I train people to solder and have for 25 years, very good technique. One tip for you; if you use solder paste for the whole assembly you can re-flow small boards on a hot plate. This is a very effective method and I have used it many times for building voltage controlled oscillators and other sub assemblies that solder to a larger PCB. Preheat a piece of 1/8" thick aluminium sheet to hold the part being soldered and remove it with the part, this will slow cooling and prevent thermal shock to the components. Multiplayer ceramic chip capacitors are particularly sensitive to thermal shock.
@@EgorKaskader I would not be happy if I saw my workers bend an IC pin like that. All you need to do is bend two opposite side pins only enough to hold the ic in place then solder one pin. Then check that the IC is in correct position and solder the pins you didn't bend. Bending like shown in the video puts too much strain on the pin.
@@ianmontgomery7534 What I found works well enough is touching it ever so slightly with a tiny bit of solder, then checking alignment and if needed, adjusting it before soldering pins properly. But, I'm just a hobbyist, so I can spare the time to carefully align the part before getting any amount of heat involved.
Desoldering bent pins is a nightmare. You can never desolder the last bit holding the lead on the board, and you end up ripping off pads. Speaking from experience.
Tell the good folks about bad soldering product. 90% of solder and flux is garbage from China. Here's how you will know: Every soldering iron including fixed temperature irons are hot enough to melt solder. If you can't melt fresh solder from the spool/coil then toss that solder into the trash immediately. Never overheat the tip just to melt solder, 300 degrees is more than enough. Too hot will destroy the stainless finish and it will begin to oxidize. An oxidized tip will not hold solder. Keep tips clean and always tin it. If you melt solder and it balls up and doesn't stick even with flux on a good tip, it is garbage solder. Toss it into the garbage. Never try to work with that crap. Many components out there use garbage solder. If you're trying to desolder and it won't melt, simply clean the area with alcohol, add flux, then melt fresh good solder on top of the old solder until it melts everything, then suction it away. Don't bother with braid, it will not absorb garbage solder. When in doubt, use leaded solder whenever possible. Give the folks some links to the best solder and flux.
Thanks for the advice on the braid, I tried desoldering an 11 pin coil from an old PCB using wick, adding flux and proper solder didn't help the wick absorb the remaining old solder. You can imagine how long that took. I disagree with the 300 degrees you mentioned though. In my experience it is often worthwhile to go to about 320/330 Celcius to increase the flow of the tin and flux. It is often preferable to introduce a little more heat for a shorter time instead of the other way around.
First of, Lead is toxic, it will make your brain mush and stoopid Always wash your hands and don't eat and solder, and when working with flux, don't breath the flux, or else you'l get asthma over longer periods, not even if it smells nice, get a fan with a well ventilated room or cleaning system and blow the fumes away. In any case, in case anyone comes across my comment and you are looking for good solder, look for things such as: Sn63Pb37 "63%Tin 37%Lead": This alloy is a eutectic mixture, so it will melt a lower temperatures (185 Celcius or 365 Farenheit) than any other tin alloy, is easier to work with, as it melts faster and solidifies all at once, which keeps your boards and tips good for longer (as lower heat at a shorter time is better) and gives you shinier and prettier and stronger joints. Sn62Pb36Ag2 "62%Tin 36%Lead 2%Silver": This is probably the "best" alloy you can find, it is also a eutectic alloy mixture and has a slightly lower melting point than Sn63Pb37 and can make better and stronger joints, but to be fair, the big difference in price (you are gonna pay a *lot* ) and the small difference in result when you do soldering good (bad technique ruins everything), makes it in My opinion not worth it compared to Sn63Pb37 for 'general' use. Sn60Pb40 (60%Tin 40% Lead): The 'standard' solder you are probably gonna find the most, it is a good alloy, it is cheap and you can do jobs with it and will be fine, melting temperature is higher (190-200 Celcius or 374-392 Farenheit) than Sn63Pb37 and is slightly harder to work with since it may needs longer to melt, which may be less good for your board and it solidifies slower, which may give you less shiny and slightly weaker joints, Sn60Pb40 is absolutely not bad, but just get Sn63Pb37, it's better and easier to work with. Sn99.3Cu0.7 (99.3%Tin 0.7%Copper) or Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5 (96.5%Tin 3%Silver 0.5%Copper) Now something you need to know, in some places like EU, the use of lead is forbidden in production and most local shops and some online probably won't sell solder containing lead. This has to do with environmental reasons and the fact lead is very toxic and destroys your brain (you not OK, reatard? i am wood. stupid) if you it gets in your body (Just *Properly* wash your hands Everytime and don't eat and solder and clean everything the solder and your dirty hands touched). Lead-Free is may be harder for beginners to work with since it's harder to make good joints as you need higher temperatures and it melts slower and solidifies slower, which is worse for board, your tip and the flux fumes will stink worse (just always get a fan or cleaning system to blow away fumes, breathing it in is never good for you and can get you asthma at some point). However Lead-Free solder is not bad, with the right technique, you