Soldering tips for a newbie?

[Rockets]

Marshall, there's definitely an art to soldering. I have to get recertified every year to those spec's. Everytime you think youi did a good job, the instructor puts the damn joint under the microscope to show you that you really SUCK!

Like most things the prep work, cleaning, jigs etc. is 95% of the job.There is nothing worse than having something move on you. One thing I failed to mention prior on the list of things to do, is to pre-tin your leads, turrets or what ever it is you are going to join. When you go back to do the final joint, it'll go slicker than snot.

Using the right diameter solder is also a good thing. Too small and you can't feed it fast enough, too big and you've got a nice blob to bragg about. Matching the tip to the job is also very important. Big tip, big job, small tip, small job. A bigger tip takes longer to get the heat sucked out of it, but that can work against you on small heat sensitive components. The reverse is also true. Applying heat to a larger sink, will suck the heat right out of the tip, forcing you to stay on the object longer and things start going terribly wrong....Measling, lifted lands......

One other thing, solder wants to travel to the heat source, so you want to apply the solder to the side opposite of the iron. For instance you'd want to place your iron on the opposite side of a PCB hole (top of the board) from which you'd apply the solder (bottom of board). Prior to this you would have pre-tinned each surface, and then cleaned and wetted your tip as you go in for the kill shot. Yeah, I know, some of you are thinking most PCB's are pre-tinned. It ain't the same, trust me! Try it sometime and you'll see what I mean. Part of pre-tinning means you will have to use some solder wick/braid to clean up the excess, but your final joint will be pur r r r r ty.

As far as braid or solder suckers, each has their place. I find it easier when using braid to pre-expand or loosen it up first. The solder will flow into it much faster. It's the only way to fly if you have to reflow up a long land and need to clean it up first.

I have a semi dead Weller here at home now. The digial readout no longer functions, but I can still vary the heat. This isn't the first one I've had this issue with either. For the price you pay, and as many years as they've been making the damn things, you'd think they'd finally figure it out! They need to get rid of the crappy connectors between the base and hand unit too!.