How To Get Started In Soldering
popularmechanics.com
popularmechanics.com
I beg to differ.
I used to suck at soldering, and while I'm still no expert, swapping my €20 basic soldering iron for a serious Weller unit (starting at €150) changed everything. The Weller heats up almost instantly, goes up as high as you want, and stays at a constant temperature.
When using bad tools you don't know if it's you or the tools that are bad, and the path to improvement is unclear.
I don't personally think it's necessary to go up to €150, but a low-quality entry-level soldering iron will cause a lot of problems, and you'll be blaming yourself for the lack of progress. I learned on a crappy one and always thought I sucked. On university I used one that was alright and it was night and day.
It is important that the soldering iron provides the correct amount of heat, and with entry-level irons it's always a gamble, in my experience.
On the other hand, spending the €150 from the start will save you a lot of time testing irons.
They say "a good craftsman doesn't blame his tools" but when you start out you need good tools.
A non-temperature-controlled soldering iron is a huge impediment to learning because the temperature varies with usage and so its behavior is hard to predict for a new solderer.
Even between temperature-controlled ones there can be a large difference in ability to conduct heat into a part: my Pinecil takes far longer than my Weller (I recommend the WE1010) to heat a joint to the point where solder will melt. (the Pinecil is still nice to have as a mobile soldering setup)
More heating duration results in more part damage: overheated ICs and traces popping off the PCB.
Yeah, it's important to realize that saying applied to good craftsmen, not novice craftsmen.
never understood that aphorism
But maybe it means "a good craftsman should have the experience to know not to work with poor tools, and if they do work with poor tools and the outcome is bad, it's their own fault for not finding better tools, not the tools fault for being poor"
As in, don't blame your tools, you're the one who chose them. And you're always free to choose better tools.
I still struggle occasionally, but that's when connecting enameled copper to 1.27 mm crenellated edge connectors, and in my book that's a task where "struggling" isn't actually that bad.
What's most important is that you get an electronics soldering _station_ of some type and not a basic plumbing/electricians iron that is just a pen on a cord. Those are extremely frustrating for working on a PCB.
Learn Good Tools -> Learn Bad Tools
Learn Bad Tools -> Learn Good Tools
When I done the maths, it has become quite expensive.
So that's when I decided to buy a Hakko FX-951 and I couldn't have been happier. It makes a huge difference between the cheap ones.
It's been working well for over 3 years now, no issues. Just make sure to use original tips. I had some knock offs and some have burned off the same day I started using them. Original tips last ages.
Don't get me wrong - the cheap ones will work and are great if you need to solder something from time to time. But if you plan to do some serious amount of soldering, don't bother with cheap tools.
I spent more destroying parts than I would have just buying the Weller in the first place, lesson learned.
Electronics are heat sensitive. A reliable solder joint needs to heat quickly, flux stripping off any oxidized layers, everything melted, before the heat goes up the lead and fries the component.
This means you want an iron that is temperature controlled, and heavy enough it has some thermal mass so it doesn't cool quickly.
I've worked with cheap irons after getting used to my $60 temperature controlled iron, and yes you can use them, but it requires more experience, skill and care to do well, which in practice is equivalent to saying less reliable results.
Hakko is what everyone recommends but I have no idea why. It's awful stuff with a design from the 80s. The UI is awful and inscrutable without the manual, the tech is long obsolete.
Get a TS80 or something else that's actually modern -- it has excellent temperature control with a tightly integrated thermocouple like one of the expensive Hakkos (FX951), but costs less and actually displays stuff in readable English. It also has nice features like using an accelerometer to sense its own orientation and turn itself off if you leave it lying around, instead of burning a hole through your desk.
Hakko 888 is cheap, and has old style carts. Weller has a similar offering. For the $300-range you get the 'proper' thermocouple-integrated tips like the FX951, and Weller likewise has a similar offering. JBC is a premium brand so they don't have low-end stuff, but their pricing isn't too far out of that range ($500ish?).
I agree the Hakko 888 is an outdated recommendation, but it's not really like their company strategy is just outdated. They're business-first, which desires having a full soldering station... not a portable thing like the Miniware/Pine stuff.
They're just resting on their laurels. There's cheaper and less known brands that make far better products because they take advantage of things like decent micro-controllers, displays and accelerometers that have existed for decades now.
Point is, any weirdness with the metcals are made up for with their selection of tips and the heating speed even when soldering components to chassis' or ground planes.
If you can find a used metcal, even if its not working, you can fix them up easily and they are worth the $200 bucks even for a broken one on Ebay.
But fortunately today there are great, cheap tools. The $35 pinecil and T12 clones (as little as $25 if you can wait on shipping) are as good as $150 units from 10 years ago. I have a Hakko 888 and I haven't used it in years because a pinecil in my desk drawer is so much more convenient. It has enough juice for almost anything you'd find linked on hackernews or hackaday, and when I want to use it I just move a usb-c charging cable from my laptop to it for a while.
[1] Schematics: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil:_How_to_Repair#Schemati...
[2] IronOS: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS
I mean, it could just be me, but I haven't picked up a soldering iron for many years because of that experience. I might invest good iron and give it a shot again.
Same thing happened when I learned bass. I was unable to achieve anything after 2 years on a shovel. I then tried a squier special edition.. suddenly everything was getting out. Still a newb but the tool gave me direction on where to work to improve with a lot less effort. I was shocked.
I didn't enjoy playing until I swapped out the strings on my Ibanez with some Rotosounds. The tonal change was significant.
