Soldering Tips for Beginners

You can get these from most hardware or tools stores. For a beginner I would recommend that you go for a regular 30W soldering iron.

30 Watts is enough for a beginner, don't bite the bullet and go for the higher rating soldering irons, some of the higher rating soldering irons have a significantly higher heat output and will easily melt through your PCB board.

You can go for a slightly higher rating 50-60 Watts should be okay, just remember that the rating of a soldering iron is an indication to how hot it gets, the higher rated irons wont heat up faster they will just produce more heat.

Unless your Iron came with a stand you're going to need one, you can pick these up fairly cheaply from an electronics or hardware store. Make sure that you get a sponge with this so that you can clean your iron.

You're also going to need a set of basic tools, Wire clippers, long nose pliers' and a solder sucker.

The solder sucker is going to be particularly important especially if your just learning.

Now that you have all your tools and your iron you're going to want to start soldering...

Before I start I want to cover the health and safety aspect of this hobby. Soldering can be fun but there are precautions to take.

Your soldering iron can present a fire hazard if not handled correctly; you need to ensure that when you're not using the iron you switch off and unplug from the mains. When turned on the iron must always be in its stand when the operator is not using the iron. Never immerse a soldering iron in water as this will shorten its life and may lead to the person being electrocuted. The tip of the iron heats up to 250 Centigrade which is hot enough to melt through fabrics and scorch most surfaces. Children will need to be supervised by a responsible adult when using this kit.

It's advised that when soldering you wear safety goggles, I've soldered many kits over the years without the use of goggles without issue, however there was a one occasion where a small amount of flux in the solder flew onto my eyebrow. The flux was still hot from the iron and yes it was a unpleasant experience...just glad that it wasn't my eye

Soldering is an art and doesnt come overnight. If you have good hand control then this will be a lot easier to grasp. Your iron is there to heat the surfaces and the solder is to form a permenant bold between the two surfaces.

Practise soldering odd peices of wire together, strip to peices of wire down at the ends and twist them together with your hands, now using your soldering iron heat the twisted wires and apply the solder. if you have done this correctly the solder should flow easily onto the heated wires and form a good strong bond with a shiny solder joint. Once you have applied the solder remove the iron and wait a few seconds for the solder to cool and set.

You may need to practise this a few times before you get the hang of it, Sometimes the best way to solder 2 wires is to prop them up or on something for support. Do whatever it takes to make the job easier but try to aviod using one's mouth. Im amazed at just how many people use there mouth to hold a soldering iron or tool while doing the job, if your doing this practise...Stop....this is a bad habbit and will most lickely result in an accident or personnal injury later down the line.

If your right handed you should hold your iron in your right hand, the solder in the left and use the side of your hand or other objects to support the components/contacts that are being soldered. Vise versa if your left handed.

I reccommend starting off soldering wires to build your skill first, once your confident you can move on to solder some of the beginner kits. Ideally you want to heat the contacts just enough so that the solder can easily flow onto them to create a good solid joint, but not so much that you start to melt the plastic insulation.

Apply the soldering iron to the contact for a few seconds, you need to angle the iron to that you can feed the solder onto the tip. If the surface is hot enough then the solder will flow over and coat the contact.

Its important to keep the tip of your iron clean, your sponge needs to be damp (not soaked) and this should be done ideally before soldering each joint to keep the tip in good shape and wipe any old excess solder off. When cleaning the tip simply wipe the tip of the iron over the wet sponge. Its normal to hear a hissing sound when you do this as the tip heats the water but you should never soak the sponge. Wet the sponge under a tap and squeze off the excess water. You know when you have too much water on your sponge if you have a pool of water in the sponge holder.

Now that your comfortable with the basics its time to get building your first kit. Have a look in your local electronics store they should sell them. Maplin electronics do a lot of these kits but there are lots of other stores out there that sell them.

Firstly and formostly you will need to read the manual assembly instructions carefully. The average kit will contain resistors, capicators, LED's, diodes and other electronic conponents. Resistors and capacitors have different values and these must be observed correctly in order for the kit to function properly. Most of the manuals supplied have a diagram which shows the resistor colour code. Resistors do not have a polarity so as long as youve identified the correct value your okay to begin soldering this into the PCB.

Capicators take many forms, the electrolitic capicators do have a polarity and can be quite dangerious when installed with the polarity reversed. Most kits label the polarity on the PCB board to help the opperator from installing this the wrong way around. Also the capicator its self will have markings on the side as an indication. What makes this dangerious is that theres a risk that a capicator can explode if polarity is not observed when power is applied. another reason for safety goggles.

Its good practice to have some spare tubs and organise the conponents, This will make it easier for you to locate the components during assembly. One of the most frequently memories I have is searching for that odd component that dropped on the floor. Check that all the components are there before you start. Most of the time the kit will always be there but by spending just a few minutes checking you will save yourself hassle and time later on. If any of the kit is missing take it back to the store asap.

If this is your first kit sit down and read the guide through before working on this. Its never a bad idea to check and double check that your soldering the correct component. if your unsure of the component values measure it with a multimeter.

Some of the components like the resistors will need there legs bending in order for the legs to slide smoothly into the holes in the PCB. Use your plyers to assist you in making a clean bend in the component legs. You should grip the plyers on the componenet leg near to the base of the resistor firmly and using your finger make a clean 90 degree straight bend. Be careful not to apply too much pressure with the plyers and try to be as accurate as you can when making the bend. If your plyers are spaced too far from the base of the resistor then the bend point will over reach the hole, If the plyers are not spaced far enough out from the resistor when you bend the legs then the component will not easily sit in its position when the legs are pushed through the holes on the PCB board.

Ideally your aiming to get this as accurate as possible, sometimes its a good help to make that first initial bend on the first resistor leg, place the bent leg into the hole on the PBC to get a good measurement and then using the plyers press and hold them on the other unbent side to be more accurate. If you have done this correctly the resistor should simply slide in to the PCB.

Another good tip is to slightly bend the resistor legs when there in the PCB. This will support the componenet and secure it in place while you solder it. You dont have to bend the legs all the way down just enough to that the component will not side out when the PCB is turned upside down and soldered.

The ammount of solder that you apply to any point is important. To make a good soldering point you must ensure that the joint is hot enough for the solder to flow smoothly but not too hot that it causes thermal damage to the components. Most of this will come with time and practise.

Fortunately most components have a good resistance to heat from a soldering iron althought it will not do any component any good to get hot all the time. If you do find that you have appled too much solder to a joint, you can use the solder sucker to remove this. The solder sucker is a tube thats spring loaded, you heat the solder joint until the solder is in its molten state and placing the funnel of the solder sucker near the solder joint. when you press the trigger release button this springs the rod back which stucks up the solder from the joint.

Solder suckers can be useful when you want to dismentle a kit or to remove a failed componenet from a PCB board.

The diagram above will give you an idea of how a good solder joint should look. Good solder joints should also have a shiny tint to them.

Most PCB's today are assembled and soldered by machines on a production line run. This has 2 advantages its faster that a human and its more precise, the machines can place the components on the board with hairline prescision and always ensure the correct amount of sounder is applied. This is achevied by running the underside of the PCB on a solder bed which is a fast controlled state allowing the correct amount of solder to stick to the contact while the excess drips off back into the bed