I can't solder correctly. What can I do if I can't solder?
Practice, practice, practice.
Yes practice is the only answer unless you get someone to do it for you.
Get a good temperature controlled iron.
Watch the many videos on youtube, but you must practice.
I'm newbie. No experience of soldering. Zero. Never touch it before. I'm using low cost rosin core solder. how to I make it stick as I touch between pin and gap holes.
Clean your work with IPA.
Use solder designed for electronics ~1mm diameter should be fine, 60/40 lead tin.
Depending on what you are soldering, liquid flux is helpful.
When you touch the work with the iron, add solder to the work 'at ~2 seconds'.
Set the iron to about ~350°C.
This should be in most good videos.
IMHO the key to successful soldering is understanding that the metal you want the solder to stick to needs to be as hot as the melting solder.
If you experiment with a piece of wire you should be able to heat the wire by holding the soldering iron against the wire and then get the solder to melt by touching the solder to wire rather than to the soldering iron. (I assume you will be sensible and not hold the wire in your fingers and burn yourself).
The next simple tip is to melt some solder onto the two parts while they are separate. This is called tinning. Now when you bring the parts together you will need very little extra solder to make a firm joint. In many cases you might not need any extra solder.
When the iron melts the cored solder the flux gets burned off very quickly so you need to heat the joint and then apply the solder so the flux can work. If you try to melt the solder on the tip of the iron and then bring the solder on the iron to joint the flux will be gone before it reaches the joint.
Keep the tip of the soldering iron clean. Wipe it regularly on a damp sponge or a piece of damp kitchen roll.
Having a small amount of liquid solder on the tip of the iron can help with heat-flow into the part you want the solder to stick to.
Having a large amount of liquid solder on the tip of the iron just causes a mess,
...R
podbaydoors:
I can't solder correctly.
What does this mean - exactly? Can you describe your technique in detail? If you can, someone will likely see instantly where your difficulty lies.
And don't forget the words of Robert Ruark - Use enough gun. That is, don't overtax the iron, that's a sure way to frustration.
I'm artist. I can paint picture. But I can't solder like pro.
This is what it look like for beginners. I followed youtube video.
If the brown stuff is just flux, that can be cleaned off with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol. If it's brown because you've burnt the board more practice is indicated.
The most important thing to master is to have the components melt the solder. A dab on the iron when pressed against a pad is ok, it facilitates heat transfer. Hold the iron against the parts and hold the solder against the joint. When the two pieces you're joining are hot enough they'll pull the solder right into the joint. Clean and rewet the tip often. It doesn't hurt to dab some extra flux on the joint before heating either. Feed enough to get a tiny volcano shaped blob with the wire sticking out the top. As soon as you've got that pull the iron away and let it cool.
INSURE THE JOINT IS HELD MOTIONLESS UNTIL IT SOLIDIFIES. A cold joint (muy bad) will result otherwise.
podbaydoors:
I'm artist. I can paint picture. But I can't solder like pro.
Have you read all the Replies you have received?
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I watched YouTube video. I copied exactly like them. I stopped at 7 minutes and turn off the fan. I don't have soldering steady hands. I have painters hand. I screwed up raspberry pi zero GPIO pin. The soldering rosin got too close to another pin. I'm abandon soldering. I waste my money on soldering product and unsoldered IoT product. I should've brought more painting.
In the future, I would like to buy AI soldering handfree.
podbaydoors:
I have painters hand.
Whether you paint houses or pictures I suspect painting needs a steady hand, care and concentration,
Soldering is no different - easier IMHO (and I do a bit of both).
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The problem is I don't want big IoT boards stick out my project. I want something Intel/motorola chip hides inside without showing it. Pi3, Beaglebone, Uno is too big for me.
Raspberry Pi zero is okay for me. it's small and thin. I'm using small enclosure, breadbeard, and wire pins. I'm having trouble soldering holes. What can I do to fix it if I can't solder?
podbaydoors:
What can I do to fix it if I can't solder?
You have not told us what collection of equipment you want to link together.
The Arduino Nano and Micro come with pins that can plug directly into a solderless breadboard.
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podbaydoors:
I watched YouTube video. I copied exactly like them. I stopped at 7 minutes and turn off the fan. I don't have soldering steady hands. I have painters hand. I screwed up raspberry pi zero GPIO pin. The soldering rosin got too close to another pin. I'm abandon soldering. I waste my money on soldering product and unsoldered IoT product. I should've brought more painting.In the future, I would like to buy AI soldering handfree.
Don't Give Up!
I soldered for about two years now and I still frequently mess up. Just look at the soldier job BEFORE plugging in.
I've found buying cheap perboards and practicing on that will help you improve. Also buy solder wick. Lay it on the messed up soldier and heat with the iron. The soldier will melt and flow into the wick. Then remove the used wick.
I've bought soooo much wick... But it's very cheap. But sooo much...
They do have solderless headers for the PI Zero.
I did see where someone took some nylon fishing line and weaved it through the holes.
This would force the wire pins to the side of the hole. Kind of like filling the "gap".