Another not overly expensive tool I wish I'd known about as a beginner is a heated solder vacuum pump, dispensing with the need to juggle soldering iron and a non-heated vacuum.
Huh, I had no idea those were even a thing! Thanks for the recommendation.
Bad equipment will give you bad habits right from the start. This does not mean that you should buy the top equipment to begin at anything, but it does mean that you should find out from some knowledgeable people what is the minimum you need so you won't be unnecessarily fighting the equipment and learning bad habits (basically hacky workarounds to the equipment's flaws) that you'll later struggle to unlearn.
For some sports or tasks, it's just solid mid-grade equipment, sometimes it's the lower end of the top-grade stuff.
Also, even if funds do not limit you, don't start out with the absolute top-level gear. Better to get a solid start, then grow until your skills let you see which aspects of your mid-grade gear start limiting you, then use that info to buy the top level gear that is actually best suited for you.
I've seen so many people show up at climbing walls with cheap carabiners from amazon/etc that aren't rated for climbing, but when you view the listing all the images show climbing.
Absolutely, for safety gear, get only top notch equipment!!!
Safety gear turns many incidents from something like notifying your family or waking up wondering "why can't I remember or see anything" to something like "damn, that's a huge dent in that helmet" or "so much for those goggles".
I've heard participating in a number of sports:
"If you only have a $10 head, then sure, get a $10 helmet ..."
. . . Indeed, I would NEVER buy any safety-related gear from Amazon or AliBaba. I know too much about Chinese manufacturing, focused entirely on profit, and quality is literally a foreign concept to them. , and that doesn't even start to mention the scams, where they not only illustrate climbing, but falsely claim ratings. I work in carbon fiber design & fabrication, and will never even buy a bicycle made in China, even from a top US company.
Just don't do it. Saving a few dozen or hundred dollars or euro is not worth the extra risk.
Its cheaper to buy a helmet online, but it is generally better to pay the extra 10-15% and try the fucking thing on in a shop, ensure it fits, etc.
Some manufacturers (Mammut, for example) only really offer one or two sizes, others offer a variety.
The idea of that rule is so new makers can work out what tools they actually are using, so they don't waste a shitload of money.
In practice? Some tools are just worth spending the money on upfront, inferior tools will often lead to frustration and failure early on.
The problem is people think Adams rule just applies everywhere, because he is famous etc.
I actually have a draft blog post on this exact topic that I'm not finished, with examples from my own experiences.
> Quality is an issue, true. But for beginning makers there is often no cheaper alternative. Back in the day I’d “test buy” a tool from HFT and then if it was useful I’d invest in a more substantial version. Also browsing their aisles is a singular pleasure. https://twitter.com/donttrythis/status/941149124497305600
Maybe it’s different in the UK but we never used fancy knives or cookware in the kitchens I’ve worked.
It's not a question of fancy. Regular looking pans and pots made from ultra thick gauge stainless steel dont look fancy, but they survive being dropped on the ground without issue.
You have a big miscomprehension if you think expensive = fancy. Not fancy, rather ultra utilitarian but high quality.
But I've bought two grinders and have an ancient cheap one from father in-law. My cheap Metabo is relatively quiet and smooth. Cheap Lidl one is loud and jerky. Ancient one I've just thrown away at how bad it was to use. Recently I had to grind some tubing for > hour and my wrists felt it even with the Metabo entry level. Supposedly the pro versions have antivibration, better balanced, speed control, etc.
My point being if I was using this 5 days a week for >1h I'd invest in ease of use/comfort/safety - no ? I'd probably have a few throwaway ones for backup.
First, buy a separate handle that you like the feel of. They're dirt simple to swap around between tools. If you're in a large shop, make sure it stays in your lockbox overnight so that it doesn't grow feet.
Second, although honestly more important, make sure you are using the right wheel for the job, with the right pressure (lighter than almost everything thinks), and stay focused on using either the edge or the face, depending on type. This will keep things smoother, slow disc changes, and improve safety by reducing the risk of disc shatter. Detailed explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n0TSF1i5os&t=162s
Hope that helps.
[edit]- When it comes to welding, I strongly recommend learning stick first, even before MIG. It gives you much better practice learning how to control the puddle without spewing metal everywhere. Bonus points in that it is also very inexpensive, and the welds themselves are usually stronger than MIG. Only disadvantage is speed, but for the types of projects you mentioned, that's not much of an issue. This guy's channel is great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMtqDWUpJds
Its bad when a $9 HF torque wrench breaks at 8:45PM on a Sunday night when you're under your car putting the transmission back on. Or a cheap pot-metal screw strips when you have a manufacturing deadline approaching.
I've been in the electronics manufacturing industry for 17 years now and in almost all cases, "buy the best you can afford" is the better mantra. That doesn't go bankrupt over a $1500 dollar Snap-On wrench set, but if you buy the HF stuff, you will spend $1500 in time using their warranty.
But for an awful lot of the regular work, it's Harbor Freight magnets, HF welding blankets and soapstone, HF clamps, HF grinders. You learn what works best for your dollar, and very often, it's erring not on the side of the more expensive stuff.
The cheap small soldering "pencil" irons like they had at Radio Shack were insidiously bad because of the crummy solder that came in the package, and their crummy store brand solder.
I would use only Multicore or Kester solder. Much bigger difference than automatic temperature control.
These are small irons but they still get hotter than the ideal temperature that most long-term assemblers prefer to work at. At least the iron does, but maybe not the tip, especially if it's not screwed in really tight, or if a lot of oxidation has built up in the iron threaded socket the tip screws into. I used to grab the tip at the base with the curved jaws of a wire stripper and screw it in real tight whether hot or cold. Starting when new so no corrosion has a chance to build up.