can make good joints as good as leaded solder, you should use good flux whenever possible, as it removes oxide and makes all solder flow better and cleaner and shinier. Though, you can't mix leaded and lead-free solder, doing so will make bad contacts, if that is the case, just clean the contacts and reapply the solder. Lastly, compared to leaded solder, your joints may get issues like Tin Wiskers over the years. Anyway, for good or the best brands you want to go to, look for Kester, that is arguably the best brand and everyone's first choice when possible. Otherwise Multicore or MG Chemical are also good brands I heard. You can purchase these from big distributers like Digikey, Farnell, Mouser, Amazon, etc. For the easiest to work with solder that gives you awesome joints (granted use it safely when it contains lead, as that stuff is very toxic), look for Kester type 44 or 275. The difference is the flux type used, flux helps remove oxide, which helps bind solder better and gives you much better joints. 275 is no-clean flux, which doesn't Eat/Corrode your board if you leave, doesn't mess up conducting of components, thus doesn't 'need' cleaning, but dirt and dust may stick and make your joints look nasty, it is also much harder to clean, especially after you leave it after it too long 44 is Rosin Core, this gives is easier to clean than 275 and is top notch at removing oxide and helping you achieving shinies, but you must clean all flux leftover with isopropyl or flux remover, as when you leave it, it Will eat/corrode your board and may mess up conducting of contacts. For Lead-Free that is easy to work with and give you good results, look for Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, for leaded look for Sn63Pb37. And when soldering, you may need to set your temperatures little higher, as melting temp when hand soldering may differ, but don't set it too high, as you burn the flux and get more bad fumes, more easily damage the board and ruin your tips faster. Hope you find this useful, for more resources, look for Louis Rossman and watch at Great Scotts video's Also look around 'reddit.com/r/soldering/'. And read this for your own safety and health: www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/e7tbqr/mods_does_the_sub_need_a_sticky_regarding/ Also 'www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/9h3zs1/how_to_solder/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/5l3120/iwtl_how_to_solder/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/23ovit/i_want_to_learn_how_to_solder_and_the_best/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/eqm57m/my_tips_are_going_bad_way_too_fast/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/cp1j5o/6040_vs_6337_vs_silver_solder_advantages/'
Sherri Cabinaw my advice is to get a brass sponge (looks like a brass brillo pad) with a holder for it, and a little container of tip tinner/cleaner. Frequently while soldering just scrape the tip in and out of the brass sponge a few times and it will remove excess solder and oxidation, giving you a nicely tinned (shiny) tip. It works way better than a wet regular sponge, doesn't require any water, won't reduce the temp of your tip, and one of them will last you quite awhile. Every now and then while working when the tip won't tin well anymore just touch the hot iron tip into the tip tinner/cleaner for a second, then scrape it off in the brass sponge and voila, beautifully tinned tip again!
Iv'e seen so many people doing the same task is so many ways, I'm currently doing a university degree in electronics, They have made me mount SMD's using a 0.2mm conical tip and solder/extra flux and also made me do SMD's using solder paste and hot air, I must say I found the solder paste and hot air amazing, I just streaked it across the long line of pads, put the all the resistors on the pads and then high temp and low airspeed, moved back and forth and all the resistors soldered perfectly in line, but I still love the through hole and love the skill of mastering the soldering iron, thank you for a great video.
Huge Kudos to the youtube algo for putting this in my list!! As a newb hardware junky (software and trad IT all my life) learning the ins and outs of soldering is top of my list! I soldered my first thing last week, oled to a four pin header for a custom raspberry pi case. Before doing so, I soldered two wires together... The big win for me? The board came with a straight four pin header. I didn't like the real estate in the case so I wanted a four pin with an angle (45? 90? I suck at degrees, so yeah, bent). I had a box of components, one was ultrasonic, had the header I needed so? I desoldered it, and soldered it to the OLED! WORKED LIKE A CHARM! Best part was my lead wires then ran down the wall of the case to the GPIO on the pi! Such a cool thing! Anyhow, last Kudos to you. GREAT CONTENT AND YOU ALWAYS TEACH ME SO MUCH! THANK YOU!
IC socket is also subject of poor contact due oxidation (simple pull out and put back in works but it would require to open a case of the device). Beyond oxidation issue the socket has a price and on mass production it could come to million dollars extra cost.
This is magic. I'm presently building a DMR hotspot using a Raspberry pi4 and an open source circuit board from Amazon. I've 'had a go' at soldering before, thinking....how hard can it be? Turns out, very IF you have never soldered before and whose training involved watching my Dad in the shed. I really really really appreciated the very clear instructions given in this video. I now realise I was putting solder wire on the soldering iron tip and wondered why there were burn holes in the carpet. Yeah, feel much more confident now but one message was clear.......PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Thank you GreatScott!
