this is great! just designed and got my first PCB's in from JLPCB. Am incorporating several SMD components, and only have a soldering iron so I'll be referencing this video. Thanks!
It looks very easy when you do but I find it quite difficult. I also see that if you do regular it's seems to going better. This video is well made and the tips you give are really good.
Hi Steve, nice series of soldering videos. How about adding to the series with a video on soldering iron tip selection for different jobs and a video on testing solders with different compositions? I am sure these would be appreciated.
Speaking as an old git with bad eyesight and shaky hands... I've got to question that "no magnification" bit... I use magnification to solder THROUGH HOLE fer godsakes. Why would you clean boards with India Pale Ale? ;)
In a production environment using IPC standards for production and production rework you will see different techniques for different tasks in the quest for a high quality solder joint. The first task is to understand what you are soldering (Class of Device for end use) and the requirements for solder (lead and lead free) and flux (R, RA, RMA, No Clean and Water Soluble formulas) mainly in the context of manufacturing but also can be adopted for repair usually with a product specific adendum for specific company repair soldering practices (procedures). How much of what IPC offers in terms of electronic assemblies is relavent to the hobbiest I will leave up to you to decide. In production water based flux can be selected to be very aggressive and used for both automated (main and reflow, selective wave may use a slightly different flux, but still cleanable in the process) and hand soldering. So for your practive board instead of No Clean try using a water based highly agressive flux which you brush on with a small brush (it will be clear in appearence) and eutectic lead solder with flux that is also water based and matches the brush on flux. The wetting effect will be much different than the No Clean, especially on boards with oxidation. Soldering the part is as you have shown with tacking one side, soldering the other and then relfowing the first. Although I try and tack with about half the solder needed so I reflow with some additional solder with allows me to match the other completed joint (solder diameter 0.015" or 0.10" special order, if the parts are very small). A few more comments in general. Your tip selection can be improved. Usually there is a change to a fine curved tip from the larger chisle when moving to 0402 and 0201. Although in production these smaller SMT device are usually not hand soldered unless there is a need for rework. Also on the DPAK you would select a larger tip to better match the device power pad, and if the pad uses thermal vias you may have to preheat the board to get the best results. Also there is usually a requirement to tin the large pad and clean the device tab. However you may decide to use solder paste with preheat and hot air to solder the larger power part. It is helpful when you can see the solder wetting to the underside of the power tab by the way the device moves and floats (comes with experience) on the solder when using hot air. I use a metal dental tool to keep the part from wandering usually in reverence to the power tab location and leg solder fillets. However, in production the DPAK will be soldered with the rest of the parts. So here again this would only be done in production rework. The option of solderpaste with hot air is always a consideration for rework and repair. The two handed method for rework: you can use two soldering irons one in each hand with the same tip for very small devices instead of tweezers if you are concerned with temperature stressing the part especially for lead free solders. The part will adhere to one of the tips which you can tap on a plate to disloge very quickly. Tweezers tend to pump a lot of heat into the part if only for the fact for me they are slightly slower at dislodging the part and removing the heat. With practive the two handed method is faster than tweezers, well at least for me.
Really enjoy watching you solder, I love soldering myself - haven't used any of that sticky flux yet though.. You mention it in the video as "MG Chemicals No Clean", do you perhaps have some more info on it? Would love to purchase some on Farnell for example, but they seem to have a couple of different ones, maybe you have some specific product number for it? Thanks :)
can you give me links to solder used, wick, pcb board cleaner you used right at the beginning, flux paste and dispenser thanks. really enjoying your channel
To achieve better thermal conduction on D pack I would apply flux on heatsink pad before soldering and reflow whole surface under it. With flux it is easy to do with good soldering iron. Actually I would use flux on pads in almost all cases here. Just to ensure all road surfaces are covered with tin after the process. I am kind of paranoid regarding to possible pad degradation. Oxidation and rust over time and in case of moisture and voltage fully covered pads tend to survive it better. Just my OCD working I guess.
absolutely great, thanks a lot, sad I only found this so late! Please add some description/title 'how to solder smd' or similar, this is what I searched for initially
I've had very limited experience with ENIG finished, PCBs, but I believe it takes solder much better than the HASL finish, so the results here were always going to be good and easy to achieve. I would like to see if these techniques need to be modified when dealing with HASL PCBs.