Different tips will end up with different tip temperatures, but when you've got one of these going properly you can be just as effective as with a controlled unit.
The tips are copper with chrome plating which can be a thin layer, but when it oxidizes it gets more of a sheen rather than building up a crust like plain copper. Solder won't want to stick to the chrome too easy, and once it gets oxidized it's even worse. And the oxidized metal will not transfer heat properly to the work.
For splicing new pure copper wires using a temp-controlled iron, it is common to heat the copper joint with the tip until the solder melts and behaves like mercury as it soaks well into the joint. This often fails with antique wires since the old conductor has an oxidation layer on the strands so the solder will not wet them. Things like this are best carefully tinned individually before joining, using additional cleaning and flux if necessary.
Tinning the new tip is the first thing. Lots of users will wait until the iron heats up too much and try to apply a bit of solder after there is already a thin oxidation layer on the chrome tip. I like to get some solder on the point to wet the chrome as soon as it gets hot enough the first time, then unplug the iron and suspend the tip downward with a fraction of a gram of solder obscuring the point as it hardens. It will really dig into that substrate as it solidifies, and in operation the very tip is the part you are going to have to keep constantly wet with fresh solder, and basically use some liquid metal hanging there to transfer heat more effectively to the work than you can from contact with a non-wet tip of the same temperature. The shaft of the tip will become more and more oxidized, and if the point gets like that you might as well sand it down, most likely down to the copper.
Copper tins real easy but it dissolves in the solder much faster than the chrome so the tip will be much more sacrificial as you continue rinsing it with fresh solder when needed so only the freshest non-oxidized solder will come in contact with your work. With new tips or not, properly sized to the work, stuffing a PCB should not require more flux than there is in the core of the solder.
Unplug it when you're not actually using it, they do not really take that long to heat up when you need it again. They just sit there oxidizing otherwise.
Whatever your approach, you need to be comfortable with handling hot liquid metal to some extent.
Unfortunately the context went missing as soon as the "rule" started making it around hacker/maker internet.
Harbor Freight wrenches are actually really good, and an excellent value for the money. I've even met pro mechanics that used them.
Harbor Freight power tools are a different deal though.
no, you can't undermine the idea with this trick. For example (grabbing examples from other comments in this thread), while an expensive soldering iron might be much better than a cheap one, there is no way you know before you start whether you're going to be soldering a lot.
I know how to solder, I've soldered a lot since I was about 13, and I can solder just fine with a crappy soldering iron (just like good pizza makers can use a primitive wood fired oven) but after I learned to wire-wrap, I put down my soldering iron almost for good... and does wire-wrapping even exist any more? If I wanted to take it up again, I'd find antique wirewrapping tools before I'd torture myself with soldering anything. All of which is my way to say, if I can't predict how much soldering I'm going to do, then no beginner can predict whether an expensive soldering iron is what they need or not.
Maybe if you went out and geared up with the most expensive technical mountain climbing gear, you could climb Everest on your first try, and you could then make the case that had you bought the cheap stuff you would have been discouraged by frostbite. But that's just not a good plan.
Irons are also not really getting used up, so if you truly follow the "replace if it breaks" rule you're potentially using crap a loooong time.
To bring it around to programming, imagine trying to debug code in GEdit+Terminal vs having the latest and greatest Jetbrains IDE to help out (ignoring the fact that the community editions are actually pretty functional - let's time travel back 20 years when you had to pay for VS or Borland). One is way more frustrating than the other; one is way more likely to lose motivation.
Or soldering - avoid the cheapest harbor freight iron, and EBay a used Weller for $50+shipping. If you never solder again pass it on and you're out the shipping costs. Weller irons have been and always will be around $50~$60 used.
Yes! I gave it a try a few years ago and I am impressed.
It's faster, denser, and cleaner than soldering wires onto perfboard. Being able to rework by just unwinding a wire is great. I don't use proper wirewrap sockets, but it seems reliable for one-off hobby prototypes.
Get run-of-the-mill tools if you're starting out on something new. Not too cheap because you'll be miserable, but not too expensive because you can't appreciate them.
Once you start doing whatever it is you started doing, if you end up using a tool only once every blue moon, you didn't waste money on a tool you won't appreciate. If you end up using a tool all day and feel annoyed by its limitations, you've learned what aspects to appreciate in that line of tools and you are now better informed to make your next real purchase.
I think it’s a good thing to be able to comfortably try out lots of new things. Spending money can make you feel bound to the hobby that you might not enjoy after all.
I'm glad I jumped straight to the expensive one, because otherwise I'd have gotten the middle one and then the expensive one.
For soldiering, I'm still at the first stage.
One thing though.. I disagree with wet sponge, they're annoying and flimsy.. A brass sponge is so much nicer in my opinion.
But I am pretty handy with the $130 Hakko I got from adafruit back when I got one for home use. I soldered for a long time with a cheapy $40 Weller I got off of amazon, although I won't go back to it any time soon. Getting a brass sponge and tip tinner really made that thing viable as a daily driver though.
I think that's the difference he was trying to illustrate: if you can't do a basic through-hole board with a 40W pen-style iron from the hardware store, it ain't the tool.
I used to work at a place that had the Weller WXR3003N. $3360 of pure joy. The one I work with now is a Weller WX2021N, which Newark has for $1400.
