Teach yourself soldering..?

[Garrett]

I've a friend that used to do jobs for me, but that's not an option anymore as we know live quite a distance apart.

What would people recommend is the best way of learning..?

 

[dreamer]

Start here:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/U788CcJFPm0?feature=oembed

 

[kuru]

I started out with a learn-soldering kit I bought from some online shop. Cheap and has all the important instructions.

 

[levi]

I remember one of the first exercises I did when learning was to make a cube out of paperclip wire. Buy a massive box of paperclips then take 12 of them out and snip off the outside straight edge to end up with 12 straight lengths of rigid wire about 3/4 of an inch long. Then simply try to solder them together to make a wireframe cube. It's a good test of learning not to heat the stuff too long, else the wire will get hot and melt adjacent solder joins.


The first one will probably take you a while. Keep repeating it until you can get a cube with neat solder joins with not too much solder in them.


But yes, these days like most things, youtube is probably the most efficient way to learn.

 

[KickAss]

for starters use leaded solder!
it's so much easier.
really makes a difference.

 

[levi]

Yeah, that's a point - I'm old enough to have learned using leaded solder, and only more recently had to switch to the RoHS lead-free stuff. Soldering with the lead-free stuff isn't much harder if you've got a decent iron that goes to the higher temperature needed, but being quick with the iron is more important for obvious reasons.


To be honest I've no idea how to get the leaded stuff any more though. I'm guarding my loop of the stuff closely, for the odd occasion I need to repair older electronics (it's not a good idea to mix the stuff).

 

[TrashyMG]

Leaded solder is still easy to get in the US.. 

 

[dreamer]

for starters use leaded solder! it's so much easier. really makes a difference.

Just make sure you wash your hands afterwards.

You don't want to get lead-poisoning now ..

 

[T.T.]

Don't breath the fumes either......

 

[KickAss]

don't nibble the soldering tip!

 

[rError]

This is a real helpful video I link to when friends/family ask about soldering. Just the basics, but the creator actually explains what he's doing and why.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/How_to_Solder/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4

 

[Orion4874]

I remember the first time I tried soldering something. Nobody taught me anything and I didn't know you had to "tin" the tip of the iron. I was just trying to melt blobs of solder onto the board....... what a mess that was!

Anyway, buy a decent  pencil iron preferably with adjustable temp. Stay away from those $3 irons you see on Ebay. A fairly good iron could be purchased for around $20. It won't be the best but it'll get the job done.

 

[xiongxioi]

I agree, those under 10 bucks irons are absolutely horrid, they don't melt the lead well, they get messy easily and sometimes, they sparkles and damage your board. 

The most important thing to keep in mind while soldering, is to stay calm, do not panick, do not get angry, do not put the iron on the table or anywhere that's prone to a bloody drop on your foot.

 

[Binky]

Most importantly (and legend has it that my grandfather, a minor expert in the world of electrical connections, learnt this the hard way) do not pick it up from the wrong end!

 

[skeezix]

Soldering is not too hard; the only way to get any good at it, is just to do it.

Heck, even just get a perfboard and put 50 solder joints onto it

Theres definately some skills and tricks .. fairly recently I got into surface mount parts, had avoided them figuring they'd be a nightmare. Sometimes they are But in general, theres a couple simple techniques that let you solder SMD parts almost easier than regular DIP Thru parts ... (look up "drag soldering" on youtube.)

Theres a lot of good youtube, but I suggest.. just go at it; piece of cake really.

jeff