I think you're mistaken, the solder already on the pads improves solderability. The problem with HASL is the pads are not flat, so unless you can heat all the pads at once, it'll never sit very well.
Maybe I am. Though I'm not talking about flatness, but how the solder "wets" the pad to form a nice fillet, which I feel (with little experience) happens better with ENIG. (EG: just on 0805s) My joints generally seem to come out more bulbous than filleted. Possibly it's a flux issue, or a pad size issue - I need to do some experiments. I'll also get ENIG on my next PCBs to make a better comparison.
I find 0603 the easiest to solder...but...I use 1.2 or 1.6mm tip... 1. Put solder on both pads 2. Grab the component on the legs 3. Heat both pads with at once with big solder tip 4. Place the component next to the tip and relatively fast remove the tip... With the right speed component will center itself nicely on the pads. No flux needed with leaded solder.
Yes, there's lots of methods that work well and some sizes like 0603 lend themselves to shortcuts that save a lot of time. I probably should have added the disclaimer that this isn't the definitive guide, but just a general guide to the basics.
Steve, are you there? I thought you'd do a reviews of Metcal's GT series stations. They look fancy but word is out there that they lack in performance. You're probably the only person who can justify this.
@@sdgelectronics thank you so much. When will you post the review? I'm so excited. Please show the inside of the device. How do you get these stuff? Spending from your pocket for all of them? It's bit more expensive for me and so I went for an Exso Ledsol-300 instead. It belongs to the same class as Hakko FX-951. Thanks again 😊
Use a decent metal spatula that covers at least the full width of your board and stencil. Only do a SINGLE pass, never multiple, this will make you applied paste so good that you can do QFN's and tqfp's without solder bridges. Ow and use new paste. I made boards with 300+ components bga + tqfp's + 0402 without any solder issues first time right like this.
This is the new BEST how to solder video on TH-cam. Great job Steve.
Thanks John!
By far the steadiest hands on TH-cam. Kudos.
"surface mount soldering is actually quite simple"
says the wizard-level soldering pro
Great job excellent skills!!
this is great! just designed and got my first PCB's in from JLPCB. Am incorporating several SMD components, and only have a soldering iron so I'll be referencing this video. Thanks!
I really appreciate the care and precision you put into your soldering so your joints don't end up looking like a dog's breakfast. Thanks!
This video gets straight to the point and covers the fundamentals with efficiency. Thankyou.
Sensational, I’ve got a SM job to do (my first), yours was the first video that I found, I need look no further. Thanks for your efforts.
Thanks Steve! I used solder paste and my rework station on the last Micro-B charge port that I replaced, and it looked beautiful! It was so easy.
Thanks for watching Robert
It looks very easy when you do but I find it quite difficult. I also see that if you do regular it's seems to going better. This video is well made and the tips you give are really good.
The best video I've ever seen for this subject. Thanks!
I enjoyed watching this video. Vey well presented and made. Thumbs up.
Very good tutorial on SMD soldering - really enjoying your very informative videos. Great stuff!
You make it seem so easy! I'm looking forward to solder my first PCB, thank you for providing us with confidence
I have some 0402s in front of me and wonder how could it possibly get any smaller 😅
Hi Steve, nice series of soldering videos. How about adding to the series with a video on soldering iron tip selection for different jobs and a video on testing solders with different compositions? I am sure these would be appreciated.
Speaking as an old git with bad eyesight and shaky hands... I've got to question that "no magnification" bit... I use magnification to solder THROUGH HOLE fer godsakes.
Why would you clean boards with India Pale Ale? ;)
On some videos on soldering SMD, they tin all the pads first, then tack & solder. You only tin one pad & then tack & solder.
