Learning to solder

[ijor]

I'm probably too old for this, but I finally decided to try to learn to solder all by myself. So many times I need some basic soldering. In the worst case I will loose some time and money, but oh well.

So I purchased decent, affordable equipment. Watched a bunch of videos. And just tried. I guess it's a matter of practice, and at my age (and lack of talent) probably a lot of practice is required. But some questions for the experts of you:

- To wear or not to wear gloves? I admit I hate gloves. I thought this was mostly for avoiding the lead contact. But then I learnt, the hard way, that without gloves you also get the nasty oily flux in your hands. And that the flux doesn't wash out with soap. Only effective way is with isopropyl, that is also not so good for the hands at all ... Argh !

- It's too bad to use a magnifier for simple THT soldering? When I was young my close-up vision was so good that I could probably do microsoldering whit my naked eyes. But not anymore ... I use reading glasses here, of course. But even with the glasses, it makes the lighting glare worse, and it's difficult for me to see as sharp as I would like to. Do you loose the stereoscopic sense too much with a magnifier? Again, we are talking about basic THT stuff, mostly just header pins.

- Do you really need flux when soldering pins and other THT components? One of the issues with the flux is that it can make more difficult to see the pad and the tin behavior. If so, which type of flux is the best? I bought no clean gel flux.

- Is it worth to spend money in some kind of anti glare light?

[exxos]

I'm probably too old for this, but I finally decided to try to learn to solder all by myself.

So many times I need some basic soldering. In the worst case I will loose some time and money, but oh well.

Ultimately being able to do some basic soldering tasks will save time and money in the long run anyway

So I purchased decent, affordable equipment. Watched a bunch of videos. And just tried. I guess it's a matter of practice, and at my age (and lack of talent) probably a lot of practice is required. But some questions for the experts of you:

Dave Jones has a reasonably good soldering video somewhere on his channel I might have posted it on the form already somewhere. There was also really old soldering video from like the 1940s HERE, it was branded as arguably the best soldering tutorial. But of course they are soldering huge assemblies as well but it is still worth watching.. I'll see if can find videos later..

- To wear or not to wear gloves? I admit I hate gloves. I thought this was mostly for avoiding the lead contact. But then I learnt, the hard way, that without gloves you also get the nasty oily flux in your hands. And that the flux doesn't wash out with soap. Only effective way is with isopropyl, that is also not so good for the hands at all ... Argh !

Indeed lead contact is of course poisonous but I never wore gloves. Washing your hands after handling solder should always be a must anyway.

Not sure what flux you are using, but generally with good flux solder you should not really need it anyway. There are fluxes which are basically IPA based which work well.

- It's too bad to use a magnifier for simple THT soldering? When I was young my close-up vision was so good that I could probably do microsoldering whit my naked eyes. But not anymore ... I use reading glasses here, of course. But even with the glasses, it makes the lighting glare worse, and it's difficult for me to see as sharp as I would like to. Do you loose the stereoscopic sense too much with a magnifier? Again, we are talking about basic THT stuff, mostly just header pins.

I use a small pocket magnifier with LED lights for inspection work, though I assume you already saw my digital microscope rig in other posts ? I basically could not do without it now. My eyesight is not really too bad at all, but I would still much rather have the magnifier when doing through hole soldering or even find pitch things as it just makes things so much clearer and larger to see if something hasn't soldered properly right at the start. So I would definitely recommend a digital magnifier for doing all soldering work..

- Do you really need flux when soldering pins and other THT components? One of the issues with the flux is that it can make more difficult to see the pad and the tin behavior. If so, which type of flux is the best? I bought no clean gel flux.

I've been mostly using circuitworks CW8300 flux pen simply because I'm getting tired of having sticky fingers with every other flux. But sometimes like when I'm soldering fine pitch stuff then I use BGA paste as sold in my store.

- Is it worth to spend money in some kind of anti glare light?

everything I have here is all pretty basic.

Some links which may help.

viewtopic.php?t=6558#p106057


Dave Jones videos.




Even some soldering stuff on my own youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@exxosuk/search?query=soldering

[czietz]

Here are my thoughts. I learned soldering from a professional instructor over 20 years ago.

I have never seen anyone wearing gloves for soldering. Lead isn’t absorbed through your skin – at least that’s what the instructor told us. It gets into your body either via the fumes or by not washing your hands after soldering and before eating. Then again, it’s not clear to me either how you get flux on your skin. That never happens to me.

For very easy stuff (such as THT) I mostly rely on the flux contained in the solder. Or at most, I use a flux pen; like a felt marker, just with flux. That stuff is very liquid and leaves no traces. In contrast, I find that the “no clean” in gel flux is mostly a lie; you still need to wash the PCBs after using gel flux. Thus, I only use gel flux for SMD components (where it helps by tacking the component down) or for corroded copper which doesn’t accept tin otherwise.

