Soldering n00b

I.M.O.G. · Aug 19, 2012

So I have a 4870 here handed down to me from Janus67. He voltmodded it, however its got a loose wire. I see where it goes, and the wire still has a blob of solder on the end of it.

I tried to fix it quickly the other day, but it was a no go.

I heated up my iron, put the wire/blob where it needs to go, then pressed down on top of the blob with the iron, holding it there until it melted. Once it melted, I took the iron off. I let it sit to cool but when I went back and touched the wire, it wasn't bonded as I had hoped.

What am I doing wrong?

ChanceCoats123 · Aug 19, 2012

Probably need a little flux on the soldering point to help it stick.

dejo · Aug 19, 2012

make sure that you use alittle solder on the tip of the iron as well, that will help transfer heat from the tip to the wire and keep you from having to hold the tip on as long. solder will flow to where you get the heat to, if no heat passes to the pad it basically isnt going to stick well

HAL-9000 · Aug 19, 2012

ARandomOWL · Aug 19, 2012

Flux does not help the solder stick, but it will help it flow. Adding a little solder to the end of your iron will improve the thermal transfer and allow the solder already on the joint to melt more easily. Use leaded solder if you have it as it flows much easier. If you are having trouble melting the solder already on the joint, you probably need to increase your iron temperature or use a bigger tip.

HAL-9000 · Aug 19, 2012

The key is to heat the wire without touch the solder with the iron. The solder will naturally flow & cling to the wire when you transfer the heat through it.

Like dejo said, keep the tip of the iron "tinned" by putting a little solder on it & flicking off the excess. This will help with solder flow & keep the iron from sticking.

jazon1 · Aug 19, 2012

your contact is contaminated and needs to be cleaned for it to bond(possibly grease from fingers).

the proper thing to do would be to remove the wire from it totally let it cool
then get a pink pencil eraser and rub the pads surface to to polish it a little and remove large contaminants then clean it off with the purest rubbing alcohol you can get your hands on, let it dry then try to re solder it should stick, might want to clean and re tin the wire as well.

proper way to solder is to heat the pad first add a dot of solder to it then push the wire into the blob and remove the solder iron hold it in place til its cooled enough to stay on its own.

dont mess with flux it will just make it a mess and dont turn your iron up any more as that pad has probably been heated up a few times now and if you keep heating it its possible the pad will lift of the pcb .

Operant · Aug 19, 2012

All of the above is correct. Make sure you try to heat the wire and even the contact point a bit (exercising caution with this obviously) like HAL said. A damp/wet sponge is also a great way to clean off your iron's tip so you can "re-tin" it. Not the best way to do it but it works wonders for me when I have 30+ components to solder. What solder are you using by chance (leaded or leadless)?

I.M.O.G. · Aug 20, 2012

Thanks guys, appreciate the guidance. I hadn't heated the pad at all - just pressed down on the hardened blob already on the wire until it melted, and hoped it would just stick... I was nervous about heating the pad a bit, as I don't know what I'm doing, and didn't want to damage the card yet (that is what voltage is for).

Heres what I'm going to do:

1. Clean the pad with pencil eraser, then alcohol
2. Clean existing solder off wire
3. Heat pad/apply tiny blob to pad
4. Stick wire in blob

Will give it a shot tomorrow probably.

Bobnova · Aug 20, 2012

Here's what I would do:
Look in your dead HW pile and grab something dead.
Strip a 80pin PATA/IDE cable into individual wires.
Solder some wires to some things as practice.
Spend a bit of time learning how to put new solder on old joints (heat the joint, feed the solder in), spend a bit more learning how to "tin" the wire (heat the wire, apply solder. For tiny stuff, heat the wire and apply solder to the wire/iron where they meet).

Once you've done a few without any pressure it'll make a lot more sense and you can solder on a living card.

I.M.O.G. · Aug 20, 2012

Ok, thats probably a good idea. I might be able to find something dead around here I suppose. :facepalm:

I am a bit unclear on how I'm supposed to heat the pad, heat the wire, and apply the solder. By my count, that requires 3 hands!

Bobnova · Aug 20, 2012

Here's what I do:

Heat the pad, apply solder.

Heat the wire, apply solder.

Hold wire to pad, heat both (I touch next to the wire, or on the wire if it's really fine gauge wire). The two (brand new, fresh) solder-coated things will both melt and bond to each other.
Remove iron, hold wire in place while solder solidifies.

ssjwizard · Aug 20, 2012

Bobnova said:
Here's what I do:

Heat the pad, apply solder.

Heat the wire, apply solder.

Hold wire to pad, heat both (I touch next to the wire, or on the wire if it's really fine gauge wire). The two (brand new, fresh) solder-coated things will both melt and bond to each other.
Remove iron, hold wire in place while solder solidifies.

I was having issues with my asus A8N vMod until he suggested I tin the pad and follow this method. After I went this route all my problems were solved.

jazon1 · Aug 20, 2012

+1 to eds idea practice would be a great idea if you have a board you can abuse somewear,
also radio shack sells some little robot kits dirt cheep to use to learn to solder on as well we used to use to teach people on.
found a site that has a bunch of the kits here

hokiealumnus · Aug 20, 2012

I.M.O.G. said:
Ok, thats probably a good idea. I might be able to find something dead around here I suppose.

I am a bit unclear on how I'm supposed to heat the pad, heat the wire, and apply the solder. By my count, that requires 3 hands!

If you get to things that you just can't manage to do with two hands, you need helping hands! Regrettably I don't actually have one of those but definitely plan on getting one if volt mods become something I do regularly. :salute:

I.M.O.G. · Aug 20, 2012

Thanks hokie, I may look into that eventually. I'll probably want to do my own mods eventually too. For now, Bobnova's modded cards service is top notch though.

jazon1 · Aug 20, 2012

thought i would make a cant live without list of parts here for soldering basics:

1.good soldering iron preferably one with adjustable voltage,should add that if money is an issue a butane powered one would be your best bet.
2.ESD-Safe Desoldering Pump or wick
3.Soldering Heat Sink
4.good set of reverse action holding tweezers /other small holding tools.
5.pink eraser,pure rubbing alcohol,damp cleaning sponge for iron(dont use a plastic based sponge)
5.good ventilation lead is very dangerous to breath!
6.good working spot your not worried about ruining with hot lead,acrylic preferably.

Angry · Aug 20, 2012

If Im using a old or cheapo iron, Ive actually stuck the tip in flux to make it transfer heat better.

Operant · Aug 20, 2012

jazon1 said:
thought i would make a cant live without list of parts here for soldering basics:

1.good soldering iron preferably one with adjustable voltage,should add that if money is an issue a butane powered one would be your best bet.
2.ESD-Safe Desoldering Pump or wick
3.Soldering Heat Sink
4.good set of reverse action holding tweezers /other small holding tools.
5.pink eraser,pure rubbing alcohol,damp cleaning sponge for iron(dont use a plastic based sponge)
5.good ventilation lead is very dangerous to breath!
6.good working spot your not worried about ruining with hot lead,acrylic preferably.

+1 to all of these. And I should have added the non-plastic sponge warning to my original comment!

Also, the "helping hands" holder hokie linked to is amazingly helpful. I use something very similar for more complex solder jobs in robotics.

Edit: If hot lead is a concern for your preferred work area, you could get something like a Silicone Mat to cover it.

Bobnova · Aug 20, 2012

I use flat rate shipping boxes :chair:

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