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Soldering help needed., It don't flow right

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nuttaphong191

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Ok, I’ve made my first DIY PCB, I’m trying to solder Leds into the holes and I’m a complete newbe, I got a Weller WES51, and I’m using a 1/32 0.8 mm tip. I set it to 65 watts it goes from 35-85.

Now I put the tip on the pad next to the led and then tough the solder to the led pin.
When I do manage to get the solder to melt it does not flow right.

It just globs around the led pin, I thought the pad & pin were susposed to suck the solder into the pad area kinda tight so I would have a clean joint, but that don’t work.

QUESTION:
What do I need to do? What am I doing wrong ? I tried putting some solder on the
Iron tip to “Tin” it, but there is no difference.
 
A picture would be nice...

What kind of solder are you using? Lead-Free or Lead-Tin? Flux?

How clean is the copper on your board? It oxidizes fairly quick exposed, and can cause soldering trouble. I usually use fine steelwool on the copper before soldering, even if it doesn't look like it needs it.
 
Be sure that when you solder, that you have your soldering iron at a 45 degree angle from the pin of the component and from the soldering ring. Make sure the soldering iron is touching BOTH the ring and the component. They say to only touch the ring, but I touch both, and My soldering joints are amazing. I will show you some of my joints later on when I am motivated enough to get some pictures. Be sure to use as little solder as possible, and use 32 gauge solder. Take your time too! Practice makes perfect!

Krumlink
 
Make sure you have a nice clean tip and as Krumlink suggested make sure you're heatnig both the pad and the lead, one or the other not being heated will result in the poor flow you've noted and if it even does manage to stick it'll be a 'cold' joint. Make sure you clean the PCB contacts before soldering as well a pencil eraser (brushing off all the dust after) or a green scrub pad will help clean the contacts, all my good joints are done on virtually virgin copper. You'd be surprised how much a little oxide screws things up. You could also try a dab of liquid or paste flux (low acid washable) added to the joint before heating, it'll help heat transfer significantly, just don't glob it on, it's only there to assist in cleaning and shielding it doesn't actuallly take part in the soldering process. I've never needed to clean a solder joint after soldering but I haven't exactly soldered a lot, and never needed to use a paste/liquid flux. Flux is corrosive so it's a good idea to wash it with pure alcohol. Soldering is all about two things, the proper temperature and a clean work surface. Also if you're using a lead free solder ditch it and get 60/40, for hobby and small batch runs it beats lead free solder any day.
 
The same questions on 4 different websites.
I already answered this one.
Just like the Spammers that go to all the websites.
 
I can barely keep up with the posts on here.. What sites do you visit frequently audioguru?
 
Every few hours (or minutes?) I visit forums at Electronics-Lab.com, Aaron Cake.Net and Dutchforce Eforum. I visit diyaudio.com every couple of days.

Nutaphong changes his name then posts the same questions on all of them.
 
As said by others the key is a clean board and a clean tip.

A liquid flux pen can make for better solder joints. There are several types. Some liquid fluxes are conductive and must be cleaned from the board or the circuit will not work.
 
I was remembering some of my DIY boards I did with plan glossy paper (toner transfer), when I used an iron. Seemed a little pitted. Only tried with the iron a few times before buying a laminator.

Doesn't 65 watts seem a little high? I use a 30 watt iron, good enough for most joints, little light for larger wire. I know watts and tip temperature are seperate things...
 
65 Watts does seem high.

After using a laminator I would never go back to an iron.

PulsarPro has a green foil that you can use to seal the toner. You put it on top the PCB after the toner is on and run it through the laminator again. It is an extra step and I only use it on complicated/difficult/large boards.
 
3v0 said:
65 Watts does seem high.

After using a laminator I would never go back to an iron.

PulsarPro has a green foil that you can use to seal the toner. You put it on top the PCB after the toner is on and run it through the laminator again. It is an extra step and I only use it on complicated/difficult/large boards.

I didn't get any of the other Pulsar stuff, just the blue paper. Works well as is. I tried some left over metalic transfer foil, but didn't see any difference. Little more work to clean off.

Anyway, guess the OP got it worked out.
 
audioguru said:
Every few hours (or minutes?) I visit forums at Electronics-Lab.com, Aaron Cake.Net and Dutchforce Eforum. I visit diyaudio.com every couple of days.

Nutaphong changes his name then posts the same questions on all of them.

Thank for answered but i need to know more idear i know my post look like spam but i not spam If you don't want to answer me please stop you talk like this make problem for me Please
 
nuttaphong191 said:
Thank for answered but i need to know more idear i know my post look like spam but i not spam If you don't want to answer me please stop you talk like this make problem for me Please

He is not making problems for you he is trying to help.

Do not post the same question on more then one forum at a time. When you ask the same question on several forums at the same time it is very much like spamming.

The correct thing to do is to ask the question on one forum. If you do not get a good answer on the that forum then post to a second. But not till you have given the people on the first a reasonable amount of time to answer.
 
Posting the same question on more than one forum is SPAM.
I also see the same SPAM ads on more than one forum.
 
Also, instead of using the copy/paste method, try re-wording your question. The quality of the response, is of course proportional to the information provided...
 
Also, search a site for tips and tricks. On Aaroncake.net, he has a page devoted to "how to solder". STOP SPAMMING
 
I have a small 120mm 12V DC computer fan beside the soldering area.

Otherwise when I’m soldering all the soldering smoke comes to my face. Due to fan it’s all going away from my face. Otherwise I have to use breathing apparatus :D

Who knows this soldering smoke harmful to the body or not. Shopkeepers selling those are not harmful & lead free ones but who knows………

So I always use my fan.
 
What I am going to do is to Put a large tube fan (computer fan) inside one of those dryer air ducts (the springy metal ones) and have one side sucking air out and the other exhausting air outside.
 
The smoke can be harmful, but not usually because of the lead. Lead doesn't vaporize until its temperature is in excess of about 800 Celsius, well above the typical temperatures used when soldering.

Any health effects is primarily caused by the flux vaporizing, which is a potential carcinogen (I interpret this to mean that there is no proof that its carcinogenic, but it hasnt been specifically studied). Prolonged and repeated contact can cause skin irritation (dermatitis), or if you breath in enough of the vapour it can cause suffocation because the fumes are heavier than air, but more likely you would see other signs before you suffocated (ie, light headidness, shortness of breath, unconsciousness, etc...)

I should really think about setting up a fan or something.. but I usually just dont inhale when the plume of smoke is rising and I only do occasional soldering.
 
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