I just wanted to post a thankyou to everyone on this forum who has given me help over the last year or so. Without your guidance and assistence I could not have done the things I have.
I especially want to thank everyone for information on stepper motors and programming. You have been amazing and your help was essential.
One of the last areas I needed guidance on (at least last as of today) was soldering. I have been soldering for most of my life. My Dad taught me many years ago. But soldering electronics was way out of my wheelhouse. So I spent a lot of time watching youtube videos and reading tutorials. Most of these were extremely helpful, but I think the greatest help was in an article I read here about some issues one of the members was having. His issues were almost exactly the issues I was having. The single common suggestion was to switch from lead free to leaded. I bought a few tubes of leaded solder a while back but hadn't tried them. I have been using "Electrocal" solder from Benzomatic that was lead free. It was and is very diffibult to use. As soon as I changed to leaded, all my issues went away. I am a lead solder advocate now and forever. Its just so much easier to use and work with.
So again, thanks to you all for showing me the way.
The KEY key to using lead-free solder is FLUX. Must be expressly for lead-free solder. It is activated at the elevated heat needed for lead-free solder. And then, unless it is designated " no wash", it must be cleaned with hot water and isopropal alcohol.
ov10fac:
I have been using "Electrocal" solder from Benzomatic that was lead free. It was and is very diffibult to use. As soon as I changed to leaded, all my issues went away. I am a lead solder advocate now and forever. Its just so much easier to use and work with.
If you use lead free eutectic solder (the sort with 4% silver), its absolutely fine to use in my experience. Any non-eutectic formulation is awful as it doesn't have a single melting point. The cheap lead-free stuff is tin/copper only and not a eutectic, its hopeless for reworking.
Lead free runs hotter, so you must set the iron temperature suitably and never leave an iron switched
on for more than a few minutes or oxidation will take over (flux evaporates in that timescale). This also
means hot components won't de-solder themselves as easily(!)
“This also means hot components won't de-solder themselves as easily(!)”
That would be a hot component if it did.
Actually, never seen a component that ever melted solder.
Well, except for power resistors that had too small of a solder pad surface.
You know the kind, blackened PCB surrounding the pad for about 1/4” in all directions.
