EEVblog #183 - Soldering tutorial part 2

[pmrlondon]

Once again, a great video. Doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, in this case, but worthwhile, especially for beginners.

I once got criticised for leaving that much exposed wire behind a D connector - and it was something that kept being brought up every time personnel were called in, until, for that and other reasons, I lost that job - I actually suspect a "cheap" redundancy was what they wanted hence making their "standards" very difficult to meet.

One point when soldering to connectors - many types are easily damaged by excess heat - the pre-tinning method helps to prevent that.

[EEVblog]

Once again, a great video. Doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, in this case, but worthwhile, especially for beginners.

Yep, all this soldering stuff is aimed at beginners.

Dave.

[vtl]

Good video, a lot of soldering videos out there are garbage and don't cover all the bases you need to know for beginners. Not knowing about flux does is a common thing for beginners from what I've seen at UNI.

One of the really handy things that flux does is lower the surface tension of the solder so it flows instead of balling up. really makes the the secret sauce to soldering

[Precisiontools]

So...ummm...when are you going to update your cutters Dave? 

[Chet T16]

Great video Dave, i'm off to fire up the Atten now!

[pklawit]

All,

One remark from my side about soldering ICs in DIP packages and other
"dual-line" connectors etc.
When I solder such stuff, I always start with 2 pins located diagonally.
For example, when an IC has 14 legs, I start with leg 1 and then 8.
This way I'm sure that the part is "locked" and can not move.

Best Regards,
Piotr

[FreeThinker]

Once again, a great video. Doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, in this case, but worthwhile, especially for beginners.

I once got criticised for leaving that much exposed wire behind a D connector - and it was something that kept being brought up every time personnel were called in, until, for that and other reasons, I lost that job - I actually suspect a "cheap" redundancy was what they wanted hence making their "standards" very difficult to meet.

One point when soldering to connectors - many types are easily damaged by excess heat - the pre-tinning method helps to prevent that.

To be right you really need to put on a rubber sleeve. You can hardly complain about 2mm of exposed wire when you have 10mm of exposed terminal pin. Pre tinning is the only way to go in reality as thermal creep will always cause insulation pullback to some extent. Makes a nicer job too!

[vk6zgo]

Once again, a great video. Doesn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, in this case, but worthwhile, especially for beginners.

I once got criticised for leaving that much exposed wire behind a D connector - and it was something that kept being brought up every time personnel were called in, until, for that and other reasons, I lost that job - I actually suspect a "cheap" redundancy was what they wanted hence making their "standards" very difficult to meet.

One point when soldering to connectors - many types are easily damaged by excess heat - the pre-tinning method helps to prevent that.

That reminds me of one job I had,where even though I was officially a "technician"it was really an assemblers job.
I opened my mouth about silly things they were doing,& became the target for criticism of any slight imperfection in my soldering.

They really loved their conical tips,too! I found the only way you could make a decent joint on some of their boards was  to heat the board up with a heat gun prior to soldering.
The cruddy little tip had less work to do then to lift the joint to soldering temperature.
 
They "sacked"me,then asked me to stay for a while.
I ended up staying on for a year,but I should have gone straight away!
According to the employment agency ,it was a "cruisey" job to run time down till retirement!

VK6ZGO































at

[PeterG]

Great video as always Dave, but i have a couple of questions.

Would it be better to use a Hot Air soldering station to solder the large component or stick with the chunky iron?

I did not hear much mention of thermal stress relief of the component legs?
We had it drummed into us how important it is to have tress relief on all soldered legs.

Regards

[firewalker]

Just another advice for young player in soldering/desoldering.

DON’T do it wearing short pants or slippers! Accidents do happens.

A student of mine was filling a TO-220 transistor wearing a short pant (like Dave with the LM317 regulator) when he accidentally moved the board spilling the liquid solder on his thigh!

[Alex]

Just another advice for young player in soldering/desoldering.

DON’T do it wearing short pants or slippers! Accidents do happens.

A student of mine was filling a TO-220 transistor wearing a short pant (like Dave with the LM317 regulator) when he accidentally moved the board spilling the liquid solder on his thigh!

Firewalk cound not be closer to the truth, I am living proof of this with a now barely visible burn scar on my right leg from a solder blog from when I was 10ish. Situation gets worse as we tend to have 99.9% of the bench filled with tools and stuff and 0.1% of the area we actually work on and that at the edge of the table.

[ivan747]

Just another advice for young player in soldering/desoldering.

DON’T do it wearing short pants or slippers! Accidents do happens.

A student of mine was filling a TO-220 transistor wearing a short pant (like Dave with the LM317 regulator) when he accidentally moved the board spilling the liquid solder on his thigh!

Firewalk cound not be closer to the truth, I am living proof of this with a now barely visible burn scar on my right leg from a solder blog from when I was 10ish. Situation gets worse as we tend to have 99.9% of the bench filled with tools and stuff and 0.1% of the area we actually work on and that at the edge of the table.

The worst part is tidying up the bench. I have the bench full of stuff for 2 days now and I feel to lazy lately so I won't clean it until I get my new tools. (yay!) Right now they are in Miami standing by for their flight right to the Dominican Republic probably next Tuesday. A day in customs and I might end picking it up next Thursday!

