Soldering Hell

[indyld]

Great news on the new gear.

I bumped into someone today trying a new project. It was some kind of guitar pedal kit, simple fuzz box thing. Anyway, he has not done much soldering and I asked how he was getting on. He seemed frustrated so I said I'd take a look. I didn't mention too much about the already populated board which every joint looked cold, but helped him with the current task of soldering a short wire from a 1/4" jack lug to a point on the PCB.

The iron was something Multicomp Pro like, with a digital readout that read 385. I had a go at tinning the wire a little better to start - too cold. Bumped up to 420, Ok but not great. No flux around, but reckon can manage. Tried to get some heat into the jack lug and some solder onto it. Again, can't get the lug hot enough with the conical tip ( I NEVER use conical tips, other than angled ones that still have a decent surface area on micro work. Straight conicals never get enough heat down). Horrible, no flow, poor wetting etc. Managed to get a bit on the lug.

Look at solder. No name, Sn/Ag thing, not convinced it was flux cored. 

Long story short, I managed to get the wire into place with my own personal soldering score of about 3/10. I kindly explained to him that being frustrated was allowed as he was working against near impossible odds for a novice. Hopefully, when this project doesn't work first time, he'll keep the faith and try again.

Moral of the story is good soldering is only partially technique. It's also a large part tools and materials.

Edit to add: Obviously, this is task and station specific but my saved temps are 340, 380 and 420. I probably use 420 the most due to a combination of relatively small tips and massive thick multilayer boards specifically designed to wick heat away. My hot air station saved temps are 100, 380, 450.

Edited November 28, 2023 by indyld

[sleah]

20 hours ago, indyld said:

Moral of the story is good soldering is only partially technique. It's also a large part tools and materials.

I think it's one of those areas where a workman CAN blame his tools. Or I should say workperson / their ☺️