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How many here can actually solder?


Deang

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we got an order for 6,000 surge protectors and I went through 5 pounds of multicore and 8 pounds of solid core, about 42,000 solder joints, on that one project alone.

 

OK, you win!  :D   :emotion-21: 

 

Me, I have a certification in "lousy."  My solder joints look like somebody squirted a tube of toothpaste on the solder joint.

 

My grade would be "C" or lower.  :emotion-45:

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Dean you know how many times you ask people, can you solder? They tell you, "oh yeah I can solder just fine" then they haul out their 1/4 pound half inch thick tip iron or their many decades old and battered but trusty soldering gun with the original tip "still working just great", in the other hand is the leftover roll of 1/4" thick plumbing solder left over from the bathroom reno in 96.

   If you do not have a decent electronics soldering station with temp adjust you are asking for problems with the likes of pp caps where you need to get in and get out as cool as you can. Kits are not the best way to go and the real problem is the bad PR you have to eat from people who not only don't know what they are doing but who are shallow enough to throw you under the bus when they screw up. You work very long an hard only to have dick whits destroy your reputation. Even a person who means no harm can do almost as much harm by botching a build and then comment that they are not sure it is any better than the original 35 year old stock network. In there honest sincerity they sow the seeds of doubt. There is no way around it all it is simply the way it is. Lets not even talk about the other guy who steals your work from you and signs it with his name.

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IMO, the most important thing to a good solder joint is a clean tip from a damp sponge.  The best temp controlled soldering iron, with the best solder, cannot overcome a dirty tip.

 

 

How many get confused by series or parallel?

Edited by DizRotus
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For many years. The most important part is the mechanical connection, not the solder. The phone company (Western Electric) use wire wrap tools in the exchanges which would wrap the wire around the stud about 5 times and did not solder. The wire would gouge and jammo jammo itself into each corner of the four corner stud. Electrical conduction from wire thru solder to connector is un- acceptable.

 

JJK

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 They tell you, "oh yeah I can solder just fine" then they haul out their 1/4 pound half inch thick tip iron or their many decades old and battered but trusty soldering gun with the original tip "still working just great",

Check.

 

in the other hand is the leftover roll of 1/4" thick plumbing solder left over from the bathroom reno in 96.

Check

 

   If you do not have a decent electronics soldering station with temp adjust you are asking for problems

Check, meaning, $8 soldering pencil from Radio Shack from the last century.

 

How many get confused by series or parallel?

 

Uh, Check Mate?  :wacko:

+++

 

At some point I have a project I have to re-solder and I am ready for a decent soldering station and I'd like a recommendation for electronics solder.

 

Do I need flux, or is it in the solder?

 

Don't think me totally ignorant as I do know which end of the soldering iron to plug in.  But not much past that.

Edited by wvu80
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Do I need flux, or is it in the solder?

 

Normally when you use rosin core, it's in the solder.

 

Some of the nicest looking solder joints I've seen (besides Deans) are done by Maynard.  He's never used anything but a standard old school single temp iron.

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Took two college classes that were based on soldering alone in electrical engineering school, basically a year's worth of 3 days of week for an hour, just soldering. Does that count? Not saying I want your work or anything.

After that we made our own PC boards from scratch which was kind of neat, had to do it the old school way where we dipped it in an acid bath by hand, then soldered all the components to the board.

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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How many get confused by series or parallel?

Was talking to Mark Seaton on the phone Thursday night, he mentioned taking four dual voice coil subs, wiring the coils in series, then running them all in parallel. Check. Except then he rephrased it about 3 times to make sure I understood. I was finally like, come on dude. :) Apparently it's rocket science to some.

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For many years. The most important part is the mechanical connection, not the solder. The phone company (Western Electric) use wire wrap tools in the exchanges which would wrap the wire around the stud about 5 times and did not solder. The wire would gouge and jammo jammo itself into each corner of the four corner stud. Electrical conduction from wire thru solder to connector is un- acceptable.

 

JJK

This is the way I was taught.

And I violate that rule all the time, Most of the time I just can't get a great mechanical connection and so rely on the solder. But I do try.

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Do I need flux, or is it in the solder?

 

Normally when you use rosin core, it's in the solder.

 

Some of the nicest looking solder joints I've seen (besides Deans) are done by Maynard.  He's never used anything but a standard old school single temp iron.

 

Indeed.

He's been helping me out through emails, and sent a close-up photo of good resolution for a reference. The first thing I noticed was the soldering joints looked really, really nice!  

Edited by mike stehr
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It is true that wire wrap is very reliable and eliminates that need for soldering skills. Unfortunately, you can not use it for building a crossover or on a printed circuit board. Same for crimping.

Back in the day I used many non temperature controlled irons which, cumulatively, were expensive. And also standard 60/40 solder. There was always the issue of not getting the joint hot enough, or even too hot.

So I purchased:

http://www.parts-express.com/kester-44-rosin-core-solder-63-37-031-1-lb-spool--370-074

http://www.parts-express.com/weller-wes51-soldering-station--372-145

The solder does not have a slushy stage. The iron maintains just the right temperature.