Good tips. I used to have a Radio Shack a mile from home where I could fetch handy electronic components. I really miss that. Now it’s a slow boat from China.
MAN THERE WERE 3 by my house. All gone :( I miss radioshack, it was my favorite place to be as a kid. luckily I have a micro center 15 mins away, and they have a mini radioshack-ish area in the back corner. I miss radioshack :(
You can always use Digikey or Mouser all around the world. here in Australia we have Element 14 (the local version of Newark) and RS Components who are English.
Almost all of the electronics parts on Amazon and eBay are counterfeits. You should buy from Newark or DK or Mouser and stop supporting international organized crime, child exploitation, and slavery.
@@jamesmurphy449 A lot of parts on eBay are simply excess stock that were bought from the proper supply chain. Sure some are recycled parts from boards as you suggest but a lot aren't (ie not almost all). I don't buy many parts off eBay but what I have bought have been OK. I haven't bought components from Amazon but I have bought items like pressure regulators and they have been excellent products.
I just came here for some tips for a simple soldering job (never done it before), but I wanted to remark on how impressively thorough this video is, right down to the equipment list in the description. It's nice to see someone pay that amount of attention to details. Many thanks.
Another helpful tip is to use fine solder (around 0.2mm iirc). This can give you more control with how you apply the solder. I tend to use 0.6mm for general THT, and something smaller for SMD.
You'll be lucky to get solder as fine as 0.2mm (8 mil). About 0.6mm (24 mil) is about as fine as is available. Any finer soldering would be very trying on the eyes and would probably cause eyestrain.
Yeah and would REALLY suggest using hot air (or skillet/hot plate type heater) for QFN parts, although not killing things does take some (lots and lots and lots of) practice. Its far too easy to miss align something with a 0.5mm pin pitch but if you get it all up to temp the liquid solder's surface tension will pull the part into the right place if the pads are correct. As for getting it up to temp with hot air, a pcb will dump a lot of heat into any surface its placed on, an air gap will help this a little.
If you don't solder the pin that you bent first - but solder the others, you can bend the pins to be roughly straight before soldering them, making them look better :)
You should never bend a pin more than you have to. Repeated bending stresses the metal and can cause failure. Besides, in a manufacturing setting, you would want proof that you clinched it.
Nice job on the video. It's really taken off quickly at 626K at this time. I took a condensed version of the NASA soldering course back in late 90s from my Electronics instructor who has NASA certified from the military, and I've always enjoyed it. I've learned alot from your videos, and they've really helped me brush up my skills. In many ways, your explanations are better than the ones I had in college. Thx and keep it up.
I’ve been soldering for years now....my gosh I’m a noob compared to you sir!!! Thanks for all the great tips!!! I never thought those small components could be soldered so easy!!!!
I always found your technique of making solder bridges to create the paths rather interesting. I always had trouble with that because the solder would stay on one pad instead of bridging.
Yeah, solder isnt the greatest thing for making electrical connections which is why id say just using stranded copperwire with solder paste would be much more efficient
What I like to do when creating bridges is to get a bit of solder onto the iron, let it sit for a second or two, and then touch the soldering iron tip to the space between the joints you want to bridge.
@@vinnysworkshop I just use the leads of the components to make my connections. Though these days I prefer to just use strip board. I tend to do RF work too which requires the use of a circuit construction technique known as Manhattan style.
Apply flux to leads, solder to iron, poke leads through holes supporting the board with a hand and the lead with a finger on that hand, touch soldered iron to fluxed lead. Alternately, pre-tin the lead and pad, then just bring in the iron once you've stuck it through and maybe come back and apply more solder once the other pins are done.
Brilliant! Thanks very much, 'exactly what I wanted. I'm teaching myself microelectronics work, and this was very helpful. I'm 72, was a telephone exchange tech, and at home was mostly used to mains power rather than this fabulous digital stuff I'm getting into.
I would like to add that when soldering THT, trimming off the legs of components should ALWAYS be done PRIOR to soldering. As the snipping creates force inside the solder which will weaken it. It's usually not a big deal tho, but it's a good practice to make use of.
Fortunately I found your video, I needed clear and easy instructions to solder with SMD (I'll need to repair SMD circuits and I only have flux paste in a pot, not in a syringe, and my hot gun is over-dimensioned so its wind speed is too high), and your videos are perfect for that, because they're clear and well made! Keep up the good work 👌
Scott you're really great! Firstly doing all this great stuff, I watch almost all of your videos and it's satisfying, secondly you teach us... I solder stuff for about 2 years already, but you taught me lot. I'll might be better now. Keep up!
Thank-you for showing how you like to solder things down plus all the tips which were concise and to the point. I have soldered a few things in my life but nothing like a motherboard or anything like that so I'll leave that work to other people and do the job that many others cannot do and that is lime plastering.
