How do you solder?
- Thread starter J.D
- Start date
XCVG
ModRetro Legend
1. soldering wires/component leads to PCB holes: Shove the lead/wire through the hole, you want to solder on the OPPOSITE side you put the wire/component. Try to heat the hole and wire at the same time, apply a bit of solder. Let it flow nicely then remove heat. Try to keep them in place as you solder- with solid wires and components you can simply bend it perpendicular to the board.
2. soldering wires to wires: There are a few techniques. One is to tin (that means to coat with solder) both leads then join them together while heating. Another is to twist the wires together (hard to do straight but you only need a little angle to make it easy) and heat and add solder.
3. soldering wires to pads or existing leads: If your wire is stranded, twist it. If solid, don't. Then tin the wire and the lead or pad. Heat up the pad until the solder melts then push the wire on, heating both. Let flow, remove iron, let cool. This technique works while freeforming circuits too.
4. soldering ICs onto PCBs: Push the IC into the holes, it should be snug. If not, tape the sucker down. Solder one corner, using the first technique above. Then do the OPPOSITE CORNER and you can remove the tape. Then of course you can do all the other leads. This works for IC sockets as well.
It takes practice, after a while you will develop a technique. Practice on some old crap electronics that you don't care about first. The PCB techniques work with perfboard too.
Now for desoldering:
1. solder bridges: When soldering close-together components you may make solder bridges. Obviously they are bad. If there isn't a lot of solder you can usually just heat it up and the excess will go on your iron. If there's a lot you need to use solder braid (below).
2. desoldering with braid (aka wick): This works best for smaller joints with less solder. Put the braid on or against the desired pin. Heat it up, THROUGH THE BRAID, with your iron. It will suck up the solder!
3. desoldering with a pump: This works best for lots of solder and not so many pins. Heat up the solder and suck away with the pump. It may take a few tries. For smallish leads you will need to put the pump OVER the molten solder.
4. desoldering with a desoldering iron: Same as with a pump, except you don't need to heat it first.
5. "heat and pull" desoldering: This works with big, long leads, and won't work well if the component has more than 2 leads. Works good with wires. Like it says, heat the joint and pull on the leg or the component (or wire, duh). Repeat for the other lead if there is one. Sometimes gravity is enough to provide the pull. This is kinda rough, and can damage components and pads.
For supplies, you will need for sure:
Soldering Iron (get a decent one, ask me if you need help)
Solder (don't bother with lead free, just a big pain in the rear)
Desoldering Pump
Desoldering Braid
You might want to get flux, but I don't use it and I don't have any problems.
2. soldering wires to wires: There are a few techniques. One is to tin (that means to coat with solder) both leads then join them together while heating. Another is to twist the wires together (hard to do straight but you only need a little angle to make it easy) and heat and add solder.
3. soldering wires to pads or existing leads: If your wire is stranded, twist it. If solid, don't. Then tin the wire and the lead or pad. Heat up the pad until the solder melts then push the wire on, heating both. Let flow, remove iron, let cool. This technique works while freeforming circuits too.
4. soldering ICs onto PCBs: Push the IC into the holes, it should be snug. If not, tape the sucker down. Solder one corner, using the first technique above. Then do the OPPOSITE CORNER and you can remove the tape. Then of course you can do all the other leads. This works for IC sockets as well.
It takes practice, after a while you will develop a technique. Practice on some old crap electronics that you don't care about first. The PCB techniques work with perfboard too.
Now for desoldering:
1. solder bridges: When soldering close-together components you may make solder bridges. Obviously they are bad. If there isn't a lot of solder you can usually just heat it up and the excess will go on your iron. If there's a lot you need to use solder braid (below).
2. desoldering with braid (aka wick): This works best for smaller joints with less solder. Put the braid on or against the desired pin. Heat it up, THROUGH THE BRAID, with your iron. It will suck up the solder!
3. desoldering with a pump: This works best for lots of solder and not so many pins. Heat up the solder and suck away with the pump. It may take a few tries. For smallish leads you will need to put the pump OVER the molten solder.
4. desoldering with a desoldering iron: Same as with a pump, except you don't need to heat it first.
5. "heat and pull" desoldering: This works with big, long leads, and won't work well if the component has more than 2 leads. Works good with wires. Like it says, heat the joint and pull on the leg or the component (or wire, duh). Repeat for the other lead if there is one. Sometimes gravity is enough to provide the pull. This is kinda rough, and can damage components and pads.
For supplies, you will need for sure:
Soldering Iron (get a decent one, ask me if you need help)
Solder (don't bother with lead free, just a big pain in the rear)
Desoldering Pump
Desoldering Braid
You might want to get flux, but I don't use it and I don't have any problems.
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
J.D said:
XCVG:
X-treemely
Cool
Visionary/
Geek
-Arrow-> said:samjc3 said:-Arrow-> said:
that's what my dad calls it
A soldering gun is a real term, but they should really only be used for things like removing RF boxes from mobos. Or welding bicycles. Irons are what are generally use for electronics, though some people still use guns if they have no other means available.
