10 replies to this topic

[Stuart Crawshaw]

Hello Everybody, General question to go out ot everyone regarding Soldering Techniques.... When soldering small components, for example: the wires on to the pins of a DS1820 sensor, how do you go about this? Ill also open this question up to everyone to share any other soldering Techniques they use when soldering other things too! Thanks again guys, Cant wait to see how you get yours done! -------- Stuart.

[Mario Vernari]

What do you mean about "soldering techniques"? I hope the DS1820 package is big enough to allow a manual soldering. I mean NOT a surface-mount package just for machines. Cheers

[Stuart Crawshaw]

The DS1820 i am referencing is a 3-pin package similar to that of the 2n2222 transistor. By techniques i mean how would you do it, do you have any tips or tricks etc...

[Mario Vernari]

Oh, well. If you have to solder a lead to a circuit board, it is relatively simple. I say "simple" because the PCBs (printed circuit boards) are treated so the soldering is clean, easy and reliable. Basically, you should have a good iron. The best have a thermostatic regulation. To solder small components such a 2N2222 or the DS, an iron around 20-30W is enough. Maybe a regulated could have more power. Another important point is the heating head (how do you call it?). It should have the shape/size of a nail for pictures, no bigger. Finally you must have some tin wire. It's a league of tin and lead, having a melting point around 300'C. Most of the time it contains also a substance preventing the oxidation of the copper. How to proceed? Take care to fix the board and the component with a grip or something like that. In your hands you have the iron and the tin wire. Touch both the board and the component lead with the iron, so that together will heat. After 1-2 seconds (NO more), get the tin wire to the hot point, so it melts. No too tin, no few: the right quantity. I'd say the final shape of the metal should have the same shape of a female breast!...That's perfection! When the tin is enough, get off both the wire and the iron. Usually all that could take just one second or less. It depends on the practice, of course. In a few seconds the metal will solidify. (Here is the point to check the shape of the metal) It has to appear very shiny, rounded. I told you, just a shiny metal breast. I think is enough. In the high school we took practice by soldering useless parts together. Before using important parts, I'd suggest to take some practice with simple copper wires. Hope it helps. Cheers

[Dan Morphis]

Hello Everybody,

General question to go out ot everyone regarding Soldering Techniques....

When soldering small components, for example: the wires on to the pins of a DS1820 sensor, how do you go about this?

Ill also open this question up to everyone to share any other soldering Techniques they use when soldering other things too!

Thanks again guys, Cant wait to see how you get yours done!

--------
Stuart.

I'll add to what Mario said.

A *good* quality iron makes a world of difference. For many, many years I just used a cheap $10 iron from Radio Shack. About 6 months ago I finally broke down and bought a good, quality Weller adjustable iron. What a world of difference it made.

I can now easily solder things big and small without having to worrying about cooking the small things, or spend 10 minutes trying to get the big things to heat up.

A Panavise and helping hands help a bunch too.

If your soldering two wires together, or a wire to a component (not going into a circuit board), the helping hands come in handy. Apply a little bit of flux to the two pieces, touch the iron to them, then apply the solder. 1-2 seconds should be enough and with the flux, all the solder will flow around the joint very nicely.

For soldering components to a circuit board, additional flux is rarely needed (the solder contains flux).

Make sure you leave a large blob of solder on your tip when you are done soldering to protect the tip against oxidation.

Oh, and practice, practice, practice :-)

-dan

[Mario Vernari]

A *good* quality iron makes a world of difference. For many, many years I just used a cheap $10 iron from Radio Shack. About 6 months ago I finally broke down and bought a good, quality Weller adjustable iron. What a world of difference it made.

I didn't want to make ad, but totally agree. In our lab we have only Weller, adj or not, they're great.

A Panavise and helping hands help a bunch too.

Also agree. In the post above I called "grip" 'cos I didn't know how you call them.

Thank you so much Dan, I agree at 100%.
I'd add that you may need a desoldering pump.
Cheers

[Nevyn]

A *good* quality iron makes a world of difference. For many, many years I just used a cheap $10 iron from Radio Shack. About 6 months ago I finally broke down and bought a good, quality Weller adjustable iron. What a world of difference it made.

Cannot comment on that particular iron but I have just bought a thermostatically controlled iron and it is a far better tool. It cost 5 times what the old one did but I am finding it a lot easier to get good results. I wish I had done it years ago.

By the way, Sparkfun have a tutorial on soldering on their web site.

Mario mentioned the finish should be nice and shinny and that is true for the solder I buy but I know there is some solder on the market which is advertised as having a dull matt finish.

Hope this helps,
Mark

[Stuart Crawshaw]

Thank you all so much for your input, this has been very helpful. Thank you Dan for the links you posted, I was looking for something like that. Especially since the croc-clips would act as a kind of heat shunt to protect the component being soldered. Regards, Stuart

[Mario Vernari]

Especially since the croc-clips would act as a kind of heat shunt to protect the component being soldered.

That's true indeed.
Consider that any heat sink close to the soldering point will cool the iron temperature. That could give a bad melting and a matt/crystalled result. Along this way, a regulated iron guarantee always a good soldering.
Cheers

[Stuart Crawshaw]

That's true indeed.
Consider that any heat sink close to the soldering point will cool the iron temperature. That could give a bad melting and a matt/crystalled result. Along this way, a regulated iron guarantee always a good soldering.
Cheers

Thanks for the heads up.

Im currently using a variable temperature gas soldering iron, it seems to do the job quite well. I manage the tip temperature with an infrared thermometer.

[Dan Morphis]

Cannot comment on that particular iron but I have just bought a thermostatically controlled iron and it is a far better tool. It cost 5 times what the old one did but I am finding it a lot easier to get good results. I wish I had done it years ago.

By the way, Sparkfun have a tutorial on soldering on their web site.

Mario mentioned the finish should be nice and shinny and that is true for the solder I buy but I know there is some solder on the market which is advertised as having a dull matt finish.

Hope this helps,
Mark

Thanks for point that out Mark! If your using 60/40 lead/tin and its got a matte finish, then you have a bad/cold solder joint. 60/40 is the only thing I have experience with.

-dan