My two cents on the matter: -To solder TQFP, I think it's easier to put a little bit of solder on one pin, then pull the excess on the other pins on the same side with the tip of the soldering iron. If there isn't enough solder for all one side, just add a little bit more, and pull it again until you're satisfied with the result. And if there's too much solder, remove all the solder from your soldering iron, then use the tip to remove a little bit of solder from the pins. Just repeat until the excess is gone! -For SMDs with only two leads, like resistors and capacitors, you can impress your friends by using two irons at the same time! Put a little bit of solder on both the solder pads, put your component roughly in place, then melt both solder pads at the same time, with one iron in each hand. The component should magically align without doing anything more! It sounds like it's quite hard to do, but to me, it's waaay easier and faster than placing the components by hand. You can just add solder to all the pads, put every component vaguely in place, and then perfectly solder dozens of components in a minute!
I have to comment on your introduction. I spend some time in the U.S. Submarine Service as an Electronics Tech. Anyone who says you don’t know what your talking about are a joke. I love your videos.
Practice is everything...totally correct. I learned since last year soldering and i must say, it is (depends on the situation) relatively easy. And i like to solder.
Darn, needed this a couple months ago before I wrecked my tablets motherboard trying to solder the broken micro-usb port back on . Oh well, I guess mistakes are what you learn from.
It's better to fail and learn than never try! Dont get discouraged, just go trough the process of what you are trying to do in your head a couple of times before going for the kill! And practice, of course. That's what old mobos are for!
Yeah, it was an old Dell tablet which the repair shop had given up on, so I think it was worth the lesson that some components might melt under the hot air station, but it could still have been avoided if I had seen this video beforehand. A micro-USB port was probably also the wrong part to start with considering the amount of pins it has so tightly together, a smd resistor or a full size USB port would probably have been an easier place to star.
Yeah micro usb really isn't the easiest to start on. I actually gave up reattaching a socket a few years ago, I just soldered the wire straight on to the pcb. I only got away with that because the wire was thicker than the gap normally taken by the socket so functioned as a pretty effective strain relief. I actually reused the socket to test phone chargers after I soldered some wires to the pads on the bottom of the socket.
I always enjoy your videos. They're great! I was particularly struck by your bold assertion regarding "SMD or get out!" You don't find that anywhere but on your channel. Thanks to your clip, I'm inspired to give SMD a go.
Hey Great Scott. I really enjoy your videos and learn a lot from them. Keep up the great work. In the future can you show us how to make uv sensitive pcb and how to develop and etch them with Ferric Cloride. It will be very interesting. Thanks
You can also just add an appropriate amount for the whole side to one Pin and "drag" it across. If you have a good understanding of how much you need this works well, otherwise you still need the desoldering wire and would be probably faster with the strat in the Video (but I have never done it that way)
Gotta say, always avoided SMD because I thought it would be too difficult and costly...now, between this and your custom lipo charger/boost supply video, I feel like this is something I have to do! Thanks for inspiration, I always love your videos
My father taught me to solder in the 1950s but he must have done a good job. I've been able to replace components on multi-layer boards with SMD components. Of course I had a soldering instructor from NASA teach me to be better. We worked on two benches opposite each other and competed. But you did some good work, there, and show some good info and technique. When I was working on the bench, we were just seeing those TQFP ICs and the no leads weren't in use yet. Flux pen? Nice. Times have changed. I need to buy some new stuff. My experience is to use plenty of flux, a hot enough iron so you don't have to stay long on any soldering point, and scrupulous cleanup. Crud on the board picks up dirt and makes for trouble later.
Thanks for taking time to make this and share it. I don't know if this is for me, but you really did a great job of showing how it's done. If you could also share some tips about the actual physical process and what problems a person would run into when learning how to solder small components, that would great. Thanks again.
Don't let the shaky hands stop you from learning soldering techniques, I worked with a guy that had hands that moved like a jack hammer and his solder joints looked perfect every time, and his soldering was inspected to IPC class 3 guidelines.@@justinyates1154
Flooding all of the QFP pins with solder, then using solder wick is not ideal for overheating the chip. With a dab of flux, decent soldering station / tip, and finer solder, it's really not that hard to quickly solder each pin, even on those small TQFP chips. Or, use a "hoof" style tip, and drag-soldering technique. Best not to dwell the heat onto the pins for too long, especially with the mass of a big blob of solder.
For QFN chips though - yeah, they suck. lol I had to solder one the other week which had a thermal pad underneath. I used regular solder, but added a tiny bit too much to the thermal pad on the PCB, so the chip sat slightly above the pads on one corner. I had to redo it, but it was OK after. You can reflow the pads around the edge with the right sized chisel tip though, or a pointy hook tip. (which is the tip of choice for Louis Rossmann. You don't necessarily need quite as much flux as he uses, but hey, it works. lol)
It shouldn't if you use a wave tip as the heat is is over three or four pins at a time and you shouldn't need any wick. It is fairly common practise to drag solder these chips.