Instead of soldering being an adventure, now it is a pleasure.

As far as cost, remember what Click and Clack (Car Talk) said: "It's the stingy man who spends the most."

WMcD

Edited by WMcD
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It is true that wire wrap is very reliable and eliminates that need for soldering skills. Unfortunately, you can not use it for building a crossover or on a printed circuit board. Same for crimping.

Back in the day I used many non temperature controlled irons which, cumulatively, were expensive. And also standard 60/40 solder. There was always the issue of not getting the joint hot enough, or even too hot.

So I purchased:

http://www.parts-express.com/kester-44-rosin-core-solder-63-37-031-1-lb-spool--370-074

http://www.parts-express.com/weller-wes51-soldering-station--372-145

The solder does not have a slushy stage. The iron maintains just the right temperature.

Instead of soldering being an adventure, now it is a pleasure.

As far as cost, remember what Click and Clack (Car Talk) said: "It's the stingy many who spends the most."

WMcD

True. I have been guilty of just jamming the wire end in there and cooking the crap out of it. A friend of mine went through NASA soldering school when he worked for Boeing. He took way to much time but his stuff was God awful beautiful, best I ever saw. Everything perfect and within micro inches dimensionally.

JJK

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I can solder.

 

- At one time in my life I was employed as a Process Engineer/Technical Trainer for a United States Department of Defense contractor. I was certified/recertified as an instructor at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California.  I was qualified to train and certify hand soldering and wave flow soldering machine operators to meet the following specifications: Weapon Spec-6536E, DoD-STD-2000, MIL-STD-2000, NASA-STD-8739.3. I taught/certified/failed Assembly Line Operators/Supervisors, Quality Control Inspectors, Quality Assurance Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Procurement Engineers and NATO partner engineers/technicians. One of the most flattering accomplishments of my career was when I was selected to draft the Workmanship & Quality Standards chapter on soldering for the DoD side of the corporation. We manufactured weapon systems (FLIR's, missiles, drones and too many other weapon systems to list) as well as Space Navigation Receiver (SNR) satellites (commonly known as GPS).

 

- In Junior High school I first learned to solder in the Boy Scouts (Merit Badges in Electricity, Electronics & Home Repairs) and a year long course in Junior High shop class (Electricity & Electrical Circuits).

 

- While I was a kid, my next door neighbor (Mr. Burgess) operated a television and radio repair shop out of a 20 x 60 foot outbuilding in his backyard. I spent hours and hours and hours watching and learning from him. I had the immense privilege and pleasure to help with the repairs as an unpaid apprentice.

 

- Some of my first projects as a teenager were: Heathkits (vacuum tube pre-amplifiers/amplifiers/tuners and loud speakers), Dynakits (solid state pre-amplifier/amplifier) and countless Edmunds Scientific projects which only supplied the minimal ingredients and required me to scrounge high-and-low for the rest of the components (or just make them myself). I hand-wired and assembled an overhead projector, an AM crystal radio, a shortwave radio receiver, a HAM radio transceiver, a clock/radio, a telescope, VOM meters, a dual-trace oscilloscope, a sine-wave/square-wave generator, two tube testers and various other gadgets and kits just for fun. 

 

- Other projects: I ordered and hand-assembled from scratch the last two Moondog amplifier kits sold by Welborne Labs.

 

- Current projects: I recently ordered and received the parts from Parts Express to rebuild the crossovers in my Radio Shack Minimus 7 speakers.

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

In other words Dean, if you decide to offer a crossover as a kit, I am confident that I could build it.

 

:)

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Edited to add: I also learned a great deal about WIRE WRAP applications and how to test/inspect/certify wire wrap tools and operators. I was even called upon to prove to DoD inspectors (DCASPRO - Defense Contract Administration Services Plant Representative's Office) that wire wrap connections were superior to solder connections in our satellite assemblies. CAVEAT: this superiority can only be guaranteed "IF-and-only-WHEN" the terminals, the wires, the tools, the operators and the inspectors are all properly certified and tested ! ! ! 

 

For example: wire wrap connections were used exclusively in many of the satellites that I worked on for two primary reasons; 1) outgassing issues with solder connections, and 2) the proven mechanical rigidity of wire wrap connections and the impossibility/impracticability of retrieving the satellite for repair-or-replacement.

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Edited to add: After I left the field of DoD contract work, I entered the field of Telecommunications and Data Network Infrastructure. You might be surprised to learn that the PREDOMINATE method of making electrical/electronic connections in these fields is via WIRE WRAP and INSULATION DISPLACEMENT CONTACT connections. 

When properly made, the connector blade cold-welds to the conductor, making a theoretically reliable gas-tight connection.

Edited by blindman
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I've been soldering since I was about 15 years old, have built amps, etc, BUT I don't like to do it -- always concerned about overheating something (or underheating it), even though I use heat sinks.

 

On another subject, I find that cats and dogs are love sinks -- they soak up any extra love that is around.

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