Soldering is difficult!!

[iCrashEdit]

Morning everybody,

Started my first build last night  I deeply underestimated how difficult soldering could be 

Anybody have any useful tips and/or tricks they use? i.e temperatures used, size of solder wire etc...

[Revs]

This is a decent vid that covers the important bits..

http://youtu.be/HMSlF1xFozc

What solder and iron are you using?

[Gav]

this subject pops up all the time hehe. 

Get some solder 60%tin 40%lead will help:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVERLINE-20g-100g-SOLDERING-WIRE-KIT-Electrician-Plumbing-Hobby-Circuit-Board-/201681275547?var=&hash=item2ef5240a9b:m:mMWWTyQ--WrzMGxoWHGzmIA

solder flux paste also. dip your stripped wire you want to ';tin'; into the paste and then solder it for a nice solder flow:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40g-tin-soldering-flux-paste-for-electronics-SMD-plumbing-DIY-etc-/121026854235?hash=item1c2dc33d5b:g:ggwAAOxy8HlSbCej

Soldering iron like this (loads on here use it)
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/60w-mains-lcd-solder-station-a55kj

It will solder everything you need on a quadcopter, small delicate stuff up to XT60 battery connectors (just about) but get these iron tips for it too :
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/replacement-tips-for-60w-professional-lcd-solder-station-a19kk


the above iron is a great deal when it is on offer (regularly) at 49.99.  At it';s normal price it';s not such a good deal.  There are many irons better of course but depends how much you want to spend -  Weller and Metcal etc are very good

you know when you have a nice joint with good flow - dry joints are what you want to avoid.  Takes practice but a satisfying skill once you master it.

[DarkButterfly]

+1 above.

Adding to that, practice on scrap electronics first before trying to build your project.

[iCrashEdit]

I already have a soldering iron and have watched many youtube vids, none the less thank you for the help,

Im more interested in peoples personal experience and guideline tips they may have, its always good to hear it from the horses mouth as it were

[Revs]

There';s not much more to cover than what';s in the vid, other than the hardware used. Just get some practice in. These are what I have used and recommend..

Best solder I';ve used, really good but not cheap.. http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=463_459&products_id=18359
Good cheaper alternatives.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391310923885 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112267375015

[Scubacrazy]

Although you say you have a soldering iron, is it actually up for the job?
If it';s not very powerful it will be difficult to use because the temperature won';t be high enough.
When I started to solder I practiced. A lot.
Just get some wire, strip them, and practice joining the pieces.
As already said, use lead solder, and flux.
The other thing I found useful was to use the correct tip for the job in hand.
I don';t know whether your iron has changeable tips, but if not, I would get one which has, and get some tips of various sizes.
I use a very fine tip if I am soldering header pins, or for small fiddly stuff, but if I am soldering a heavy gauge wire to a connector, eg XT-60 I use a big broad flat or chisel type tip.
And practice, lots of practice.
Good luck.

[iCrashEdit]

HaHaa thanks guys, I already soldered two motors to the ESC';s and then to the PDB after some quick practice, it went ok I guess,

Im an electrical engineer by trade so have loads of old cable lying around, Ill get some practice in later joining them together as I wont carry on my build until the weekend,

My iron has changeable tips and has temp control, it seems ok, although it was only around £20 it seems to be "Tinning" pads and cables ok and soldering also, however I will be ordering a flux pen to assist as advised,

[Hozza]

Can';t really add anything that hasn';t already been said, but remember good solder is your friend so stay clear of lead free :huh

[Scubacrazy]

Oh, and don';t forget to post some pics of your build !!
Good luck.

[Revs]

Temp wise I use 350-375c for smaller stuff, FC, ESC signal wires, etc. For the thicker wires or wire soldered to PDBs and ESC motor/power wires (which draw heat away fast) I use 400-450c. Just don';t dwell on the joint any longer than required to avoid transfering too much heat in to the component being soldered. And the number 1 rule; don';t move the wire at all until the solder has cooled through, usually 1-3 seconds. If you do you';ll get a dry joint, usually the solder looks dull and the surface looks kinda crystally.

If you';re doing several joints on one component, make sure it doesn';t get too hot. If it';s getting hot, let it cool before doing the next joint. If poss, move to the next component and solder that while the first one cools (ESCs).

Any decent leaded solder should easily melt on an iron set to 200c. That';s not enough to solder a joint but enough test the solder.

[teslahed]

When it comes to temperature bare in mind that you can';t simple copy someone else';s temperatures. That';s because all the different soldering Irons will be calibrated slightly differently. Especially if you aren';t spending £100s on a professional one that might be properly accurate. So your mate might get best results at 380 degrees with his Iron and you might need 400 to get the same results. I';ve replaced the heating element on my old Iron and had to adjust all the temperatures by 20 degrees afterwards for some reason - and that was the recommended Maplins Iron.

[Elmattbo]

Bruce did a video on soldering a while ago and his top tip for temperature was how long the solder smokes for. It';s a bit of a loose guide to start with until you start to figure what works on your iron. Have a look at the rcmodelreviews playlist, it';s there somewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pheasant_plucker]

Use a hot iron with as large a tip as practicable to hold the heat and work as quickly as possible. The worst thing you can do is use a low powered iron and hold it on until the joint gets to temperature. You will cause heat damage to delicate electronics.
Ideally you need to be on and off like a virgin on his wedding night.

Gerry

[DarkButterfly]

Use a hot iron with as large a tip as practicable to hold the heat and work as quickly as possible. The worst thing you can do is use a low powered iron and hold it on until the joint gets to temperature. You will cause heat damage to delicate electronics.
Ideally you need to be on and off like a virgin on his wedding night.

Gerry

Also holding the heat on too long can lift the pads on the PCB.

[ched]

My Tips, let the iron heat up, apply a little solder to the iron (this aids heat transfer to the components to be soldered), let the heat from the iron heat the components so when solder is applied to the components (not the iron) it';s the heat on the components that should be hot enough to melt the solder. The solder should flow and then don';t allow the components to move till the solder has cooled. The joint should be smooth and shiny not rough and dull. Rough and dull is a ';dry'; joint that will have higher resistance and fail. Dry joints need doing again.

Good luck.

[JeremyE]

The brutal truth about soldering is that if you need to solder above 320 degrees, your iron simply isn';t powerful enough. I have multiple soldering stations (including gas irons).

The 30W iron can';t do PDB';s because on larger joints it can';t supply enough power to hold the temperature (which also makes soldering a lot harder). If you then crank up the heat to compensate for the lack of power, all you do is risk destroying components and boards as you will still need to keep the iron on the joint to melt the solder.

My bigger iron (50 or 60W, not too sure) is an absolute dream to solder with. Everything from PDB';s, ESC';s up to 12AWG wire all solder quickly and easily at 320 degrees and have never damaged a component or board.

I also have a 70W gas iron which now gets used most, simply because it can give me the power I need without a cable.

My advice, invest in a really decent soldering iron.

[inspire.clone]

Morning everybody,

Started my first build last night  I deeply underestimated how difficult soldering could be 

Anybody have any useful tips and/or tricks they use? i.e temperatures used, size of solder wire etc...

Arrrgh the black art of soldering, the advise Gav gave you is spot on, soldering improves with practise. Flux is your friend, heat is also your friend but not too much. The main thing I learnt very early, you need a way of getting the heat into the item quickly but not over heating it. In the end I got a strip of copper and fluxed it, then played about with my soldering iron. Pop over to YouTube. Some very good knowledge can be found there! Also try and find someone on here that lives near you. We all like to help in the Multirotor hobby

Regards

Stuart