bad soldering techniques

[TheStevens]

I started putting the ends on a snake the other day and realized that I think I have some BAD SOLDERING TECHNIQUES
I know you're supposed to "heat the work, not the solder", but I have a hard time getting the solder to melt just by touching it to the connection and not the tip of the iron. The solder usually ends up touching the tip, either due to shaky hands or just impatience. Does this mean I've just made a bad connection??
Also, I have a really hard time holding the iron, solder, and wire at the same time being that I only have two hands. The wire usually ends up being held between my knees, but then the soldering iron usually holds it in the exact place. The problem with that is, the wire shouldn't move after you take the iron away, or else it definitely makes a bad connection. It became really obvious to me that I'm retarted. How do you guys handle these obstacles??

[tweedclassic]

you could check you connection with a multi meter to see whether you have a cold solder. are you tinning the tip? make shure its clean i use a damp spong. at rat shack they have a a contraption that has two arms that can hold say two wires or what have you so you can focus on soldering and not on holding a bunch of things together at onces.

[brianroth]

This topic might warrant its own "sticky", but to get the ball rolling, here are a few cents from my perspective.

To hold the "work" (typically a connector), I've used a Panavise for many eons. Currently, I use a model 380 base:

http://www.panavise.com/nf/vises/vises_base.html

along with a model 366 head:

http://www.panavise.com/nf/vises/vises_head.html

As tweed commented, I always tin the wire ends, but I also tin the connector pins as well.

I highly recommend a "eutectic" solder, like 63/37 (vs. the more common 60/40 alloy). Not only does it have a lower melting point, it "snaps" from liquid to solid when cooling, thus avoiding a "paste" state which can result in a "cold solder joint".

http://www.kester.com/en-us/technical/k ... ledgeID=29

http://www.kester.com/en-us/documentati ... Nov04).pdf

I use a relatively small diameter wire. 0.031" is my fave since I have to work on circuit boards as well as connectors. The small diameter wire melts quicker and is easier to control how much solder is applied.

There are a bazillion other related topics, like choice of iron, tip temperature, etc. that we can discuss if there is any interest.

Bri

[lightning_electronics]

it is ridiulously important to tin both the wire(s) and the connector before soldering; this makes life much, much easier.

a common problem i have when people bring me broken amplifiers is that yes, the cheap-piece-of-shit fender frontman's input jack is *only* mounted by its PCB solder lugs and as such the solder joints are broken and cracked, but the other thing i require people to bring is their cables; one particular local shop sells re-branded cables and every damn time i open them up, the wires aren't even twisted together before soldered to the plug, let alone properly tinned. if wires aren't tinned, they're going to fray over time and either break completely or short.

thus, tinning is going to be your main ally in the battle of proper solder connections.

there are several ways to properly hold your material when soldering; the pana-vise with said attachments is pretty damn fantastic, and if you have the money to burn, then do that straight away. i do own a "helping hands" contraption that has the alligator clips and magnifying glass, but the damn thing always seems to be too loose and droops, regardless of how i try to tighten the joints.

sometimes the easiest way to hold wires in place is to weight them down with a pair or pliers or something; i usually just do that, being that that's the cheapest and fastest way to do it if you're working on a single project. if you're doing a 48 channel snakes with aux sends and returns and insane shit like that, then yeah, you'll definitely want a pana-vise.

i didn't know about the destinct *snap* from liquid to solid of 37/63 solder; i'm rather anxious to give that a shot.

[leigh]

I know you're supposed to "heat the work, not the solder", but I have a hard time getting the solder to melt just by touching it to the connection and not the tip of the iron. The solder usually ends up touching the tip, either due to shaky hands or just impatience. Does this mean I've just made a bad connection??

No! I used to worry about this all the time, until I realized that "heat the work, not the solder" is a basic principle for beginners, so that they're not just dripping blobs of solder onto joints and thinking everything is hunky-dory. It's not a commandment that thou shalt not ever touch iron to solder!

What I do is heat the joint for a second or so, and then touch the solder to the spot where the iron is touching the joint. The solder melts immediately, and then flows down over the joint, absorbing into the wire. This works because, once melted, solder (as a liquid) does a better job conducting heat than iron-to-wire (I'm assuming because of the full surface contact of liquid as opposed to the small air gaps that exists when touching solid to solid). If, for some reason, the solder were to just pool into a little blob instead of flowing down over the joint, I'd know I hadn't heated the joint enough.

Does that make sense?

Leigh

[apropos of nothing]

Tinning! Talk tinning! What's the technique? I'm thinking about doing some DYI but have been rather intimidated. This is all great stuff. Please continue!

[lightning_electronics]

Tinning! Talk tinning! What's the technique? I'm thinking about doing some DYI but have been rather intimidated. This is all great stuff. Please continue!

tinning is a simple process where you coat whatever you're soldering with solder before connecting to it.

for example, you're making a simple guitar cable (1/4" to 1/4"). the wire you're going to cut will be coaxial, where one conductor is your shield and one is your "hot" conductor. you're going to strip away a certain amount of insulation and then twist the stranded wire together before connecting it to the jack. but after twisting it, you're going to want to heat the exposed, twisted wire with your soldering iron and "wick" some solder into the wire. capillary action will "suck" the solder into the mass of wire, making the stranded wire not subject to fraying and such.

you can also add solder to whatever you're soldering to, like a bit of solder on the jack to allow better heat transfer. you're obviously not going to want to tin certain things, like potentiometer holes and circuit board pads because it simply isn't necessary or practical. but for XLR connectors that don't have holes to put the wire through, tinning the connector side makes the process much, much easier.

