How to Properly Solder
I Do Not Take Responsibility if You burn yourself!
Table of contents
1.Introduction
2.Supply list
3.Preparation
4. Soldering
5.Using GOOP
6.Soldering to circuit boards
7.Conclusion
1.Intro
In this guide I will be teaching you how to solder wires together, and the general use of a soldering iron
Soldering can be used for many things such as repairing electronics and building your own circuits.
This is what you need to get started
2.Supply List
A soldering iron or gun
Solder( I prefer lead free, electrical solder 1.66 mm)
Soldering paste
A tooth pick or small piece of wood
Wire cutters
Alligator Clips(optional)
GOOP(optional)
Electrical tape(strongly recommended)
A screw driver if you need to replace soldering tip
A damp sponge(not pictured)
I recommend you solder on a rubber mat or something, because if solder cools on your table its pretty hard to get off.
3.Preparation
First off you should twist the two wires you need to solder together tightly.
Then take your soldering paste...
And then apply some paste to your intertwined wires with a tooth pick...
Soldering Paste helps the heat transfer through the wire, Allowing the solder to melt without burning the insulation on the wire.
4.Soldering
Turn the soldering iron on and allow it to heat up completely.
Wipe the tip on the damp sponge to clean off any left over solder
Melt a little solder on the tip of the iron.
This is called 'tinning' and it will help the heat to flow from the iron's tip to the joint. It only needs to be done when you plug in the iron.
Now take the solder in one hand and the iron in the other hand. Have the wires you are about to solder in a good position so they wont move when you start soldering.
Now touch the top of the iron to wires and the solder to the tip. Do this as quickly as you can. If you wait to long you could melt the wire insulation, or have too much heat transfer through the wire which could damage whats on the other end of that wire. You should see some smoke from the soldering paste, and liquid metal covering the wires.
If you have done this correctly you should see metal covering where the wires were twisted together. If your solder looks like a crumbled up tin foil ball you did it wrong, it should be smooth and shiny covering and joining both wires
Wait a few seconds for the solder to dry and you should see a connection like this...
5.Using GOOP
Now here is the optional step, you can go straight to covering your connection with electrical tape. Or if you want you can coat the connection in GOOP.
GOOP is a adhesive that you can apply to wires and circuit boards to prevent the wires from bending around the solders. This prevents wires from breaking off the solder.
Here is an example of some GOOP'ed wire connection.
I STRONGLY recommend you use electrical tape on solders using GOOP or not, this eliminates the problem of wires shorting out.
6.Soldering to circuit boards
You can apply this same process to soldering wires onto circuit boards.
7.Conclusion
Thanks for reading my guide, please tell me how to improve
