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General soldering tips

Durzel

Durzel

Registered
5Years
Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
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Location
Bath, UK
Ello,

I rebuilt my friends Funhouse flipper last night after the EOS switch blade had snapped off and as a result blew the flipper fuse. I started at about 7:30pm, and finished about three hours later. :oops:

What I've realised very quickly is that my soldering skills are useless. I bought a lithium battery powered soldering iron a while back, and whilst it was ok it didn't seem to be able to melt the solder that was already on the wires attached to the coil lugs when I attempted to desolder them. I ended up breaking out a mains powered one, which fared a bit better.

I had no problems taking the mechanism off the machine and taking it apart, putting it back together with new parts, but I really struggled with the soldering and desoldering aspect. When soldering I just seemed to get solder on the tip of the iron when offering up the solder reel to it, or I just ended up with a charred mess. I didn't even seem to be able to tin the wires properly, I don't know if that's because they had residual solder on them or not?

I also managed to burn my hand more than once. I felt pretty useless by the end of it. I've watched videos where people just pretty much glide over the lugs and wires and get a perfect, smooth solder blob on them. It felt like surgery for me.

This was the end result... not a pretty picture but the wires are at least attached well enough that you can wiggle them, etc. I don't know if it actually works yet because I'm waiting on a delivery of 2.5A SB fuses.

IMG_3116.jpeg

Anyone care to share any tips or links to equipment they use?
 
Quite possibly yeah. The person who wired the lugs before wrapped the wires around them which made it harder to remove them.. I could melt the solder, but trying to pull the wire off the lug whilst keeping the solder hot enough to let that happen seemed very difficult.

The lithium iron seemed to struggle to melt it.
 
Flux ,flux and more flux!
Also a clean soldering tip is so important along with good quality solder of the right size.
I heat up my iron,dip it in some flux and clean the tip in one of these.
The tip builds a layer of oxide and the heat won't transfer properly till you clean it.
After that its practice and patience!

F1368299-01.jpg
 
I think soldering is like everything else, practice makes perfect.
And I am no expert but like you i have watched many videos to try to improve my burgeoning skills.
Tip for de-soldering: use one of the tools that sucks up the melted metal. That helps. But for big blobs like on a coil, you will need several goes.
Tip for soldering: tin your iron first and foremost. That should avoid solder sticking to your iron
When tinning the wires/leg you want to solder, i understand the idea to be to get the iron in contact with the wire/leg to heat it up and not the solder reel. The solder reel should also be in contact with the wire/leg and should flow to it.
That's my understanding but i might be wrong!
 
Thanks. As you say I think I just need to practice a lot.

I don't think I cleaned the iron enough either. I did wipe it a few times on some kitchen towel, and in the process got bits of red hot solder on me. It was pretty much a disaster from start to finish really. I was going to rebuild all three flippers for him but I'm dreading that now.

The irons I've been using have got a pointed tip, should I get a chisel type one?
 
I wasn't tinning the iron last night, no. I must admit some of the process confuses me.. on on the one hand I'm being told I need to clean the iron, but then I also need to tin it as well.. so does the iron need to have no solder on or not?
 
I'm no expert I only solder mainly for this hobby, but I believe tinning (a clean tip) is essential. I store the iron with tinned tip to help prevent corrosion too between uses.
 
First thing to do: heat the iron, when It is hot, present the solder reel to it, a blob will come on the tip, then wipe it really quickly in a damp cloth. You should end up with a clean tip, that looks shiny. This shiny appearance is a thin layer of solder material.

So the essence is to use the solder to clean the iron...
 
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I have similar wire mesh cleaner that cryptkeeper posted above - can order from Ebay china cheap as chips, forget about it then nice surprise when it arrives :D 📦
 
the other factor is temperature. many soldering irons just don’t get hot enough when you place them into a large lug like the ones on flipper coils. eg my 25w pencil soldering irons just don’t hack it. or if they do you have to hold it on there for a while until the whole lug heats up enough to give a good solder flow.

now i use a solder station with adjustable temperature. for big lugs i put it on top heat 400 degrees. it solders these very quickly and easily.

also make sure you have a good quality solder with multicore flux.

clean the item to be soldered and also keep the tip of the soldering iron clean on burnt debris and old flux

to get a good joint strip the wire back to good clean wire apply the soldering iron and wait a few moments for the wire to heat up then feed the solder onto the place where the wire and soldering iron meet. you should get a nice tinned wire end.

do the same with the lug. melt off any old solder and apply new solder. then bring the wire onto the lug. apply soldering iron on top of the wire and the wire and lug should melt together with a nice silvery flow. apply more solder if needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Cryptkeeper said:
Have you any flux?
Click to expand...
Nope, no flux. I only vaguely know what it is :(

Sgt GrizZ said:
Cleanliness is next to godliness!

Soldering onto coil/switch lugs make sure they are clean or you'll never get the new solder to take. Remove any old crap. Wipe em down with IPA ( not beer)
Click to expand...
Yeah I think this was one of my mistakes last night. I desoldered the wires from the lugs, and pretty much did nothing else with them, and tried to resolder them back on (with some more solder to boot). It did not take very well.
 