The tool quality on either is phenomenal, but definitely not necessary for learning on.
Some control over temperature, peak temperature hot enough to melt lead-free solder are really all you need to learn with. I don't want to be a neo-luddite, but you end up learning a lot of tricks with a sub-par iron that I rarely have to use with the high-end tool, but I'm glad I know. For instance, its rare with the high-end tools that I have to glob a bunch of solder onto a joint during rework, but I had to do that all the time with the cheap tool. But now, if I just can't get a joint hot enough to melt, I know that that is an option.
What people like adam savage are overlooking in their explanation is details, in this case, cheap irons dont have the selection of tips you need. To most people "cheap soldering iron" is what you get at home depot now which has a tip the width of a pencil, hardly suitable for component soldering.
Also, here is another tip, adjustable temperature is not needed, its a useless feature. You want to get heat into a component and off. You'll fry a component more quickly if you heat it up a million times at a lower temperature setting trying to solder that pulldown resistor to the huge ground plane. In the end, your temperature setting will always be at maximum and you'll just need to hit it quick with the iron: on and off.
Along those lines, a the perfect iron has no temperature setting but can sink alot of heat into a component. Metcals are 40W or 80W in power and are used extensively to solder 0402 and below. The tips come in different heat settings but are really meant for leaded vs. non-leaded solder which flow at different temps. Overkill? no, again, get the heat in, flow the solder and off as quick as possible even when you are soldering to a plane.
The lesson I learned was to not buy generic brand stuff from Amazon. The one I have is dreadful. The temperature dial is meaningless, the grip gets hot with the iron, and the tips that come with it* are absolutely awful. Even at low soldering temperatures they can’t take the heat, and at this point all of them have their cracked, chipped, or have otherwise become completely blunt.
But hey I got a nice generic tool bag full of wires that don’t conduct, insulation tape that doesn’t insulate, tiny screwdrivers, blunt snips, and “lead-free” solder that absolutely has lead in it.
* and it seems to be a fitting that nothing else will fit apart from the rubbish tips that come with a thousand other almost-identical generic soldering irons you can get from Amazon.
I cry for all the time I wasted soldering before finally sucking it up and getting a Metcal.
https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS
I didn't spend hours watching YouTube reviews comparing soldering irons for nothing. This is $70 well spent.
In case anybody thinks I am being sarcastic, I am actually not. Look into it, worth it.
[0] https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde...
$20 is enough to buy a decent temperature-controlled iron these days (mainly clones based on the Hakko 936 design).
In my experience, it's crucial to have a versatile set of soldering tips to handle various scenarios. Attempting to solder small pads with a massive tip can be a daunting task, just as using a minuscule tip to heat up a large pad linked to the ground plane can prove to be ineffective. It's all about having the right tool for the job.
Also I bought a more expensive yuhaun hot air/soldering station (name might not be exact) I used the $20 iron to solder my drone connection and it work perfectly fine with proper technique.
I cannot tell the different in build between the 20 unit and the more expensive station.
Also the brass sponge in the hakko cleaner is nothing more than a chewy boy brass sponge. $1 at your local shady gas station.
>yuhaun hot air/soldering station (name might not be exact)
>I cannot tell the different
sadly thats because they are most likely the same crap using 900 series tips
There's no need to splurge on a high-end soldering iron straight away, but definitely don't get the cheapest one you can find.
1. Don’t use a wet sponge. If you have a good soldering iron with good tips, you’ll want to use something that looks like a ball of metal shavings instead. It’ll work better, and you won’t oxidize your tips. They’re cheap and last quite a while. Some nicer irons ship with those in addition to or instead of sponges. I haven’t had much luck using these with cheap soldering irons, though, for whatever reason.
2. With a bad soldering iron, you’ll likely find yourself stuck in a cycle of cleaning the tip, tinning the tip, removing oxidation, and, ultimately, replacing the tip. It’s horribly frustrating. If this sounds like your soldering experience, ditch the wet sponge and get a better iron. It’s not you; it’s your tools.
3. Prep is important, especially when doing repairs. Older electronics have a lot of oxidation and are harder to solder. Spend more time on prep, less time on soldering. Don’t try to reuse the solder that’s already on the board.
4. Get Kapton tape (generic name: polyimide tape). Don’t bother getting a combo pack of different sizes; just stick to the half-inch size. Use it copiously. It’s cheap on AliExpress and will save you a lot of trouble. Tape All The Things. Avoid electrical tape; it melts, ruins soldering iron tips, and leaves a nasty residue.
5. Cheap dental explorers and scalers make for great prep tools. They’re cheaper than picks you might get from a hardware store, and they’re usually sharper.
6. Get desoldering wick and flux. The flux core inside the solder often isn’t enough for repair work. Soldering wick is the best way to remove old, stubborn solder. Soak it in flux first if you’re really having trouble. Some people say to get high-quality desoldering wick, but I’ve found soaking cheap wick in flux to be about as effective.
7. I keep isopropyl alcohol in a little squirt bottle and use it to clean off any grime, electrolyte, or whatever else might have accumulated on the PCB.
Sure, if you know you'll do a lot of soldering, by all means take the expensive iron. But if you only need to fix an appliance here and there? Go with the basic one.
I've been using the same cheap iron someone gifted me 10 years ago (probably a 30€ one or so), and ... it works. It takes some time to heat up, so I'll just turn it on and go grab a coffee, and it's not super clean or whatnot ... but I fix appliances, I don't care as long as it's fixed.
