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Step 4Some tips
I like to solder the leads long and trim them after, I know some people trim first and this can look neater and actually puts less stress on the board. But but I find trimming after quicker and easier and if you use nice sharp cutters and don't chop into the joint, you shouldn't put undue stress on the copper tracks/pads.
If you think you might be in danger of damaging a sensitive part with heat, use a heat sink. This can be as simple as clipping an aligator clip or tweezers onto the lead between the solder joint and the component.
If your doing a board with lots of components, just think about the order you put them in. Smaller parts like resitors and diodes first (if they are laid flat), this way you can flip the board over and they will be held in place, sandwiched between the board and work surface. Then the next tallest components and so on. Some parts will probably need other solutions. I don't like bending leads too much to hold parts it place, it makes it harder to get a nice joint.
While I'm on the subject of PCBs, if you drill your own boards, don't make the holes too much bigger than the component leads, a tight fit not only holds them in place better, it leaves a smaller gap. A large gap is much harder to fill with solder. You can get cretive holding parts in place and there are a lot of tricks that I wont get into at this point. If you solder something and find the join is not the best, say its only soldered on one side, use heat to bring the solder over to where it's needed, you might need to add a bit more solder.
If you are soldering wire to something, tin the wire and the lug you are soldering it to. The way I do this is strip off the insulation at the end of the wire. If its multi strand I twist the wires together so they are tightly packed. You can put the wire into some tye of holder or whatever, but I hold the wire and the solder in one hand, with the solder parallel to the wire. In fact it is touching the wire, sitting on top of the bare wire like I am going to thread the wire and solder through the same imaginary needle. Then I touch the bare wire from the bottom with the soldering iron and run the iron back are forth along the length of bare wire. The solder melts and flows into the wire. The wire doesn't increase in diameter much but the strands are held together by the solder and they are coated. With practice it takes a few seconds.
Don't clean excess solder off your iron before you turn it off and put it away, solder on the tip will protect it until you're ready to use it again.
I might add some more tips when I have time, I hope you found something helpful, it took a while to write. Now go use your mad skills to impress your friends and make some nice electronic gear.
To sum up: you are ready grasshopper, go forth and solder
If you think you might be in danger of damaging a sensitive part with heat, use a heat sink. This can be as simple as clipping an aligator clip or tweezers onto the lead between the solder joint and the component.
If your doing a board with lots of components, just think about the order you put them in. Smaller parts like resitors and diodes first (if they are laid flat), this way you can flip the board over and they will be held in place, sandwiched between the board and work surface. Then the next tallest components and so on. Some parts will probably need other solutions. I don't like bending leads too much to hold parts it place, it makes it harder to get a nice joint.
While I'm on the subject of PCBs, if you drill your own boards, don't make the holes too much bigger than the component leads, a tight fit not only holds them in place better, it leaves a smaller gap. A large gap is much harder to fill with solder. You can get cretive holding parts in place and there are a lot of tricks that I wont get into at this point. If you solder something and find the join is not the best, say its only soldered on one side, use heat to bring the solder over to where it's needed, you might need to add a bit more solder.
If you are soldering wire to something, tin the wire and the lug you are soldering it to. The way I do this is strip off the insulation at the end of the wire. If its multi strand I twist the wires together so they are tightly packed. You can put the wire into some tye of holder or whatever, but I hold the wire and the solder in one hand, with the solder parallel to the wire. In fact it is touching the wire, sitting on top of the bare wire like I am going to thread the wire and solder through the same imaginary needle. Then I touch the bare wire from the bottom with the soldering iron and run the iron back are forth along the length of bare wire. The solder melts and flows into the wire. The wire doesn't increase in diameter much but the strands are held together by the solder and they are coated. With practice it takes a few seconds.
Don't clean excess solder off your iron before you turn it off and put it away, solder on the tip will protect it until you're ready to use it again.
I might add some more tips when I have time, I hope you found something helpful, it took a while to write. Now go use your mad skills to impress your friends and make some nice electronic gear.
To sum up: you are ready grasshopper, go forth and solder
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Thanks!
May I suggest that you include some description on the 63-37 solder.
I've never understand why the hell the solder manufacturers bother making the 60 Sn-40 Pb (tin-lead) solder. It is plainly stupid since Tin is a little MORE expensive than Lead...
But 63-37 solder is what is called Eutectic, which means it has a SINGLE fusion temperature (183 °C or 361.4 °F) that is the LOWEST temp of all the In-Lead alloys. This means that the melted solder solidifies instantly, which greatly reduces the possibility of bad joints or "cold solders", and also reduces the risk of damaging delicate components. Since all solders containing Lead are being phased out by the almost crazy inflated worry about Lead, it is a very good idea to buy a large (by amateur standards, that is) quantity before it becomes unobtainable.
Regards.
Alfredo M Claussen, Mexico City.
big quantities X(times) little bit of money = alot of money
But good point about stocking up though.
amclaussen