AlanJ said:
the other factor is temperature. many soldering irons just don’t get hot enough when you place them into a large lug like the ones on flipper coils. eg my 25w pencil soldering irons just don’t hack it. or if they do you have to hold it on there for a while until the whole lug heats up enough to give a good solder flow.

now i use a solder station with adjustable temperature. for big lugs i put it on top heat 400 degrees. it solders these very quickly and easily.

also make sure you have a good quality solder with multicore flux.

clean the item to be soldered and also keep the tip of the soldering iron clean on burnt debris and old flux

to get a good joint strip the wire back to good clean wire apply the soldering iron and wait a few moments for the wire to heat up then feed the solder onto the place where the wire and soldering iron meet. you should get a nice tinned wire end.

do the same with the lug. melt off any old solder and apply new solder. then bring the wire onto the lug. apply soldering iron on top of the wire and the wire and lug should melt together with a nice silvery flow. apply more solder if needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Dumb question, how do you properly "melt off the solder" ? I was using the iron to get bits of it off, then wiping it on a towel, but it strikes me that this isn't the right way to do it. Say you've got the coil off the machine and the lugs have got all the old solder encrusting it.. how do you remove that properly? Heat it all up and then wipe with a paper towel or something?
 
Use a solder sucker? Search that on Google.
To be fair i have never used it on large joint but i guess if you have managed to heat it to melting point, it should work. It might take 4-5 goes to remove it all.
 
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- Large wires and large metal terminals act as a very efficient heat sink, so you need a lot of heat and larger tip on your soldering iron. You should avoid prolonged contact.

- As well as the tip, cleaning old wires and terminals is important. Cut and strip back the wires if possible.

- A solder station gives great control of temperature. As @AlanJ said, I also find 400º is required when desoldering - even though I may only use 350º when resoldering or 300º when soldering smaller components.

- I just use a damp sponge to clean the tip before tinning it, every time prior to soldering. @Cryptkeeper 's stuff looks good too.

- I use leaded solder with flux in the core. Each to their own! :)

- When desoldering - use a solder sucker. I find it a lot easier than desoldering braid. This is by a long way the best solder sucker I ever used: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quality-Innovative-Silicone-Nozzle-Engineer/dp/B002MJMXD4/

- To pracise your soldering and build your confidence, these kits are great fun!! http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d1.html Build yourself a bat detector! http://www.velleman.co.uk/contents/...eo_Ultrasonic_Bat_Detector_Minikit_K8118.html

CB
 
I used to use a sucker but then I got some wick.
I thought the wick was crap until I learned how to use it now I never (very rarely) use a sucker.
Adding extra flux to the wick and pulling the brading apart a little is key.
 
Most solder already has Flux in. Sometimes additional flux is useful.. however flux only improves the flow of the solder by cleaning the joint and removing oxidation.

The process i solder on PCB's is...

Switch Iron on.
Prepare board.
Apply Flux (if applicable - not always needed) to board
Apply/insert Component
Clean oxidation from tip of iron
Solder component & inspect Joints
Clean off Flux (Isopropol Alcohol) and re-inspect
Re-clean Iron Tip
onto the next one (or switch off iron)...

If the component wont solder and is a large pad, it's usually caused by too much area for the power of the iron... so either up the temp of the iron, or look to get a more powerful one!
 
pinballmania said:
Not sure it’s been said as I’ve only just flicked through this, but make sure you are NOT using lead free solder.
Click to expand...
I've been using this:

Solder Wire 0.6mm Lead Free Rosin Core Solder Wire for Electrical Solderding and DIY (50g): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Free delivery and returns on all eligible orders. Shop Solder Wire 0.6mm Lead Free Rosin Core Solder Wire for Electrical Solderding and DIY (50g).
www.amazon.co.uk
..which says Lead Free :( Why is that bad?
 
The soldering Iron is also listed as being 6watts.

This is just not going to be powerful enough. 18 watts minimum required i would say but closer to 30 watts for good heavy duty soldering.

The wattage is an indicator of the irons ability to maintain heat. Once you put it on a thick wire the tip temperature cools unless it’s powerful enough to maintain temp.
 
Almost all of the above. I'll always be a noob but my 2 penneth would be,

Have a couple of irons, one for fine and one for bigger work like coil tabs.

Hotter iron for shorter periods of time is better than a cooler one for longer periods.

Clean your iron tips with flux and a wipe with the above wire wool thingy. Make sure you tin the tip of your when you're all done. Cold damp sponges will clean the tip but not as good an idea with the thermal cycling possibly causing earlier failure.

Lead free solder is a bad thing. Better for the environment, but the failures of things like games consoles PS3's, Xbox 360's for example is all the proof you need. The lack of lead leads to brittle and cracked solder joints with the heat cycles.
 
Thanks for all the tips, it's been very informative.

I've started on the right flipper and it's been a lot quicker just keeping the iron tip clean, using a chisel tip instead of a pointed one. I've got some leaded solder wire too.

Thanks all.

E3D49906-69DD-436C-8A35-1C9B739E0A47.jpeg

EDIT: Wow this leaded solder is SO much easier to work with. Is there a downside to using it?
 
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Durzel said:
Thanks for all the tips, it's been very informative.

I've started on the right flipper and it's been a lot quicker just keeping the iron tip clean, using a chisel tip instead of a pointed one. I've got some leaded solder wire too.

Thanks all.

View attachment 87553

EDIT: Wow this leaded solder is SO much easier to work with. Is there a downside to using it?
Click to expand...
The lead is a carcinogen so try not to breath in the smoke too much. Having some sort of airflow across your workspace is a good idea!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 
Cheers, will remember that for next time. I figured there must've been a reason it was phased out. It was so much easier to work with though, I could even use my portable soldering iron, it melted really easily.

All done in less than an hour, which I know is probably slow compared to others but considering its my second ever full rebuild I'm pretty chuffed :)

7D0A3ACF-5BF3-47E3-A02D-A148B19FF465.jpeg
 
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