Soldering

Does anyone have a good on-line resource on the basics?

I have all of the materials and have done it before, with mixed results. I'd like to get this down a bit more, so I can build some clip whips.

I've got the 18 guage wire (red/black) and some alligator clips. Now I just need to practice the technique.

Thanks,

https://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

Keep the materials clean. Make sure there is a good mechanical connection (e.g. a good wire twist, a good crimp of the connector onto the wire) - don't rely on the solder to hold it together. Solder's primary purpose here is to keep the electrical connection reliable - it's not caulk, it's not glue, it's not a fillet. Keep the iron on the joint hot enough so that touching the solder to joint - not the iron - causes it to flow.

Having a bench vise or some tiny vise-grips can help hold things together as a "third hand" while soldering.

Beyond that, it's just practice.

What limd21 said: it's mostly practice, Practice make consistant...NOT perfect
Clip whips are ONLY an extension of your current igniton system. Be sure your using the best materals and methods for your purpose and launch needs.

Good post here, and I'll reinforce the 3 rules:

Clean, clean, clean.

Make new joints with freshly stripped wire. Clean wire with flux paste/liquid and buzz it off with a hot iron. Clean solder points on clips with a light abrasive or flux as above. You want bright metal.

Tin both items to be joined.

Make sure the iron is hot enough for the job; don't be in a rush to make that first join.

A good mechanical join of the pre tinned parts. Apply the heat to the joinnt, and the solder to the other side of the joint so the heat has travelled right through the joint. Hold the parts still while you remove the iron (prevents fragile 'cold joints').

Ventilation: Solder uses a lot of lead which we all know is bad stuff. Some of the flux chemicals are also pretty nasty. Work in an area with good ventilation which draws fumes away from your face. If you are going to do a lot of soldering, hook up a small fan to extract fumes from your work area. Old computer case fans work well.

I do a lot of soldering as part of my work, and I actually find it very enjoyable. The main thing is practice. Spend half an hour stripping, tinning and joining wires, that should bring you up to speed.

Good luck!

Also, keep the tip of your iron clean and tinned. I keep a small saucer close by, with a folded wet paper towel, or sponge, and frequently wipe the tip on it.

The best trick I have found is using flux. I have some water-based paste flux for soldering pipes, but it is great for electronics. It leaves almost no residue and has almost no fumes. Look for it at hardware stores.

If the clips are not copper you will probably need flux to get the solder to "stick" correctly.

I forgot to add, after making your joint, if the solder is smooth and shiney, and has a smooth transition to the parts you are soldering, you did good. If it's dull looking, and looks like a blob with definate edges around the blob, you've got a cold joint that will fail.

Also, when soldering two or more wires together, I always scrape the wires with a knife (X-Acto will work, as will a pocket knife). This removes any oxidation and/or coatings and gives the solder a fresh, clean surface to grab hold of. If you are working with copper wire, the surface should be shiny and bright when you try soldering it.And don't try soldering aluminum wires - it won't work.

Greg

The way I do my wires is to strip them 3/4" back then twist them together. Then I heat my iron (40 watt pencil type). I then touch a small amount of solder to the tip of the iron and when it melts, touch the molten solder to the wire bundle. It should almost immediately soak up into the wires. When it does add more solder to create a solid looking bundle. When it cools, trim off any excess and your done. As for the clips, and as stated before...make sure they are clean. I probably do it the lazy way, but I wipe the solder area with a clean cloth then clamp the wire to the clip with one of those 'helping hands' things. Then apply a dab of solder to the iron and do as before with the wire bundle. I have had no problems with this method....but there's a first for everything.

*EDIT*: I also use the crimp part of the clip too...

A few notes on soldering (and when not to):

• Never tin or solder wires that are used in a crimp connector.
• Never tin wires that are placed under a screw terminal.
• Never tin wires that are inserted into an 'elevator' or clamp-type connector (such as that found on most altimiters).
• If you are twisting wires together for soldering, it is not recommended that you pre-tin the wires.
• Soldering temperatures are far below the vapor point of lead - the soldering vapors have no significant lead content, but the vapors from the flux are bad enough.
• Lead contamination from soldering comes from handling the solder, so wash up afterwords or wear gloves. Never eat at a soldering station.
• Lead is a good thing to have in solder - the alternatives are no better and very possibly worse for the environment (regardless of what you hear from the EU (and certain pandering California legislators)).
• If you get ahold of lead-free solder by accident (no rational person would do it on purpose), like that noted in the solderfaq mentioned above, note that the finished joint will not be the nice shiny result that we have learned to expect. Lead-free solder joints set with a dull finish.

GC

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Flux vapor/smoke is very bad. After a few hours of soldering one day the effects were very noticeable. Now I am more careful not to breathe anything any I make sure there is enough ventilation.