The most important thing to realize with soldering is that it's not about smearing the solder into place, but about letting surface tension do the job for you. That's why even a huge solder iron tip can handle much smaller SMD components fine. The surface tension will even center SMD components for you on the pads.
I solder SMD components 99% of the time (only through hole with connector) and i nearly never use soldering iron, i always use hot air and never damage any IC or components. I mostly solder DFN, QFN and CSP package which nearly dont have any pin sticking out so hot air is my only and best option. Underneath preheat really help with pcb that disapating heat too quickly.
Camera-based microscopes are cheap, but a pain to work with. There's always a significant delay so when you need to move something, it's hard to tell when you need to stop moving it until it's too late. And a single-lens microscope has no depth perception, making it hard to position your tools where you want them. Use a camera-based one when you want to examine an item or show it off to others, but use an optical (preferably stereo) if you need to actually work on what you're looking at.
I used to be a cheap person and try to use lower end low wattage soldering irons. I always ended up having to hold it on the components too long, and usually crusty grey solder joints. I realised that soldering is easy if you have a powerful iron, so I looked at Big Clive's videos and he showed a Chinese knockoff of Japan's Hakko soldering irons, the knockoff actually copies nearly the entire design, meaning the Chinese knockoff itself is pretty good. This is what I then purchased, and I have been easily soldering ever since, shiny joints now that are strong, and form quickly. It doesn't matter what solder I use, the joints form well when a high temperature is used, even solder without lead. I typically just buy the cheapest solder wire I can from ebay.
Your drag soldering instructions for IC's were helpful, but FWIW I managed to do it with a regular chisel tip. If you don't use too much solder, it makes nice joints that don't require clean-up!
Jumper Wire Tips: use a clothes pin or bobby pin to hold the wire to the perfboard while soldering it (instead of crappy helping hands). I like silicone-insulated wire because it does not burn and shrink away when the end is heated. When using stranded wire, twist the stripped ends so that they do not fray apart and cause issues, kind of like sewing or other stranded rope applications.
be careful when wicking the TQFP not to apply too much pressure or you are going to bend your pin, i did it once on a processor chip with a very small pin pitch on a LCD TV motherboard, then it broke off and its a disaster to fix
Marek Ant forgot to mention that upon closer inspection after i removed the chip i actually ripped the pads as well and ended up messing around the board for 2 hours fixing the damaged trace with tiny jumper wire
I just started soldering, so this was really helpful, now I just need to get use to being delicate, and I can repair that pesky WiFi Dongle USB port I broke two weeks ago, and have the skills to fix anything else I break in the coming years.. Or hopefully someone else breaks as a side job.
How about making something too? I'm watching this video because I wanted a button box for sim racing, and they are too expensive. I'm sure we all need something once in a while that would cost $1 in parts.
THT Through Hole Technology SMD surface mount device DIP8 Dual in line package PCB printed circuit board IC integrated circuit TQFP thin quad flat package QFN quad flat no leads perf board sockets solder wick flux pen cotton pads with isopropanol //just ignore this cmt. I'm just new to this and want to take note of the terms
I once forgot to use flux, and my solder got dry. Then, I remembered how you said that flux makes sure that solder only sticks to the iron, lead or pad. So I pulled out my flux (which already hardened but melted when I heated it with my iron) and used it well.
Solder with flux core/fluxfree solder: some solder (duh, word repetition) have tiny channels inside them which contain flux (usually rosin). It helps in cleaning the soldered area and making a solder joint all the better. Flux-free solder doesn't have this; it requires the flux to be applied prior to soldering. (I imagine it may be useful where the PCB/components call for a definite/special type of flux. Practically useless in the DIY universe, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong :) )
I'm an electronics tech for philips. I would heavily recommend using lead based solder w/ a flux core. Main reason being that lead based solder tends to be more consistent.
Yeah. Especially the SMD techniques used. I expected him to solder the TQFP with some kind of drag-soldering method or solder each individual pin, but then the screen filled with massive blobs of solder and my reaction was "Oh god, no, please, what did I do to deserve this". Also, if he's soldering at 350°C, that's a bit hot to be blobbing solder on all sides of a TQFP
Skuldugery bending pins isn't so bad, it's easier if you're setting up your circuit first and then soldering. I don't really mind that. But, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this video causes an SMD IC genocide.
A little helpfull tip, if you have multiple parts you want to solder at once, bending the wires to hold it to the board while you solder can get messy. Use blue tack on the other side of the board to hold them. That’s what I do and so far it’s never failed me, just make sure not to touch it directly with the iron :)
Tip from another german EE-Guy: Use the iron only to heat the spot up, then melt the solder directly on the spot. Add only a little solder on the Iron for better heatflow, but never melt solder on the iron and smear it on the spot. The lack of flux will produce bad quality connections. If needed use these cheap support clamps as third hand.