Personally, I cannot work with magnifying glasses, because for me they distort the sense of depth. But I have colleagues who use them for soldering all the time and are quite happy. So, I guess that is just a matter of personal preference.

[exxos]

I find that the “no clean” in gel flux is mostly a lie; you still need to wash the PCBs after using gel flux.

Yeah I looked into that a few years ago and it is basically a lie. What it actually means is, you don't need to clean the board because the flux does not corrode anything, and you don't need to clean it off.. That is where "no clean" comes from... But yes it is very misleading and annoying !

[mrbombermillzy]

I started reading this because I am in a very similar situation - i.e. absolutely no confidence in soldering, despite ironically leaving school and working at a company that did custom electronics soldering work. (That was nearly 40 years ago, so I have forgotten most of it).

The problem is amplified by 1. not having great eyesight or hand steadiness and 2. the fear of wrecking my expensive retro computers. (At least I dont practice my soldering skills on a F030; which seems to be a thing, by the amount of F030s I have encountered that were a complete mess of bodged solder work! )

And to top it all off, to be reminded again after all those years I was being slowly poisoned as I played AD&D with my unpainted lead figures as a teenager...

Anyway @ijor good luck! I'd say perseverance is the most important requisite, so go for it!

[tOriman]

Hi,

Bravo ijor You had to start sometime.

I have at least 40 years of soldering experience under my belt. I’ve never worn gloves; it simply makes no sense. As czietz wrote, lead doesn't just absorb through the skin—or rather, while it technically might, the process is so negligible that it can be disregarded. You’re better off setting up some kind of fume extraction system, and you’ll be fine. And, of course, wash your hands after work—as is standard practice.

If you have good flux-cored SnPb solder (btw. I hate noPb stuff - it is scam), you don't need any additional flux. You might need it sometimes when using old components that have been sitting around and simply have oxidized leads. As an accessory for the job, you should have a highly active flux—for example, in a pen format, just as czietz mentioned. THT is really an easy (and boring) stuff.

As those who commented before me have said, there is no such thing as "no-clean" flux; PCBs always need to be cleaned. I use pure extraction naphtha for this purpose. IPA isn't actually that good for the job—it simply doesn't wash everything off well, at least not in my experience.

I’m nearsighted, so I solder—even down to 0402-sized SMD components with a T12 iron—without using a magnifying glass or microscope; however, this is such a personal matter that everyone has to find their own method. It’s hard to make a specific recommendation. Personally, I find the lack of depth of field when using a standard magnifying glass bothersome. A stereo microscope is far better, though it still takes some getting used to. I use stereoscopic microscope to inspect assembled PCBs especially when I solder dense TQFP chips.

If you need glasses, get a pair specifically for this kind of work so you can see everything clearly at close range (around 20-25 cm). An optometrist can find the right lenses for that distance—and include a correction for astigmatism, too, if you have it (I have in right eye so I needed it...)

Antiglare? Work on getting the lighting at your workstation right, because that is simply important. Use 3 sources if possible. Left, right (spotted) and top (ambient) - never at front which, of course, you know. It will be enough.

For the final result to be good, everything has to work in harmony—eyes, hand, lighting, soldering iron, solder, and chemicals—and after a dozen or so attempts, you should find your own method for successful soldering. As with everything, you have to get a feel for it—how long to hold the tip against the solder pad, how much solder to apply, whether the tip is the right size for the job, and so on. As others have advised—and as you’ve already done—it’s worth checking out tutorials, though always with a healthy dose of perspective.

Regards
tOri

[Badwolf]

Like the others, I've never worn gloves.

I use a head-mounted loupe. Cheap and cheerful, preserves stereo vision and with interchangeable lenses to let you find what works.

I flux the living heck out of everything. But then I do have to spend longer cleaning than I do soldering. Swings and roundabouts.

BW

PS. Something like this, albeit mine's an older design:- https://amzn.eu/d/0323LdSH

[Steve]

The only thing I can add that others haven't already said, is understanding the concept of heat transfer. Quite often if you're trying to solder something and for whatever reason the solder doesn't adhere to component/leg/etc, it usually means the temperature of that the temperature delta of the iron and component is too different, usually can be caused when you run into situations where what your soldering into is a ground-plane (which can absorb heat quicker than your iron can supply). This is mainly in through-hole soldering. I often see people fail when they're a bit too nervous about applying heat, the solder may 'blob' on and not actually flow through to the components leg properly. I'd recommend practising on old / trash boards to get the hang of it.

In SMD you won't run into that problem at all, but in SMD is where you're wanting good flux (where in through-hole the flux contained in the solder itself usually suffices) You can purchase SMD practice boards online, which is probably a good idea. I'd recommend chip-quik flux which is great quality, not too expensive and easy to obtain (there are other expensive flux's which often, if you buy from china, will be fake)