I just need to get better soldering tools. The ones I have are cheap and cause problems like insufficient temperature, bad construction, lack of insulation on the handle, and oxidation. It ruins my joints quite a lot as you can probably tell. I also need a bit more practice. Thankfully, I’m building a class AB amplifier for solder practice, and I will have my brand new soldering kit by then. Better tools = better quality soldering ability = more effective practice = better joints.
What soldering tools do you have now? As others have said, once you've moved beyond a "fire stick" to a proper temperature-controlled soldering station, the differences between stations are minimal, with respect to how well you can solder with them. Even a $25 chinese Hakko clone will do fine, even if it's not as nice as a name-brand station.
So while I fundamentally agree with tggzz that it's a bad workman who blames his tools, I do recognize that truly bad tools can be difficult or impossible to work with, or simply make the job so difficult that a pro can overcome the deficiencies, but a beginner cannot. (This is why I am opposed to the common approach of giving beginners overly cheap or hand-me-down tools. And not just physical tools. For example, as a computer professional, I know how to work around the limitations of a slow computer, while a beginner will get confused or frustrated and click again and again, exacerbating the problem and then being more confused when 10 new documents or browsers all open at the same time...)
So yeah, if you have a truly bad iron, it will put a ceiling on how well you can solder. But if it's an OK tool, a better one won't matter.
I indeed am eager to learn, I just have a tendency to deny my flaws and faults because I want to impress people like you - Because I look up to people like you. It’s a bad habit, but I’m trying to get rid of it. I know things through experience, you see. I can get my hands on something and do something, and point out from what I know how some things work or how to do things.
Classic engineer/scientist. Nothing wrong with that! I'm exactly the same.
I want to understand how and why things work.
But I don’t really get to learn the basis fundamentals of it too much because you can’t exactly experience the fundamentals until you know them in the first place.
Which is why really good explanations are critical. For soldering, the Pace videos explain the fundamentals better than anyone else, by far. By which I mean that they not only explain
what to do (which tons of people get right), but also
why (which almost nobody does). By explaining the
why, it lets you understand the process much more, allowing you to identify and correct deviations when they occur.
I know how to solder, how a joint is supposed to look, what you should and shouldn’t do... I can make a joint shiny enough to reflect the environment around it... But the small details, even down to tiny things like smearing and shape, I might overlook. I’m not a “details” person down to the precision scale that you are.
Electronics is a discipline where attention to detail is crucial (sometimes maddeningly so). So if this is something you want to get into, then attention to detail is something you will have to learn quickly. You have to identify components accurately, assemble things correctly (since a wrong connection or flipped-around component can fry your circuit), and be methodical in how you troubleshoot. Since the components are small and often delicate, it's a discipline that requires a delicate touch. (I recently helped an apprentice machinist solder a small board for a project they do, including making the enclosure. It was evident he was used to working fast and rough, very unlike the movements needed in electronics.)
One of the examples of "maddening" detail is component datasheets. On the one hand, critical information is often mentioned seemingly in passing, somewhere in the text, rather than in the tables of key specs. And on the other hand, many datasheets cover multiple versions of a component, or closely related models. Typically, rather than having a table of differences between them, they typically just list the specs for each version. Often, the difference is super tiny, and so figuring out what the difference is means poring through the entire datasheet, looking for differences. It can be something as small as how they're packaged.
(As someone who is trained in, and worked for years in, technical communication, there is SO much I would change on most datasheets!!!)
Just know that I am indeed improving, and no matter what I may say, I take your feedback into consideration. I strive to learn and grow more as much as I possibly can.
Fair enough. I'm certainly not criticizing anyone for having imperfect soldering skills (it takes practice, and we all have to start somewhere), only the need to share it prematurely as a model for others. And I most certainly don't want to quash their enthusiasm!
You are right. And I understand what you are saying, both in your Great Wall of Text and in this quote. I should definitely not flaunt my skills and claim to know precisely what I’m doing when I in fact still have a lot to learn and do to improve. This is why feedback is crucial, I want to do a professional job and be able to know what I am doing wrong. Your feedback helped me learn proper terms in soldering, as well as what should be happening. I always welcome constructive criticism!
Humility is a good skill.
But yeah, just keep learning with an open mind. The people here on eevblog are frequently blunt, but will give you honest feedback and real support, as long as it's clear you're putting in the effort, which you are.
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.
This one point cannot be emphasized enough. Obviously, beginners take longer to do it, which is normal, thus causing some imperfect joints. So it's instinct to go back and try to rework it to make it better, not realizing that it almost always makes it worse. When learning, resist the urge to rework joints that are merely not perfect. Instead, practice making tons of new joints, so that you learn to get them right the first time.
When a non-practice joint is unsatisfactory and needs to be reworked, you may be able to get away with adding flux and reheating, but if possible, just suck off the existing solder and do it from scratch.
Something that may be useful to you (and if not useful, then at least amusing) is seeing what NOT to do. So here are some of the many examples on youtube that are wrong in various ways:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKDfmGeSKmwP6SdGDHhu6hg/videos — impatient, doesn't give joints enough time to heat up; frequently goes back and reworks joints over and over, regardless of whether they needed rework or not
https://www.youtube.com/user/filear/videos?view=0&sort=p&shelf_id=4 — Way too much solder (using too-thick solder), not using the holes in solder lugs (wtf?), wrong tip size for work, etc.
— nearly always way too much solder. Sloppy as hell SMD. (An
outstanding channel otherwise, mind you.)
https://www.youtube.com/user/thebenheckshow/videos — before 2019 (when the channel changed ownership/host), e.g.
— Ben Heck has a good eye for wire routing, but his soldering technique is atrocious: way too much solder, super sloppy SMD, grungy old oversized tools (get finer tweezers that aren't worn out, Ben!!), not enough flux, flood-and-suck SMD soldering, and lots of bad advice. (Also, whoever adds the little pop-up tips and tricks overlays is clearly not an electronics person, and frequently says things that are just plain wrong.)
And of course, the absolute undisputed
coup de grâce of bad soldering, the worst the internet has ever seen so far:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/horrible-solder-job-buyer-wants-money-back-after-butchering-kit-with-his-skill/