9:29 tfw you don't use hot air method because you are concerned for the heat you apply to the ic, but you quench all four sides of a tqfp package with molten solder. the solder paste is more difficult to melt because it is made of lead-free solder. here is my tip, tin the pads with soldering iron, using leaded solder and flux, then place the ic on the pads and apply hot air. it'll be a much gentler soldering job and will leave a better looking joints, without the wicking part.
SMD OR GET OUT!
Give me THT, the best, smd is for toys.
correct its really for DIYers.
But but but........ its really good when you need to save space !
Throughhole makes it easier to test something - you can just solder it on a perfboard and try it.
Correct
I train people to solder and have for 25 years, very good technique. One tip for you; if you use solder paste for the whole assembly you can re-flow small boards on a hot plate. This is a very effective method and I have used it many times for building voltage controlled oscillators and other sub assemblies that solder to a larger PCB. Preheat a piece of 1/8" thick aluminium sheet to hold the part being soldered and remove it with the part, this will slow cooling and prevent thermal shock to the components. Multiplayer ceramic chip capacitors are particularly sensitive to thermal shock.
What about through hole?
@@bhoot1702😐
@@bhoot1702puddle
4:20 regarding “simple solder lines” you should mention that saving your THT off cut leads gives you the perfect material to form these lines.
:O
So just use a jumper? That's crazy! Don't you need giant blobs within 10ths of a millimeter of different circuit? 🤷♂️
Good tip
Thanks. I was trying to get my solder to "draw" the lines, and it would only stick to the hols. This worked!
I can't figure out why but I can watch this video as much times as I want without getting bored
Without getting ...board. haha.. ha. Ha... ;-/
I think its the word Irin lol
Yeah, it's how he pronounces words
For through hole, you should first solder the straight pins, then unbend the first two pins and finally solder them...
Agree, with straight up and down pin, you get a nice solder 'volcano.' Soldering a bent pin, you get a solder 'blob.'
Thanks for the warning, was this close to making that error!
@@EgorKaskader I would not be happy if I saw my workers bend an IC pin like that. All you need to do is bend two opposite side pins only enough to hold the ic in place then solder one pin. Then check that the IC is in correct position and solder the pins you didn't bend. Bending like shown in the video puts too much strain on the pin.
@@ianmontgomery7534 What I found works well enough is touching it ever so slightly with a tiny bit of solder, then checking alignment and if needed, adjusting it before soldering pins properly. But, I'm just a hobbyist, so I can spare the time to carefully align the part before getting any amount of heat involved.
Desoldering bent pins is a nightmare. You can never desolder the last bit holding the lead on the board, and you end up ripping off pads. Speaking from experience.
I’d have to say this is by far one of the most informative and concise soldering videos I’ve seen.
Danke schön! Ich lernte schon so viel von dir und werde hoffentlich mehr Unterschtützung senden, wenn ich kann.
Danke für den Support :-)
Tell the good folks about bad soldering product. 90% of solder and flux is garbage from China. Here's how you will know:
Every soldering iron including fixed temperature irons are hot enough to melt solder. If you can't melt fresh solder from the spool/coil then toss that solder into the trash immediately.
Never overheat the tip just to melt solder, 300 degrees is more than enough. Too hot will destroy the stainless finish and it will begin to oxidize. An oxidized tip will not hold solder. Keep tips clean and always tin it.
If you melt solder and it balls up and doesn't stick even with flux on a good tip, it is garbage solder. Toss it into the garbage. Never try to work with that crap.
Many components out there use garbage solder. If you're trying to desolder and it won't melt, simply clean the area with alcohol, add flux, then melt fresh good solder on top of the old solder until it melts everything, then suction it away. Don't bother with braid, it will not absorb garbage solder.
When in doubt, use leaded solder whenever possible.
Give the folks some links to the best solder and flux.
Thanks for the advice on the braid, I tried desoldering an 11 pin coil from an old PCB using wick, adding flux and proper solder didn't help the wick absorb the remaining old solder. You can imagine how long that took. I disagree with the 300 degrees you mentioned though. In my experience it is often worthwhile to go to about 320/330 Celcius to increase the flow of the tin and flux. It is often preferable to introduce a little more heat for a shorter time instead of the other way around.
hey man
you got a like😁
but seriously thanks for the advice
First of, Lead is toxic, it will make your brain mush and stoopid Always wash your hands and don't eat and solder, and when working with flux, don't breath the flux, or else you'l get asthma over longer periods, not even if it smells nice, get a fan with a well ventilated room or cleaning system and blow the fumes away.
In any case, in case anyone comes across my comment and you are looking for good solder, look for things such as:
Sn63Pb37 "63%Tin 37%Lead":
This alloy is a eutectic mixture, so it will melt a lower temperatures (185 Celcius or 365 Farenheit) than any other tin alloy, is easier to work with, as it melts faster and solidifies all at once, which keeps your boards and tips good for longer (as lower heat at a shorter time is better) and gives you shinier and prettier and stronger joints.