Also:
X-Treme
C-oconuts
V-isible
are
G-ood.
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
We should start a whole other thread contemplating what XCVG stands for. I just know that the second somebody makes it, XCVG will post in it and tell us, and the thread will be wasted. 
SOLDERING
YEAH
These are some of the best resources on the entire internets.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-solder/?ALLSTEPS THA BASICS
http://soldering.tehskeen.com/ Covers a couple oddities specific to modding as well as basic soldering
http://curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/ Go get a dime. Look at "E PLURIBUS UNUM". See the E? Yeah, solder something that big why don'tcha. I can.
YEAH
These are some of the best resources on the entire internets.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-solder/?ALLSTEPS THA BASICS
http://soldering.tehskeen.com/ Covers a couple oddities specific to modding as well as basic soldering
http://curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/ Go get a dime. Look at "E PLURIBUS UNUM". See the E? Yeah, solder something that big why don'tcha. I can.
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
Too bad we don't have the wiki anymore; had loads of useful info.
themadhacker
Crazy Train
JD, allow me to introduce you to a very important aspect of hacking now.
Trash pick, dumpster dive, whatever you want to call it. DO IT!
People allways throw out what I consider profitable and useful treasures. These treasures are also refered to as old vcr units that eat the tapes more than play them, cable boxes, old crashed computers and really anything else that is electronic and salvagable from the trash. All electronic trash can be used for something. VCRs have tact switches and LED lights you can use. Computers have endless amounts of wire, heatsinks, and fans, and most electronics have capacitors and resistors. Everything you find on the board desolder it. organize the parts you have desoldered for when you need them later. If you plan on doing hacking for a while, you WILL need the parts. Also, there are sometimes people who throw out working items. This is more common than you would think. I have pulled from trash cans, one working fan, four vacuum cleaners that just needed smething like a new belt, a stereo, and tons of other stuff I can't think of right now. working items can be cleaned up and sold for money which you can use for hacking. If you are lucky, sometimes a person will be throwing out an old game system. That goes ahead and saves you money for buying a system to portablieze.
Also, ask around. Lots of people have broken stuff they are willing to give away rather than toss it. I have gotten a portable dvd player with AV in that won't read disks, a psp 1001 with a shattered LCD, a few old crashed computers, and tons of television hookups all free.
Now I know that has nothing to do with how to solder, but as you are new to the modding scene, I decided to give you my most valued tip. Trash picking can really save your butt in the end, especially if you are on a tight budget and don't want to pay radioshack for overpriced items.
Trash pick, dumpster dive, whatever you want to call it. DO IT!
People allways throw out what I consider profitable and useful treasures. These treasures are also refered to as old vcr units that eat the tapes more than play them, cable boxes, old crashed computers and really anything else that is electronic and salvagable from the trash. All electronic trash can be used for something. VCRs have tact switches and LED lights you can use. Computers have endless amounts of wire, heatsinks, and fans, and most electronics have capacitors and resistors. Everything you find on the board desolder it. organize the parts you have desoldered for when you need them later. If you plan on doing hacking for a while, you WILL need the parts. Also, there are sometimes people who throw out working items. This is more common than you would think. I have pulled from trash cans, one working fan, four vacuum cleaners that just needed smething like a new belt, a stereo, and tons of other stuff I can't think of right now. working items can be cleaned up and sold for money which you can use for hacking. If you are lucky, sometimes a person will be throwing out an old game system. That goes ahead and saves you money for buying a system to portablieze.
Also, ask around. Lots of people have broken stuff they are willing to give away rather than toss it. I have gotten a portable dvd player with AV in that won't read disks, a psp 1001 with a shattered LCD, a few old crashed computers, and tons of television hookups all free.
Now I know that has nothing to do with how to solder, but as you are new to the modding scene, I decided to give you my most valued tip. Trash picking can really save your butt in the end, especially if you are on a tight budget and don't want to pay radioshack for overpriced items.
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
So can mooching... in moderation, of course. 
themadhacker
Crazy Train
That's sorta how I got the psp.
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
Just make sure you know where to draw the line, otherwise you'll end up like banditpaw1. 
Basement_Modder
He who mods in thy basement.
J.D said:Now I wish I hadn't thrown away the bottom half of my DS a year ago (but that was before I was in the modding scene)
I see someone finally found a use for the
XCVG
ModRetro Legend
themadhacker said:
I took the junk the robotics teacher didn't want. Like, he would get us to desolder the tacts from a VCR, then throw out the boards. I got a lot of stuff from that classroom... too bad it's the summer. Now I have to order stuff. And my dad HATES it when I take junk home. But anyway, he's right, junk is an excellent source of parts. Get some of those multi-compartment organizer bins to store components in.
Also, do you have a multimeter? Those are a must-have for modding. A cheapy that does at least ohms and DC volts is adequate.
I can tell you all what XCVG means if you want.
