How to Solder

Solder is an alloy used to join electrical components together. Once the solder is cooled and dry it provides a good electrical connection and good strength. Soldering is a skill used by both the pro's and the do-it-yourself-ers for a variety of applications. It is essential in repairing, building and modifying electrical components. Soldering is pretty straight forward but this guide will help give you the insight to create good, strong solder joints.


Tools -
An obvious tool that you will need is a soldering iron. Look for an iron between 15 and 30 watts, any higher and you risk damaging your electrical components.

Next, you will need some solder. Rosin Core is recommended, the smaller the diameter the better. Proper solder should be 60/40 or 60% Tin and 40% lead with a rosin flux core which helps the solder to flow more easily.

It's also a good idea to keep a wet sponge handy to clean off your tools, be sure to keep your soldering iron clean. Failure to do so can cause bad heat distribution and cold solder joints.

Preparing the Surface -
Before you solder make sure all parts are clean and free from any kind of grease or oxidation. An unclean surface can prevent the solder from adhering as well and joints can easily un-bond. A "Noob" mistake many novices make is to overheat components as they try to make the solder stick to an unclean surface. This can cause irreversible damage and components will have to be replaced.

Tinning -
It is good practice to "Tin" both of the contacts before you solder them. This is putting a thin coating of Solder on each surface you are trying to solder together to help fuse them. For example if connecting a wire to a potentiometer. You should strip away any insulation on the wire that may be in the way and Tin or coat the end of the wire. You should also put a small drop of melted solder onto the pot. This will make the soldering process much easier.

Soldering -
This is the fun part, when you are actually joining the two components together. With the Soldering Iron you are ready to heat the components up. This should be done by resting the Wire lead against the potentiometer and heating both components up. WARNING: Both components will become very hot. DO NOT TOUCH!!! The heat from a soldering iron is hot enough to melt skin. Believe me I've got scars.

Once the components are good and hot you need to take your strand of solder and rest it against the heated components. The solder will flow freely around the lead and adhere to the potentiometer. Once the lead has been covered and a good amount of solder is contacting the pot remove the soldering iron.

Don't move the new solder joint for a few seconds or you will end up with a cold solder joint. A cold solder joint does not conduct electricity very well.

Cleaning up -
I recommend always cleaning the tip of your soldering iron after each use. The best method I've found for doing so is using a damp sponge when the Iron is still hot. It is a good idea to clean excess solder off the iron after each individual joint. So you should be cleaning the tip multiple times per use.

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