noob needs help with soldering

Cew27

Cew27

Cew27

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8 Apr 2008
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706
right im trying to get into messing with electricals. im just wondering i have the soldering iron (and solder) that comes with the belkin 50 odd piece toolkit. now i recently found out that the brand new tip whent black because it oxidies, now can can i get rid of this? also do i need to buy flux for soldering or is the amount in the solder enough?
thanks
 
solder should have flux in it ... its normall for the tip to go black but as long as u "tin" the tip it will be fine but can use some sandpaper or plumbers cloth to clean the tip .

Persil
 
Google search "Tip Tinner". Use it before and after each use of the iron. Just grind the tip into the stuff and then wipe it on a wet sponge.
 
Depends on what you are soldering as to wether you need more flux or not.

Soldering Sub-C NiMH cells for example, I can't get away with just the flux in the solder itself, and use a nickel based flux too.
 
neodude said:
Google search "Tip Tinner". Use it before and after each use of the iron. Just grind the tip into the stuff and then wipe it on a wet sponge.
Click to expand...

I do that with a new tip, but theres no reason to do it unless the tip has somehow lost its 'tin' or has become contaminated.
To the OP, bit of emery/wet and dry/ wire wool and re-tin the tip.
 
Do a search for "Rosin Flux Pen". The flux in the solder is never enough in my experience. Especially when you are soldering fine pitch SMT devices.
 
If it's gone black I'd just try heating it up and wiping it off on a wet sponge, getting some fresh solder on it as soon as it's clean.

If the solder doesn't "stick", you might need to invest in some tip cleaner, or it might be cheaper just to buy a new tip.

In my experience, a flux pen is only necessary for surface mount components.
 
Do you have any heat shrink? If no, get some! It makes everything much neater and also helps stop short circuits on stuff like the legs of an LED.
 
Generally, the tips that come supplied with cheaper soldering irons are terrible. Get to a decent electronic supplies store like the big M and grab a decent head, and decent solder with flux in. That's all you'll need for what you're doing.

The main thing with soldering is perfecting your technique. The big M also do a good range of soldering kits which make funky little electronic devices. You can perfect your technique while creating some useful (or not so useful, yet entertaining) items.
 
I haven't done a whole lot of soldering but a few tips handed down from my dad:

Use as little solder as possible! Joining wires only needs a tiny amount to help them stick together.

Melt the solder onto the tip then apply it. Don't make the mistake like I did of directly melting the solder onto the wire/connection.

And if you have long hair (like me :() then be careful! It melts damn easy and stinks the place up! Tie it back.
 
Darg said:
Melt the solder onto the tip then apply it. Don't make the mistake like I did of directly melting the solder onto the wire/connection.
Click to expand...

Not the way I was taught. Solder always flows towards the heat source, so you use the (well tinned) iron to heat the joint and then apply solder directly to the joint. Although for fine pitch SMT work I use a hoof tip which holds a load of solder in the tip meaning you can just run the iron along the leads.
 
Make it habit to tin the wires before soldering them.

This will give it a greater anchor, and reduce the likelyhood of fail.
 
p4radox said:
If it's gone black I'd just try heating it up and wiping it off on a wet sponge, getting some fresh solder on it as soon as it's clean.
Click to expand...
This, sometimes if you get a real build up of black stuff I have to scrape it off, but this is only with really old tips.

Also, soldering wires straight to a batteries is not recommended, use holders or even magnets if you can.
 
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