Great demo Steve, thanks...will pass the link to this video on to our ham club.
Thanks Dino for sharing.
In a production environment using IPC standards for production and production rework you will see different techniques for different tasks in the quest for a high quality solder joint. The first task is to understand what you are soldering (Class of Device for end use) and the requirements for solder (lead and lead free) and flux (R, RA, RMA, No Clean and Water Soluble formulas) mainly in the context of manufacturing but also can be adopted for repair usually with a product specific adendum for specific company repair soldering practices (procedures).
How much of what IPC offers in terms of electronic assemblies is relavent to the hobbiest I will leave up to you to decide.
In production water based flux can be selected to be very aggressive and used for both automated (main and reflow, selective wave may use a slightly different flux, but still cleanable in the process) and hand soldering. So for your practive board instead of No Clean try using a water based highly agressive flux which you brush on with a small brush (it will be clear in appearence) and eutectic lead solder with flux that is also water based and matches the brush on flux. The wetting effect will be much different than the No Clean, especially on boards with oxidation. Soldering the part is as you have shown with tacking one side, soldering the other and then relfowing the first. Although I try and tack with about half the solder needed so I reflow with some additional solder with allows me to match the other completed joint (solder diameter 0.015" or 0.10" special order, if the parts are very small).
A few more comments in general.
Your tip selection can be improved. Usually there is a change to a fine curved tip from the larger chisle when moving to 0402 and 0201. Although in production these smaller SMT device are usually not hand soldered unless there is a need for rework. Also on the DPAK you would select a larger tip to better match the device power pad, and if the pad uses thermal vias you may have to preheat the board to get the best results. Also there is usually a requirement to tin the large pad and clean the device tab. However you may decide to use solder paste with preheat and hot air to solder the larger power part. It is helpful when you can see the solder wetting to the underside of the power tab by the way the device moves and floats (comes with experience) on the solder when using hot air. I use a metal dental tool to keep the part from wandering usually in reverence to the power tab location and leg solder fillets. However, in production the DPAK will be soldered with the rest of the parts. So here again this would only be done in production rework.
The option of solderpaste with hot air is always a consideration for rework and repair.
The two handed method for rework: you can use two soldering irons one in each hand with the same tip for very small devices instead of tweezers if you are concerned with temperature stressing the part especially for lead free solders. The part will adhere to one of the tips which you can tap on a plate to disloge very quickly. Tweezers tend to pump a lot of heat into the part if only for the fact for me they are slightly slower at dislodging the part and removing the heat. With practive the two handed method is faster than tweezers, well at least for me.
Your technique is perfect! I've learned a lot from this 👍
Really enjoy watching you solder, I love soldering myself - haven't used any of that sticky flux yet though.. You mention it in the video as "MG Chemicals No Clean", do you perhaps have some more info on it? Would love to purchase some on Farnell for example, but they seem to have a couple of different ones, maybe you have some specific product number for it? Thanks :)
There will be a video soon comparing flux types. I'll put all the details there as I'm away at the moment. Thanks
can you give me links to solder used, wick, pcb board cleaner you used right at the beginning, flux paste and dispenser thanks. really enjoying your channel
To achieve better thermal conduction on D pack I would apply flux on heatsink pad before soldering and reflow whole surface under it. With flux it is easy to do with good soldering iron. Actually I would use flux on pads in almost all cases here. Just to ensure all road surfaces are covered with tin after the process. I am kind of paranoid regarding to possible pad degradation. Oxidation and rust over time and in case of moisture and voltage fully covered pads tend to survive it better. Just my OCD working I guess.
absolutely great, thanks a lot, sad I only found this so late! Please add some description/title 'how to solder smd' or similar, this is what I searched for initially
Real proper video mate cheers.
excellent view during soldering, keep it up Sir
I've had very limited experience with ENIG finished, PCBs, but I believe it takes solder much better than the HASL finish, so the results here were always going to be good and easy to achieve.
I would like to see if these techniques need to be modified when dealing with HASL PCBs.