[TheStevens]

Thanks a lot for your responses! I bought one of those (appropriately named) helping hands things today, looks like it should help a lot. maybe someday i'll go for the panavise.
that's a good idea, tweed, to check with a multimeter. Ohmmeter, right?
I always clean and tin the tip (with a sponge and also a jar of "tinner/cleaner" from radioshack but I guess I should start tinning the wires too, I haven't really been doing that.
to tin the connectors, do i just melt a little solder onto the iron and then touch it to the connector?
I have a radioshack iron switchable from 15W/30W. It seems like the 15W setting works. I also have an orange weller iron, forgot what wattage it is, but needs a new tip. Does the type of iron really make a difference?


Leigh: awesome!! that makes life easier and gives me peace of mind.

Thanks again for all your tips. You guys rule.

-Steve

[AstroDan]

Anyone know of a bad-ass iron that heats up fast, is relatively inexpensive, and where I could get one? I have to constantly rotate the tip of my $6 Radio Shack iron to find the 'hot spot'.

[lightning_electronics]

Anyone know of a bad-ass iron that heats up fast, is relatively inexpensive, and where I could get one? I have to constantly rotate the tip of my $6 Radio Shack iron to find the 'hot spot'.

i'm pretty sure that weller has a few handheld, non-station models that aren't horribly expensive.

i bought a hakko 936-12, with easy change tips and temperature control station and everything; ran me $70. best investment i've ever made, though, and it'll last longer than i do.

[Scodiddly]

Putting a bit of solder on the tip of the iron helps a lot - it acts to transfer the heat better. I usually tin the wire, tin the connector, and then add a bit more solder while putting the two together. Tiny amounts of solder each time, but it all helps. You don't want a blob of solder on the joint, though.

75% of the work is in preparation - getting the wires stripped and nicely tinned, etc.

[lightning_electronics]

Putting a bit of solder on the tip of the iron helps a lot - it acts to transfer the heat better.

i totally forgot to mention this. yes, this helps an awful lot.

[Brian Brock]

weller pencils are fine, but the tip on mine has died, although it lasted longer than the radio shack that I used to have. Got it at the hardware store.

To tin the wires, after stripping and twisting them, I hold the cable between my middle and ring fingers. This allows me to apply the solder with my index and thumb.

To attach Neutrik connectors, which have no holes for the tip and ground, I apply a blob of solder to each cup, then with the "helping hands" (hee hee) holding the connector, I use needle nose pliers to hold the ground firmly against it's cup. I use the iron to force the wire through the solder, then hold it there until I observe that the solder blob has completely liquefied. Timing is important, as too much heat will melt the jacket.

The tip connector is more complicated, because it is smaller and the solder tends not to blob as much - I hold the wire in place with a little flat headed tool that I got at Radio Shack.

Blah blah blob.

Brian

[brianroth]

Once upon a decade (yes, I can now state that I fart dust LOL!), I read somehere this set of directions for "care and feeding" of solder iron tips.

As the iron warms up, press a piece of solder wire onto it. Once the solder melts, wipe it onto a moist sponge. Let the iron "idle" a few seconds after being wiped, then press a decent "glob" onto the tip. Let the "glob" idle for maybe 10-20 seconds, then wipe off the "glob" on the wet sponge.

Next, let the iron "idle" and apply the SMALLEST amount of solder in order to keep the tip happy. A slight amount of solder helps to transfer heat.

I'm VERY Olde School, and use a Weller W-60 iron, which uses a stone-age (yet workable) heat control.

Scroll down:

http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/weller/

to "consumer irons" and seek the W60. Temp controlled, without requiring an expensive/bulky "base station". The replaceable tips determine the temperature.

Panavises are a one-time expense for a lifetime (unless it is stolen..I lost a 20+ year-old Panavise in 2001 on a gig...arrgh).

63/37 solder MUST be the most underated method for ensuring decent solder joints. 60/40 sucks (IMHO!).


Bri

[antonlamont45]

steve i think that ratshack iron may be too weak to heat the joint properly. I learned the hard way, soldering many cables with a 30w shack iron, that it was not really melting the solder enough, though i thought it was. then i got a 40 and 60w irons (cheap generic brands off ebay) and realized i was doing it wrong for a while.

when you melt the solder it usually has 2 stages of liquidness- 1st is when it becomes like a little bead, and then when it gets hot enough that bead breaks down and it becomes really liquid and seeps all over the joint. if your iron is hot enough and your connections are tinned right you may not even see the 1st stage. you want to get to the second stage. it will be very obvious when the solder reaches this point, it will be like the little bubble popped and is now pouring all over the joint. you can make a conductive joint with just the bead kind of connection and it will test fine with a multimeter but it will be very weak and will break on you.