Originally posted by Rock_It
Be careful with SMT components or electronic compinets like are found in altimeters. These components have very strict thermal specs. Some compnents can have as alow as 300 degree F for 3 seconds. Go outside of that spec and the component is torched. Teh way to get around that is to use just enough heat to do the job, but not too much. The trick is not to transfer heat and heat soak the component over time. Touch it, get it done, and get off it.

Clean. Good advice. Clean.

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That's where you might need a better soldering iron than a Radioshack pencil. A good iron (like a Weller*) will maintain a precise temperature, so it will be able to supply more heat without overheating things.

I avoid SMD compoonents if at all possible (I have not had to solder/desolder one yet).

*I don't have one

Originally posted by vcp
A few notes on soldering:

• Never tin or solder wires that are used in a crimp connector.
• Never tin wires that are placed under a screw terminal.
• Never tin wires that are inserted into an 'elevator' or clamp-type connector (such as that found on most altimiters).

Click to expand...

The instructions that come with my Perfectflite MAWD say to tin stranded leads so they don't short across the terminals. I'm glad you mentioned this.

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I should elaborate on the never-never stuff. Anytime a soldered stranded wire is placed under stress (in a crimp, screw terminal, whatever), the solder will flow. Slowly. Deforming to relieve the stress. That nice tight connection you made to your ejection charges may be loose by the time you get it in the air. Aerospace workmanship specs say no solder.
GC

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Hey guys, thanks for the responses - honestly! What's great is knowing you can ask a question here and from everyone's experiences and diversity get some good, solid, answers back.

Over the next week, I'll give it a shot, see how things turn out, and will let you know the results.

This site: https://www.solder.net/technical/tips.asp has a couple dozen short videos on soldering techniques. The few I've looked at were quite excellent. Both leaded and SMT components are covered. All are available in flash, real, wmp, and ipod formats.

GC

VCP

In my line of work, I am sometimes called upon to solder surface-mount components. Most of what I know about soldering is self-taught, and it shows. It sometimes looks like a blind monkey could have done as well.

The video links you posted look excellent. Hopefully I can upgrade my skills from "blind monkey" to "near-sighted monkey".

Perfect timing from this subject thread. I'd like to refresh my
soldering skills as I'm planning to rebuild a "new" Cineroc from
parts of the two crashed Cineroc's I previously owned. I still have
the soldering pen/iron I bought from Estes back in the days they
had the Transroc products (I think it still works ok). What will be
the correct gauge soldering wire for this kind of job?

I'm pretty certain that you can indeed melt the lead with a soldering iron. I worked in the stained glass business for about 15 years and it was actually pretty easy to accidently melt 100% lead came that was part of a project. At that temperature, the lead in the solder was also getting vaporized. Even a small 80w iron can heat up well over the 600 or so degrees it takes to melt the lead.

Something that we had to do all the time was to keep our iron tips nice and shiny using a block of sal amoniac. The tips used for electrical soldering are rather small, but nothing is more annoying than having a dead spot on the tip that won't accept solder. If you don't have a block of sal amoniac then just dip the tip of the iron into some flux. There are some good water soluable fluxes that are less toxic.

I've never liked the electrical solder that has the flux inside. It's too hard to control. I prefer a roll of solid core solder so that I can control the flux by adding it with a brush.

Originally posted by Pat Butler
I'm pretty certain that you can indeed melt the lead with a soldering iron. I worked in the stained glass business for about 15 years and it was actually pretty easy to accidently melt 100% lead came that was part of a project. At that temperature, the lead in the solder was also getting vaporized. Even a small 80w iron can heat up well over the 600 or so degrees it takes to melt the lead.

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I think you are confusing melting and vaporization, two completely different phenomena. Melting is turning from a solid to a liquid; vaporization is turning from a liquid to a gas. The melting point of lead is about 328 C (622 F), and the vaporization, or boiling, point is 1746 C (3175 F). Big difference! A soldering iron can indeed be above the melting point of lead, though they are often set at 600 F because the melting point of solder is lower than that of pure lead. I don't know of any soldering iron that can get hot enough to reach the vaporization temperature of lead.

Vaporization can occur even at temperatures below boiling. You experience it every time you sweat. It's just a lot slower than boiling.

Small soldering operation are usually pretty safe, but large quantities of lead can still give off unsafe levels of lead fumes. Below is an excerpt from this web site : https://www.haz-map.com/leadfact.htm

Small and Large Risks of Lead Exposure in Manufacturing Companies
Small: Electronic Soldering
"Simple lead-tin soldering operations at controlled working temperatures typically do not generate significant lead fume concentrations." [Burgess, p. 381]
Large: Poor Hygiene Practices and Certain Small Workshops
"Occupational exposure to lead is dependent not only upon the concentrations of lead in workplace air but also upon the personal hygiene and personal habits of the worker."

"The lead hazard is particularly acute in small companies/operations, often employing no more than three or four workers, engaged in radiator repair, leaded or stained glass production, laboratories, or ceramics." (ACGIH)

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