I'm not trying to get good at soldering either. I'm probably bad, but I don't really care. My appliances get fixed regardless. I really only need a basic level that's used once, perhaps twice a year, and for that, the cheap soldering iron is more than enough.
That preface was necessary to indicate how vital hand soldering skills were to electronics and communication industries and to show that what I say next comes from long experience.
Bluntly, you're right to quote that text as not good advice as without certain stipulations it's very misleading; and that your own experience from using better soldering tools is exactly what is to be expected (it's the right advice). In short, don't use cheap crappy soldering equipment even as a beginner (you'll likely develop bad, hard-to-shake habits), rather buy the best you can afford. Moreover, one should not only buy a decent soldering iron with variable temperature control (or tips that work at different temperatures) but also it should support the wattage necessary to keep the tips at the correct temperature for the type of work you anticipate doing.
Same logic applies to your ancillary tools and consumables: use high quality solder with cored flux and always have a range of gauges to hand, always use 'solder wick', and or a decent desoldering tool, have syringes of flux† with correct size dispensing nozzles (flat-end/orifice hypodermic-like needles); and always have plenty of isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) and suitable brushes for removing surplus flux/cleaning up (if it's unavailable then at a pinch use 95% or greater ethanol as a substitute).
I can't go into good soldering techniques here but I'll finish by saying always solder at the correct temperature and always clean (wipe) your iron's tips before use (and don't 'burn' them by leaving them switched on for long periods when not in use).
† There's different types of flux for different jobs—a flux, say, for reflowing IC leads on a PCB will use a different type to that used for soldering old components whose tinning may be slightly oxidized.
Soldering iron:
Get a decent one. That doesn't mean you must throw a boatload of money, just avoid the crappy ones, which almost always are the cheaper ones. A notable exception is the Pinecil by Pine64.org, which is truly a great iron despite being cheap. Pinecil aside, you can snatch a used Weller or Hakko on ebay without spending too much, but beware of the many fakes. I had for a while a Hakko clone, and although well built, it was garbage: the heater-tip contact makes all the difference, and that was its weak point.
Solder:
Get leaded solder when possible. It's easier to use and joints are a lot less subject to tin whiskers.
Sponge:
Very useful, but don't forget to buy one that is suitable for soldering. A kitchen/bathroom one made of synthetic material will melt as soon as you put the heated tip on it. In the meantime, a damp strip of cotton cloth rolled into a coffee cup can be similarly effective.
Work surface:
I don't use a specific one, so don't have direct experience, however I doubt one could use a rubber doormat with heated tips. A oven silicone mat would probably be safer, but again, I never used them.
Other items the article doesn't cover:
-Flux. You will need it. No matter if the solder already contains rosin flux, having a way to put some extra flux on the surface to be soldered will help immensely.
-Brass wool sponge. Some see it as complementary to the wet sponge, but I find having it handy because it is best at removing tin residuals from the tip, while the wet one helps cleaning it.
-Solder wick. Very useful to remove tin in excess from old joints, therefore also for desoldering parts. Buy a couple rolls of different sizes and practice using it.
-Sal Ammoniac. An almost forgotten item which can make a tip shine almost like new. It's cheap and a single tablet will last years.
Oh, and practice, practice, practice.
I would also recommend wearing protective glasses not to splash stuff on your eyes.
I have a Pinecil and I like it, but I feel that it's not a good recommendation for a first soldering iron. The UI may be confusing for some, it doesn't come with a power supply, the tips are fairly expensive, and there's no place to rest the iron while using it. Instead, I would tell a newbie to get a middle-of-the-road temperature-controlled soldering station. They don't cost that much more and are generally ready to go out of the box.
I would certainly recommend the Pinecil as a second soldering iron, though.
If you do use leaded solder, be extra-sure to wash your hands after soldering.
Just don't put the solder in your mouth and wash your hands.
Here is one stack exchange answer that seems well researched to me: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/19086
I also did a lot of googling on the subject recently when I decided I wanted to try out Stained glass, but wasn't sure what precautions I should take. I've come to the personal conclusion to not stress about the lead in solder.
I've had good results with SnBi soldering wire - it has low melting temperature and you don't have to be so careful with hand washing (I think ;) I got mine from LCSC shipped from China, but it seems [0] you can now get it in US.
[0] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mechanic-Lead-Free-Low-Temperatur...
If you use a moderate temperature (650°F/340°C) it's a gentler way to clean flux residue off the tip.
Brass wool I reserve for scrubbing oxidation off the tip, but this eventually wears through the plating so I don't do this often.
Leaded solder is both toxic and completely unnecessary for hobbyist use. I like SAC305 but SN99.7 works well too—the key is a good quality flux core.
No-clean flux is convenient but if you do want to clean it, it's gummy and makes a mess. "Yes-clean" flux leaves conductive residue so it must be cleaned, but it is easier to clean.
As far as temperature goes, the better your iron is at transferring heat, the lower the tip temperature you can use, which improves tip life and, as you mention, reduces the chance of part damage.
I am a lead dev on an open-source hardware project (PhobGCC) and I've seen damage caused by bad soldering irons time and time again. Don't cheap out. I recommend a Weller WE1010.
Does SAC305 (for example) flow and cool in a similar way to good old 63/37?
So it takes a smidge longer to heat a joint than for leaded, but you don't need to hold the heat there as long once it flows.
It's slightly not eutectic, though, so you must immobilize parts as the joint solidifies.
Sn99.7 is eutectic but has a still higher melting point.
I find SAC305 to solder well at 340°C/650°F.
