Looking for advanced soldering tips

[Braeden Hamson]

I'd say I'm decent at soldering. I can solder a wire onto a PCB trace. I bend the ends of my wires into hooks and hook them together when I splice and always use flux and heat shrink.

That's what I know. But I'm looking for any great things you guys have picked up over the years. One thing I know I don't know is what temps I should use on my iron and when.

 

[ZFpcba-Downey]

Check the two links below about soldering, hope they can help you. http://en.zfpcba.com/News/Company_News_&_Blog/291.html, http://en.zfpcba.com/News/Company_News_&_Blog/283.html

 

[(*steve*)]

Some of that advice is a bit dodgy.

My recommendation is to take any conical tip you have and carefully throw it as far away as possible. Replace it with a double flat (screwdriver) but for general soldering. The site of the to allows you to use many possible surfaces from one corner of the to to a large flat surface. With experience you'll be able to use one to fit a huge variety of work.

My other recommendation is to use the thickest solder you can. The as two reasons. Firstly it has the most flux in it, and secondly you get used to using the solder delicately which is really useful once you start soldering really small devices.

Another trick is to have a pen eraser handy to clean up surfaces and she's that are oxidised. A split in the eraser allows you to clean wires and even your solder! Whilst you may not need to do this often, if you have to get a good joint in a tight space or where there are temperature sensitive devices around, it can really help.

Also, lots of practice.