Sn62Pb36Ag2 "62%Tin 36%Lead 2%Silver":
This is probably the "best" alloy you can find, it is also a eutectic alloy mixture and has a slightly lower melting point than Sn63Pb37 and can make better and stronger joints, but to be fair, the big difference in price (you are gonna pay a *lot* ) and the small difference in result when you do soldering good (bad technique ruins everything), makes it in My opinion not worth it compared to Sn63Pb37 for 'general' use.
Sn60Pb40 (60%Tin 40% Lead):
The 'standard' solder you are probably gonna find the most, it is a good alloy, it is cheap and you can do jobs with it and will be fine, melting temperature is higher (190-200 Celcius or 374-392 Farenheit) than Sn63Pb37 and is slightly harder to work with since it may needs longer to melt, which may be less good for your board and it solidifies slower, which may give you less shiny and slightly weaker joints, Sn60Pb40 is absolutely not bad, but just get Sn63Pb37, it's better and easier to work with.
Sn99.3Cu0.7 (99.3%Tin 0.7%Copper) or Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5 (96.5%Tin 3%Silver 0.5%Copper)
Now something you need to know, in some places like EU, the use of lead is forbidden in production and most local shops and some online probably won't sell solder containing lead. This has to do with environmental reasons and the fact lead is very toxic and destroys your brain (you not OK, reatard? i am wood. stupid) if you it gets in your body (Just *Properly* wash your hands Everytime and don't eat and solder and clean everything the solder and your dirty hands touched).
Lead-Free is may be harder for beginners to work with since it's harder to make good joints as you need higher temperatures and it melts slower and solidifies slower, which is worse for board, your tip and the flux fumes will stink worse (just always get a fan or cleaning system to blow away fumes, breathing it in is never good for you and can get you asthma at some point).
However Lead-Free solder is not bad, with the right technique, you can make good joints as good as leaded solder, you should use good flux whenever possible, as it removes oxide and makes all solder flow better and cleaner and shinier.
Though, you can't mix leaded and lead-free solder, doing so will make bad contacts, if that is the case, just clean the contacts and reapply the solder.
Lastly, compared to leaded solder, your joints may get issues like Tin Wiskers over the years.
Anyway, for good or the best brands you want to go to, look for Kester, that is arguably the best brand and everyone's first choice when possible. Otherwise Multicore or MG Chemical are also good brands I heard.
You can purchase these from big distributers like Digikey, Farnell, Mouser, Amazon, etc.
For the easiest to work with solder that gives you awesome joints (granted use it safely when it contains lead, as that stuff is very toxic), look for Kester type 44 or 275.
The difference is the flux type used, flux helps remove oxide, which helps bind solder better and gives you much better joints.
275 is no-clean flux, which doesn't Eat/Corrode your board if you leave, doesn't mess up conducting of components, thus doesn't 'need' cleaning, but dirt and dust may stick and make your joints look nasty, it is also much harder to clean, especially after you leave it after it too long
44 is Rosin Core, this gives is easier to clean than 275 and is top notch at removing oxide and helping you achieving shinies, but you must clean all flux leftover with isopropyl or flux remover, as when you leave it, it Will eat/corrode your board and may mess up conducting of contacts.
For Lead-Free that is easy to work with and give you good results, look for Sn96.5Ag3Cu0.5, for leaded look for Sn63Pb37.
And when soldering, you may need to set your temperatures little higher, as melting temp when hand soldering may differ, but don't set it too high, as you burn the flux and get more bad fumes, more easily damage the board and ruin your tips faster.
Hope you find this useful, for more resources, look for Louis Rossman and watch at Great Scotts video's
Also look around 'reddit.com/r/soldering/'.
And read this for your own safety and health: www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/e7tbqr/mods_does_the_sub_need_a_sticky_regarding/
Also 'www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/9h3zs1/how_to_solder/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/5l3120/iwtl_how_to_solder/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/23ovit/i_want_to_learn_how_to_solder_and_the_best/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/eqm57m/my_tips_are_going_bad_way_too_fast/' and 'www.reddit.com/r/soldering/comments/cp1j5o/6040_vs_6337_vs_silver_solder_advantages/'
@Sherri Cabinaw I am no expert but I will direct you to search out videos on 'tinning' the tip of the iron.
Sherri Cabinaw my advice is to get a brass sponge (looks like a brass brillo pad) with a holder for it, and a little container of tip tinner/cleaner. Frequently while soldering just scrape the tip in and out of the brass sponge a few times and it will remove excess solder and oxidation, giving you a nicely tinned (shiny) tip. It works way better than a wet regular sponge, doesn't require any water, won't reduce the temp of your tip, and one of them will last you quite awhile. Every now and then while working when the tip won't tin well anymore just touch the hot iron tip into the tip tinner/cleaner for a second, then scrape it off in the brass sponge and voila, beautifully tinned tip again!