My budget is more in the $20 - $25 range. Cheap adjustable-temp soldering irons are available for under $4 [0], surely there is some middle ground between those irons and the $115 unit you suggest?
The middle ground is the Pinecil, which is $25 but needs a laptop power supply.
It's… okay. It has less than half the heat transfer rate compared to the Weller, but it at least won't burn pads off your PCB.
The $25 Pinecil sounds good and is probably your best option. I may go for soldering station since I can afford it.
Thank you.
I am cleaning my JBC tips with brass for the past 5 years of intense use and can't really tell a difference.
When using the brass wool, I tend to lightly rest the tip in a clean area. Maybe sometimes I will rotate it a few times, but I never use pressure or make wiping or scrubbing motions. I'm not sure if it really matters though (ie. how do the hardness of the tip plating and the brass compare?).
Flux - hobbyists either try to use 50-year-old parts with totally oxidized plating and no flux, or they use too much flux. New parts should not need more flux than you have in your flux-core solder or in your paste.
The next thing that happens after people discover flux is that they want to clean it off, and 99% of the time, hobbyists should not be cleaning flux. If you cannot measure the reason for cleaning your board, leave it alone. The manufacturers will tell you that modern RA and RMA type fluxes do not require cleaning for "most applications" - and "most applications" almost certainly means you.
No-clean flux should be called "never-clean" for the reason you outline. You shouldn't try to clean it, and it will never get as clean as you'd like if you do. I like no-clean for stuff I'm going to show to other people. You will almost certainly use no-clean in production if you go to production.
Water-clean is lovely stuff but it's very unforgiving. It will corrode if not cleaned, and you have to plan to wash your board by using sealed parts or adding water-sensitive parts afterward. You have to be careful with tip temperature too or it will destroy your tips. I have a spool of 63/37 water-clean I've used maybe twice - the boards sparkled but it was just too much trouble.
But yes, no-clean flux is best left where it is.
Depends on what you mean by "yes-clean" though - "water-clean" OA flux must absolutely be cleaned - it can start to corrode overnight even.
Makers come to our discord chat, asking why their builds aren't working and post a pictures.
I suggest cleaning the flux off, and they start functioning.
As an aside:
My current solder brand (Chip Quik) has a "no-clean water-soluble" flux that I'm curious about. Surely that's not going to be as corrosive as the flux you're talking about. (I probably wouldn't use it myself because it needs 140°F water to dissolve)
"No-clean water soluble" is news to me. Don't know if I'd trust that in a humid environment.
That is my problem with this article. Flux is only superficially in a sentence. So my tip to beginners: Cleaning flux is way easier than struggling to solder with little/no flux.
Is that really a problem, especially for a beginner? I can understand if you are soldering a lot, you will be faster without the need to constantly add flux and save resources but at that point, I think the repetition will let you get better over time anyway.
With lead-based solder, I'm never sure what I should be doing, especially in a small room/workshop. Keeping windows open or having good airflow isn't always possible.
Things like: should I avoid leaning over or breathing in while leaning over something I'm soldering? Do I need to air the room afterwards? Would a small carbon fume extractor help? Anything to worry about from other chemicals in lead-free solder? Or is even lead harmless enough for someone that's not soldering ever day?
However, when soldering you will end up with little balls and blobs of solder as waste. Don't just throw them in the trash. These should be collected and disposed of properly, as hazardous waste so that they don't end up in a landfill polluting your grandkids' water supply.
On a side note, if you're not going for a specific build, don't buy rebranded brushless motors with pilot names on them. The same motor usually can be found cheaper, with the factory branding. Same goes for solder. TBS doesn't manufacture solder, they just probably rebrand Kester or some other similar brands with a margin. Joshua Bardwell's FPV shopping list should mention every one of those brands so you can look it up.
Also as an additional step, consider conformal coating after you're done with all your connections.
This also applies to soldering/brazing copper pipes.
I went out and bought some lead-free solder and flux, but didn't think to look up anything about flux or solder quality. I was having trouble getting a joint I was happy with, until I finally gave in and asked my neighbor (a plumber) for some advice. He give me some very useful advice (give the excess flux a wipe once it starts bubbling, start applying solder at the bottom to let steam escape out the top of the joint and then work your way up, among others). He also gave me his favorite (lead-free) solder and flux to use. The flux looked really grody, and unsurprisingly made a huge difference in how well everything flowed. In the end, I replaced the suspicious section with my much less janky piece and it's now dry as a bone.
- beginner: not using flux
- intermediate: not using enough flux
- advanced: not using the right flux
and visually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfIwHuGzUEk
The "not right" flux is often a nasty no-clean flux core in solder wire. Many don't flow well and leave a horrid residue on your tips that's hard to remove. (The bad reputation of lead-free solder seems to come not from the alloy but from solder wire with lousy choice of flux core.)
The "not enough" flux is often reworking something where the flux has been vaporized leaving only the solder. Then you need to add some new flux like in the video. The gold standard seems to be Amtech tacky fluxes like https://www.amazon.com/Amtech-Solder-Flux-NC-559-V2-TF-16150
better amtech solder flux nc-559
https://www.amazon.com/Amtech-Solder-Flux-NC-559-V2-TF-16150...
If only there way some way to obtain this ancient knowledge. Perhaps a video repository of sorts. But I’m sure the hand wringing about new generation is justified THIS time for sure.
More importantly, the lesson I learned was to get a soldering system\station where you can get replacement tips easily\cheaply
1) Keep the surfaces of the two metals you want to solder clean. That means removing rust, oxidation, dirt, etc. If possible, make a mechanical connection.