To not make my post more off-topic, I will comment that I am getting a Hakko FX-888  . I will confirm if they come with a chisel tip or not. Please note that it seems to vary depending on the seller. They probably are let to choose what tip and transformer they want. Sparkfun seems to include a conical tip while Tequipment ships a chisel tip. I ordered mine from Tequipment. Hakko says that you can customize volume orders with 220V transformers on North America and probably is the opposite in Europe, Asia and other major regions with 220V mains voltage.

Also I am uncertain if the brass sponge with flux is included since some photos where taken without the brass sponge in it's holder.

[EEVblog]

So...ummm...when are you going to update your cutters Dave? 

Well, I do have a pair of Lindstrom's, is that good enough for you? 

Dave.

[MrPlacid]

Well, I do have a pair of Lindstrom's, is that good enough for you? 
Dave.

OOooh!!... Lindstrom is one hell of a good side cutter.  Lindstrom's cutters cut like laser, quick and painless. I should know, I have used it to cut off skin tags

[Precisiontools]

So...ummm...when are you going to update your cutters Dave? 

Well, I do have a pair of Lindstrom's, is that good enough for you? 

Dave.

Those old ones (Lindstrom) were quite good so I'll let you off this time. If you ever want to upgrade the ones in the vid you just let me know...have a nice set of Knipex looking for a home...

Great video too by the way. Have been in the industry for 20 years but still picked up a few tips.

[Jope]

Regarding straightening and aligning IC pins and resistor legs, I use an IC pin straightener similar to this one shown here: http://www.futurlec.com/Tools-IC.shtml. For bending resistor legs I use this: http://www.reichelt.de/bilder/web/xxl/B400/BIEGELEH.jpg

[Mercator]

I'm still a beginner regarding quality soldering. So: Awesome video! Helps a lot, thank you!

I did not hear much mention of thermal stress relief of the component legs?
We had it drummed into us how important it is to have tress relief on all soldered legs.

Can someone explain for me how this is done? Is thermal stress relief really that important?

[LEECH666]

Mercator, I've soldered a lot in my life, and I never heard of this. It should be neglectable for most hobby applications.

Cheers,
Florian

[PeterG]

Thermal stress is caused by components heating and cooling. This stress can lead to joint failure over time due to the component expanding and contracting. Mainly applies to high current devices.

Regards

[Mercator]

Thank you!

[Rowland]

Hi Dave,
Thanks for the recent soldering videos, Please could you tell me what the make is of the magnifying bench lamp. Is it LED illuminated?
 I have been looking for a magnifier with large lens without a large metal surround for some time but have never been able to find one.
Regards
Rowland

 

[Mercator]

Hi again,
Is it important to have a soldering station that is antistatic or has a special ground connector?

[ivan747]

Hi again,
Is it important to have a soldering station that is antistatic or has a special ground connector?

Almost every recent (and decent) soldering station will have antistatic protection. I like the Hakko FX-888. It is small, cheap, good quality, is marketed as the replacement of the popular 936, and it was designed by someone who seems to be an industrial designer; in fact, my sister called it "pretty". Remarkable. They probably replaced the 936 to be one step ahead of the cloners.

Be careful if you have mains wiring problems at home (for example, if the fridge shocks you) your should be really careful, because the plastic in the iron itself is conductive. They use a normal ground connector, so don't use one of those "cheater plugs" (if you use American plugs, you know what I mean).



This will not just eliminate  the ESD protection of the iron, but it is quite dangerous too!

Ivan

[alm]

As long as such an adapter is used as designed (connecting the lug to a grounded screw in the socket), it should be fine. Not great, but not terrible either.

[Mercator]

I like the Hakko FX-888. It is small, cheap, good quality [...]

I like it too, but the problem is: It's much more expensive in Germany. In the US a FX-888 costs $94.97 = 66€ at amazon.com. In Germany the exact same station costs 168€ = 241$ and to my knowledge there is only the official tiny store that sells them.  I even thought about buying it in the US, but with shipping costs and an additional voltage converter it still costs about 140€ = 200$. 

Even the soldering stations from the German manufacturer Weller seem too be a lot less pricey outside of Germany.
US: http://www.amazon.com/WD1001-Digital-Channel-Soldering-Station/dp/B000UMBAU2/ref=sr_1_16?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1310113388&sr=1-16
Ger: http://www.amazon.de/Weller-WD1000-L%C3%96TSTATION/dp/B0019PQVH6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310113552&sr=8-1

It's like the manufacturers of soldering stations have made arrangements for every part of the world.

Back to topic:
The reason I asked is because there are two types of an Ersa soldering station (much cheaper than every other name brand) I would like to buy.
One is antistatic the other is not:
Not antistatic http://www.ersa.com/art-0ana60-358-1910.html (140€ = 200$)
antistatic http://www.ersa.com/art-0ana60a-358-1913.html (180€ = 258$)

(Those stations also seem to be the cheapest name brand soldering stations you can get in Germany)