I think you're mistaken, the solder already on the pads improves solderability. The problem with HASL is the pads are not flat, so unless you can heat all the pads at once, it'll never sit very well.
Maybe I am. Though I'm not talking about flatness, but how the solder "wets" the pad to form a nice fillet, which I feel (with little experience) happens better with ENIG. (EG: just on 0805s) My joints generally seem to come out more bulbous than filleted. Possibly it's a flux issue, or a pad size issue - I need to do some experiments. I'll also get ENIG on my next PCBs to make a better comparison.
Cheers mate! I'm ready to try now!
Thanks for the clip! Very nice technique! I'll be practicing!
what flux are you using? ive try many brand of flux and with iso 99% and kim wipe its always leaves greasy residue on the pcb
Sweet video. Got, or got in the pipe, one on small SMD _rework_ soldering? Maybe on crowded PCBs with big ground planes?
Useful video 👍 very good
I find 0603 the easiest to solder...but...I use 1.2 or 1.6mm tip...
1. Put solder on both pads
2. Grab the component on the legs
3. Heat both pads with at once with big solder tip
4. Place the component next to the tip and relatively fast remove the tip...
With the right speed component will center itself nicely on the pads. No flux needed with leaded solder.
Yes, there's lots of methods that work well and some sizes like 0603 lend themselves to shortcuts that save a lot of time. I probably should have added the disclaimer that this isn't the definitive guide, but just a general guide to the basics.
Where did you get a 1.2 mm T12 tip?
Ah nvm thought about a 0.12 mm tip.
What are those brushes used for cleaning off the flux?
Great teaching.
Excellent. Thanks.
Could you please share the Gerber file for this PCB board ordered from JLCPCB?
Thank you. 😬👍
I enjoyed watching this video
What temperature were you using?
Don't know what Steve was using but I would use 600F.
It was 330C I think, so around 620F
Enjoyed watching your video and learned from it. Thanks
Hi there. What temperature for the iron tip do you recommend? Thanks
330 to 350°C
Does this work on pcbs not from jlcpcb? /S
Where did you buy your flux removed spray ,and how much was it ,thanks for your video.
V creative....Thanks very much.
Can I ask you if the temperature used is 320C as I can see on the soldering station ?
what did you use to clean the PCB?
Good job!
I would like to ask you which soldering station is the best in your experience and test hakko , JBC, Metcal or clone Chinese station
The Metcal MX5200 station would be the system of choice.
Very nice thank you for your time
OMG, I like your voice and accent, narrate my life, please!!!!
Very satisfying:))))
Very helpful, thank you :)
You should make this a kit, will give people practice in soldering smd stuff.. yeah ?
do you recommend RA flux.
Yes, but it does place extra burden on cleaning thoroughly. It usually offers better wetting, but I'll be testing soon to compare properly
Steve, are you there? I thought you'd do a reviews of Metcal's GT series stations. They look fancy but word is out there that they lack in performance. You're probably the only person who can justify this.
I've been extremely busy with work. Should be able to catch up soon with videos and review the GT Station
@@sdgelectronics thanks a lot. You're the Metcal authority. Metcal themselves don't have the likes of your videos.
@@roseelectronics4582 my GT120-HP-T6 has just arrived...
@@sdgelectronics thank you so much. When will you post the review? I'm so excited. Please show the inside of the device. How do you get these stuff? Spending from your pocket for all of them? It's bit more expensive for me and so I went for an Exso Ledsol-300 instead. It belongs to the same class as Hakko FX-951. Thanks again 😊
@@roseelectronics4582 I ended up buying this one. I hope to record a video within the next week
Sweet
Use a decent metal spatula that covers at least the full width of your board and stencil. Only do a SINGLE pass, never multiple, this will make you applied paste so good that you can do QFN's and tqfp's without solder bridges. Ow and use new paste. I made boards with 300+ components bga + tqfp's + 0402 without any solder issues first time right like this.
nice
What's the advantage of getting PCBs from China?
👍