2) The three metals (surface A, surface B, solder) need to be equal temperature.
9 out of 10 times, the solder errors I see are due to the above points. It is important to purchase an iron that can get hot enough for the things you want to solder together, and which can control the temperature well enough.
Too bad most PCB holders are flimsy. I recommend a solid metal vise instead of those contraptions.
No more lead in the EU, with few exceptions.
Lead-free with poor quality flux is abhorrent to use.
Get good quality lead-free with good flux from a reputable manufacturer (Kester is good, as you mentioned) and it's fine.
In fact, I prefer how thin and quick to wet out SAC305 is over the lower melting point of Sn63Pb37.
- No mention of tip types/quality
- No mention of flux outside that embedded in the solder
- No mention of braid etc
- Recommends a wet sponge to clean (This shocks the tip)
- Defaults to leaded solder without mentioning the risks (I admit this is hot-take territory!)https://www.amazon.com/Soldering-Cleaner-599B-Water-free-Hak...
It would be great to include a few ideas on what to try in this "how to get started" guide. It can be anything from an artsy soldering of a few small metal pieces to a custom switch to a simple electronics contraption. Or even a link to a few Make magazine mini-projects.
This could move the needle from reading a cool article to actually trying it. My 2c.
Being self-reliant for stuff like that is basic productivity stuff.
That said, I don't feel like I've had the need to bust one out since then. I'm sure there are useful times for it, but for me, I typically replace the item or pay someone to fix it and move on with my day.
Doesn't give a single hint on how to do it...
Timely; I just finished soldering headers to a Feather about 30 minutes ago. :)
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYz5nIHH0iY
Part 3 is surface mount which I don't do much. A friend I had who is a skilled assembler turned me on to chipquik flux and kapton tape to hold down the parts and that helped immensely
True story: I was testing the quality of the water from a property I was thinking of buying and got a hit for high levels of mercury. I called the test manufacturer and asked for a few more tests to confirm the levels and the guy asks "done any soldering in the area within the last TWO WEEKS", I had been soldering the taillight / trailer connections on my van about two or three weeks prior and that was enough to leave detectable levels of mercury lingering in the undercover outdoor area where I conducted the tests.
Didn't do a great job, but it worked. If I cared about it being done well, I would have gotten a craftsman.
I am not soldering without safety glasses, lab coat and nitrile gloves. May seem like an overkill, but the flux really goes everywhere and it's not good for your health.
Also don't forget to have a fume extractor! - you don't want to breathe the fumes!
If you can't get one, at very least ensure you have a fan that will blow it away from your face.
> As you’re applying heat with your soldering iron, it’s important to have the metal tip heating both the pad and the solder that’s going onto it—note the location where I’m placing the iron.
But there's no picture to "note the location where I'm placing the iron" in? Was this article written somewhere else and repurposed and they missed a picture?
I love mine, never having to calibrate the tip is wonderful. Having the power draw ramp up quickly on a big ground plane is a joy.
Not fussing with a bullshit temp setting is utter simplicity.
Truly is a joy to use.
Used it to get the controller out of an ebike battery yesterday :D
Using lead solder is kind of retro. There are good lead-free solders now. If you get the kind with 3% silver, you pay $5 instead of $3 for a small spool, but it's much easier to get good results. Also, that stuff is no-clean, which simplifies things.
1. High quality plated tips with a reliable supply chain for replacements. Find a catalog supplier for the tips before ordering the iron.
2. A timer greatly promotes tip life if you're forgetful like me, and also placates colleagues / family members who are concerned about safety. Newer units have a built-in timer, older ones can use a cheap Belkin outlet timer.
3. Temperature control, which most soldering "stations" come with.
As for solder, lead-tin is easiest to use, but if you're committed to using lead-free, some alloys work better than others. I recommend Kester K100 as being the closest to "almost like lead-tin" due to a relatively low melting point and decent flow properties.
A magnifying visor or inspection microscope is extremely valuable for soldering fine pitch IC's.
Learning to be quick about forming a joint saves on melting the insulation of wiring and some delicate connectors.
Ugh. Let's talk down the youngest generation of adults to justify a basic tutorial article.
Ironically no one of Gen Z, that I know of, is unable to do any of those examples.
All three of those examples are things that many people from Gen Z often don't ever do. They are also all still valuable skills that I believe are still worth knowing.
I agree that it is bad to talk down to people just because they are young. It is also bad to dismiss people because they are significantly older than you are. Both parties miss out when those things happen. Younger people often have more energy and free time, and their excitement about what they are learning can be energizing. Older people often have experience that is tremendously valuable. You can learn a great deal from someone with years of experience in a field in which you have interest.
I think one of the unfortunate things about the internet is it is far too easy to default to being combative, and assume the worst about what others are saying. And yes, I include myself in that as well as others.
As I get your post based on the amount spent on why it’s bad to dismiss older persons, I don’t think this is really what the article or GP suggested. similarly, I am not sure that it’s fair to say genz often doesn’t do a lot of the mentioned things. GenZ is full of individuals specializing in niche or old fashioned skills and showing the skills off on specific mediums. Coding and repair twitch streams are quite common, just maybe not as much as subjects that are easier to appreciate without much knowledge in the subject. It’s pretty easy for most people to grasp why a contortionist’s skill or someone skilled with sewing has a rare and unique talent. it’s a lot easier to understand what went into it and the precision and the result is very apparent. I think it’s not so clear with subjects like electronics repair as the tech might work afterwards, but there is too much to understand going into it to fully appreciate the result in its own, and thus audiences rely on the presenter to fill the gaps.
