Electronics > Beginners
Atari 2600 resoldering skills
Shock:
If you want to resolder boards to look minty fresh, you need to suck away the old solder and then clean old flux and dirt away with IPA first, it may need a good scrub.
Solder again with a very clean tip and apply fresh solder. If the solder doesn't wet well (you can tell as it balls up instead of flowing into the joint and the entire pad) you may need to add additional flux, clean or look at the temp. If you stay on the joint for more than a couple of seconds or go in multiple times without adding flux it will reduce the wetting and look clumpy. Last step is to clean away residue.
I was taught to look at oven or wave soldered boards (at least the high quality boards) and make my joints as good as that. It should not look hand soldered at all and if you can fool someone you have done a decent job. Something to work on anyway.
Another tip is take photos in good light but at an angle after the board is cleaned, you cannot inspect joints properly from top down or while they are dirty. Don't get discouraged though most people suck at soldering.
TERRA Operative:
--- Quote from: Rerouter on December 30, 2019, 03:30:35 pm ---Soldering looks fine in those joints, If its a PCB you designed though, increase the pad size for those caps next time, that is a lot of mass to swing off such small pads,
And yes 0.71mm solder makes a lot of things much easier to work with, I would be annoyed if i had to do SMD rework with 1mm,
--- End quote ---
Nah not my design, I'll be doing a full redesign for other reasons though, so I'll take your suggestion and widen the pads. :)
wraper:
--- Quote from: Rerouter on December 30, 2019, 03:30:35 pm ---Soldering looks fine in those joints, If its a PCB you designed though, increase the pad size for those caps next time, that is a lot of mass to swing off such small pads,
And yes 0.71mm solder makes a lot of things much easier to work with, I would be annoyed if i had to do SMD rework with 1mm,
--- End quote ---
Pad size is completely fine, it's size actually somewhere in mid-large size region. Also even actually small pad will pose an issue only on single layer PCB without hole metallization.
--- Quote from: TERRA Operative on December 30, 2019, 02:53:51 pm ---maybe I should use thinner solder.
--- End quote ---
What I can recommend is using a little bit less solder on some pads, capacitors on left side have some excessive solder on pads. With thinner solder it's easier to finely control it's amount. Also don't cut leads so close to solder joint. Leave at least 1 mm distance. You are cutting into solder thus disturbing solder joint which potentially may lead to cracks. Not a big issue an issue on 2+ layer boards but single layer boards are really prone to solder joint cracking.
tooki:
What is it about soldering that compels amateurs (and unskilled veterans) to produce soldering training materials showing subpar soldering quality? It happens over and over and over, despite the ready availability of good training materials by skilled professionals. |O |O |O
--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on December 28, 2019, 04:58:09 pm ---Hi, I have been repairing and restoring my Atari 2600, and I wanted to show off my soldering skills.
--- End quote ---
They're... fine? Certainly not bad, but not at educator level.
--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on December 28, 2019, 04:58:09 pm ---I hope beginners can use this to see how a solder joint is supposed to look. Notice the shiny, uniform blob that covers the entirety of the pads.
--- End quote ---
Well, then even the improved pictures (in the updated original post) are not a good example. Many joints have too much solder, and there are lots of really bad joints that I assume are ones you didn't get to yet. And "blob" isn't what a good joint should look like. The proper term is a "fillet", whose proper appearance I describe below.
Also, the quality of the photography is low, further reducing the educational value.
--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on December 28, 2019, 04:58:09 pm ---Also notice how it looks volcano-like, and not apple-like. Notice that there is not an excess amount of solder on the joints.
--- End quote ---
If it's volcano-like (i.e. the fillet is neither concave or convex) then it's already too much solder. The correct amount of solder leaves a concave fillet.
--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on December 28, 2019, 04:58:09 pm ---The main things to note are that the solder joints are not rough-looking or dull. They are shiny, smooth, and round. They do not have holes or cracks. That is a proper joint.
--- End quote ---
While true of leaded solder (which is all one should use when repairing devices originally manufactured with leaded solder), with lead-free solder, a satin finish is fully acceptable. Even and uniform, but not mirror shine. (A matte surface is unacceptable, though.)
--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on December 28, 2019, 04:58:09 pm ---Remember to watch for smearing though, it can and will catch you off guard if you aren’t attentive enough!
--- End quote ---
Smearing and protrusions are indicative of what I call "overcooked" solder. This is due to excessive dwell time and/or rework of the joint. It's caused by oxidation (which can be prevented by use of additional flux) and alloy contamination (as the PCB traces and components dissolve copper or gold into the molten solder, changing its composition). The latter is only preventable by working fast. Once the solder is contaminated in that way, the only solution is to suck it off and replace it (working quickly) with fresh solder. Also, when correcting a smeared or protruded joint, after sucking off the overcooked solder, the soldering iron tip must be freshly tinned, since the solder on it can be oxidized and/or contaminated, so you basically want to "rinse" the tip with a few changes of fresh solder before
(Indeed, military/aerospace soldering standards specify for gold-plated components and boards that the lead or pad must first be wetted with solder, then the solder sucked off, before soldering the joint, to remove the gold plating so it doesn't contaminate the joint.)
I hope this doesn't come off as too harsh, but you have learning to do. I cannot recommend enough the PACE video series tggzzz linked above. There is no finer tutorial on through-hole soldering, and much of what they explain also carries over to surface mount.
--- Quote from: TERRA Operative on December 30, 2019, 02:53:51 pm ---Ooh, soldering thread!
What do you all think of my crappy efforts? (I think I have a habit of using just a tiny bit too much solder, maybe I should use thinner solder..)
I don't often get the chance to have someone look at my stuff. :-/O
--- End quote ---
Not bad at all. Better than the OP's, both in the joints and photography.
tggzzz:
The OP is an enthusiastic 18yo.
Based on his reply to my earlier post, he seems more likely to learn and improve than many posters on this forum.
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