inch onto the bench, and I could not find it!

 

A good IR of hot air station would be great, but I'm not ready to spend that kind of money.

 

 

Dale, anything's possible, but I took a file to a sample spade terminal that I'm calling a "connector" to see it was coated/tinned and found white metal all the way through. Here are two typical solder tasks at the TRRR: Adding spade connectors to wire (now in one case the *wire* was tinned... but nothing too sophisticated here :-}

 

Great tips 'though. My steam engine is in the shop for more serious reasons but it had a tether wire that was so short it broke in less than a year's time.

 

Tomlinson Run RR

P.S. -- You can see my pathetic attempt to crimp in one of the photos. =smile=

I've never seen aluminum ring connectors, they would be a very unusual beast.  I'm not saying they don't exist, but you'd have to look hard and long to find them.

 

It would seem then that I incorrectly connected the dots between the white metal terminals and the caution against soldering aluminum found on my solder box, incorrectly concluding that the connectors were aluminum. Thanks for the gentle clarification, gunrunnerjohn.

 

TRRR

Soldering aluminum is tricky, and it takes a lot of heat.

 

Here's one page on soldering aluminum: How to solder aluminum.  I've never tried it, but it appears that common soldering irons may not be up to the task.

 

Here's another page, maybe a big soldering iron.   How to Solder Aluminum, 13 Steps.

I have soldered wires to aluminum plates a few times.  It isn't bad if you have enough heat and the proper solder/flux.  It is very convenient if you have something like an aluminum chassis, but most of my attempts were metal plates.  I attached the wire at or near a corner to minimize heat loss.

 

I think my roll of solder is called "AluSol".  I have had it for decades.  (Boy, it hurts to say "decades"!!)

I see that stuff, pretty expensive.  Too bad you can't get smaller quantities.

 

Looking at those aluminum videos reminded me of another soldering question that I've had on my mind for a while.  When soldering silver or brass, you can select solder with different melting points if you need to construct something complex like a box.  Working through the various high to low melting points prevents the heating of one side from undoing the solder joint on another side.  If memory serves me, the act of applying the solder actually raised its melting point once by something like 5 degrees if it happened to be heated a second time. So once the solder set, the increased melting point bought you a little extra leeway when constructing something complex.  (I used to sandwich thick brass with thin silver and solder the edges. Five degrees could mean success or melted $ilver.)  Of course propane or acetylene torches, not soldering irons, were used.

 

So, does the same slight increase in melting point apply to electronic solder?  If so, does it buy you any time or advantage when soldering multiple pins/electronic components in tight places? Just curious. Working with metals and electronics is interesting stuff.

 

TRRR

To be honest, this has never come up in all the years I've been doing electronics, that dates back to when I was twelve years old!

 

Different compositions of solder do melt at different temperatures, and there is a desoldering kit for SMT stuff that uses a very low temperature allow that allows you time to remove components before it solidifies.

 

The brass soldering I do is pretty simple, and I haven't had the issue of other parts coming apart when working on a different area.

 

My soldering with propane is usually limited to plumbing work, and I just go for the gusto with my Turbo-Torch, works like a champ.