The authors examples are good ones if you’re already inclined towards fixing stuff on your own; but if it were me, even with a simple fix like string lights, i’d have a hard time justifying repairs on my own as i’d need to invest into the repair kit and it would be hard to shake concerns on if I did a safe repair or if I made a mistake that needs to be fixed. I imagine it’s like this for many, as even a few years back when I did laptop repair at a university, students (even technical ones) were antsy about such manual repairs and fixes, and often just preferred to put the liability on someone else. for something really disposable like lights, a cheap phone, etc, i can easily get why people of all ages would just prefer a new one.
Soldering is a fun hobby, and i think that the hobbyist community would easily eat it up if they don’t already (i’m positive you can find some electronics repair vids/channels). it is just lacking practical reasons for people to be interested and/or personalities to bring people to it.
All of those reasons are the main critisms of gen Z and millenials! I'm not a boomer, but:
1) Emotions are preventing repairs?? A bit of stoicism is needed. If you have the habit of repairing things, there is no anxiety. In the old hacker culture you'd think it would be a fun opportunity to disassemble and see how it works and repair it.
2) Takes some reponsibility and risks instead of putting the liability on someone else. The end result is people who are less reliant on others, less finger pointing.
3) The article is trying to promote repairing skills instead of consumer culture. Repairing and better built products instead of filling landfills.
You also mention "i'd need to invest into the repair kit"... it's cheaper to repair than buy new! As you collect tools and experience, there's more and more opportunity to repair, which adds more tools and experiences... a great positive feedback loop.
Presuming you're not a surgeon, would you be willing to do an appendectomy on someone? It's a typical procedure that is well documented and at this point very routine for most surgeons, and with just a bit of research and practice, you can be doing all sorts of other surgeries.
Emotions AND logic prevent us from doing relatively routine/simple/safe things all the time.
I _can_ solder and do basic electronic repairs; I've done it plenty and in a pinch with enough time to research, I can probably pull it off. I rarely do however, because:
1. It's an investment in time and equipment that I may not have on hand for items that don't need frequent repairs
2. For the electronics I have, it voids the warranty, and if I screw up, then I'm on the hook for everything, so effectively there is a fine for screwing up
3. For most electronics I have around me, they are prohibitively complex and important enough to my day to day that living without them while I learn and research is quite costly
My point isn't that people are too anxious to do repairs, I have no idea how you took this interpretation. I don't trust my electrical engineering skills because I don't have them developed well, so I think it's prudent to not take on an electrical project like house wiring because I lack the experience to ensure it's done well and there is risk if it's done poorly. This isn't anxiety, it's a practical cost analysis. I don't personally need to do such repairs frequently (either by myself or with the help of a contractor), so an investment in these skills falls more under hobby than a practical skillset, and for the items that have needed repair, self-repair means then liability falls on me entirely, and if I do get in over my head, the cost for repair goes up as it's no longer covered under the repair warranty in many cases. That last point arguably is a fault of overly-broad EULAs and Terms of Use contracts, but it is the situation right now whether I like it or not.
Finally, as someone who did do electronics repair (and later programming), there are definitely issues that I was/am tasked with where someone unqualified tried their hand at it first and made what was a minor issue a major problem due to inexperience. I would have vastly preferred that the person(s) never tried to touch the issue since what they did just exacerbated the issue or introduced new issues instead of making it better.
It's a logical and reasonable cost-benefit calculation, and I can absolutely get even as a technically capable person why many GenZ wouldn't want to get into electronics on the basis of repair; it's the wrong introduction in my opinion and carries too high a cost of failure for most of electronics we use in every day life. That is why I think that a hobbyist approach, small electronics projects, etc, are a better gateway into electronics. The cost is failure is quite low (you just don't get whatever you're trying to build), the same skills for making the electronics carries over to repairs and builds the skillset and confidence for making the repairs, and it helps establish the wisdom to better assess if you can DIY or if a specialist is a better choice. All of the people I know who are big into car repair have that wisdom to know when it's better to take it to a shop that has the right equipment and experience versus what can be done at home in the garage.
You're not the younger generation anymore.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Alpha
no one of Gen Z, that I know of, is unable to do any of those examples.
"That I know of" is the hallmark of Gen Z: Thinking that their experiences are the only experiences.
Taking the manual transmission example, there were a number of items in the news back when manual transmission was more common about Millennial and Gen Z would-be car thieves being unable to drive away because they didn't know how to use a stick.
But since you didn't know them, they must not exist.
Gen Alpha are yet to become adults
> that I know of
A disclaimer, as I am more than aware my experience is just that, my own.
Just like my experience and viewpoint probably differs with other factors
A decade from now they'll write their second check and have to be talked through it again.
But it has more and more sources of learning in comparison to my ones when I was in their age.
Gee, I wonder why these stupid kids aren’t familiar with manual transmissions.
If you've never driven one, automatic cars feel super dangerous as you can accelerate indefinitely even when unconscious, and even in a normal situation your left foot clutch muscle memory will make you push the brake (to the floor) without meaning to as well.
I don’t know that this article did such a good job making the case for soldering as a hobby in so much as it lays the groundwork for someone who might need to use this tool to fix something his/herself. And that should be the emphasis.
I can drive a manual car, swim, and perform CPR — supposedly the three things an adult should know, but damn it if I spend more time in my workshop hunched over molten metal. I got other things to enjoy, as I’m sure many people younger than myself do too.