Iv'e seen so many people doing the same task is so many ways, I'm currently doing a university degree in electronics, They have made me mount SMD's using a 0.2mm conical tip and solder/extra flux and also made me do SMD's using solder paste and hot air, I must say I found the solder paste and hot air amazing, I just streaked it across the long line of pads, put the all the resistors on the pads and then high temp and low airspeed, moved back and forth and all the resistors soldered perfectly in line, but I still love the through hole and love the skill of mastering the soldering iron, thank you for a great video.
WOW! The Top-down-perspective shoots are looking awesome! Keep up the good work!!
Huge Kudos to the youtube algo for putting this in my list!! As a newb hardware junky (software and trad IT all my life) learning the ins and outs of soldering is top of my list! I soldered my first thing last week, oled to a four pin header for a custom raspberry pi case. Before doing so, I soldered two wires together... The big win for me? The board came with a straight four pin header. I didn't like the real estate in the case so I wanted a four pin with an angle (45? 90? I suck at degrees, so yeah, bent). I had a box of components, one was ultrasonic, had the header I needed so? I desoldered it, and soldered it to the OLED! WORKED LIKE A CHARM! Best part was my lead wires then ran down the wall of the case to the GPIO on the pi! Such a cool thing! Anyhow, last Kudos to you. GREAT CONTENT AND YOU ALWAYS TEACH ME SO MUCH! THANK YOU!
Sockets are also helpful to protect the IC from damage due to heat while soldering.
Sujal Yadav htjglkgiygf
Yes I wondered why he did it without the socket in the first place
hMM yEs i wOnder why no socKEt In SMD
IC socket is also subject of poor contact due oxidation (simple pull out and put back in works but it would require to open a case of the device). Beyond oxidation issue the socket has a price and on mass production it could come to million dollars extra cost.
@ huh?
This is magic. I'm presently building a DMR hotspot using a Raspberry pi4 and an open source circuit board from Amazon. I've 'had a go' at soldering before, thinking....how hard can it be? Turns out, very IF you have never soldered before and whose training involved watching my Dad in the shed. I really really really appreciated the very clear instructions given in this video. I now realise I was putting solder wire on the soldering iron tip and wondered why there were burn holes in the carpet. Yeah, feel much more confident now but one message was clear.......PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Thank you GreatScott!
Good tips. I used to have a Radio Shack a mile from home where I could fetch handy electronic components. I really miss that. Now it’s a slow boat from China.
MAN THERE WERE 3 by my house. All gone :( I miss radioshack, it was my favorite place to be as a kid. luckily I have a micro center 15 mins away, and they have a mini radioshack-ish area in the back corner. I miss radioshack :(
the slow boat from china hits too close to home...
You can always use Digikey or Mouser all around the world. here in Australia we have Element 14 (the local version of Newark) and RS Components who are English.
Almost all of the electronics parts on Amazon and eBay are counterfeits. You should buy from Newark or DK or Mouser and stop supporting international organized crime, child exploitation, and slavery.
@@jamesmurphy449 A lot of parts on eBay are simply excess stock that were bought from the proper supply chain. Sure some are recycled parts from boards as you suggest but a lot aren't (ie not almost all). I don't buy many parts off eBay but what I have bought have been OK. I haven't bought components from Amazon but I have bought items like pressure regulators and they have been excellent products.
I just came here for some tips for a simple soldering job (never done it before), but I wanted to remark on how impressively thorough this video is, right down to the equipment list in the description.
It's nice to see someone pay that amount of attention to details. Many thanks.
Another helpful tip is to use fine solder (around 0.2mm iirc). This can give you more control with how you apply the solder. I tend to use 0.6mm for general THT, and something smaller for SMD.
Very helpful, thanks!
You'll be lucky to get solder as fine as 0.2mm (8 mil). About 0.6mm (24 mil) is about as fine as is available. Any finer soldering would be very trying on the eyes and would probably cause eyestrain.
I just did my first solder joint today. My tools just arrived. I love soldering! I'm hooked for life!
Do you still solder
Quick tip: start with smallest parts (SMD) and finish with the biggest
completely true, its a pain in the ass soldering tiny parts with all those giant capacitors and electronics restricting your movement
Yeah and would REALLY suggest using hot air (or skillet/hot plate type heater) for QFN parts, although not killing things does take some (lots and lots and lots of) practice.
Its far too easy to miss align something with a 0.5mm pin pitch but if you get it all up to temp the liquid solder's surface tension will pull the part into the right place if the pads are correct.
As for getting it up to temp with hot air, a pcb will dump a lot of heat into any surface its placed on, an air gap will help this a little.
That a good tip.
it also applies to tht
THAT'S A DARN GOOD IDEA!!!
You make it look so easy. In reality it isn't easy.
If you don't solder the pin that you bent first - but solder the others, you can bend the pins to be roughly straight before soldering them, making them look better :)
You should never bend a pin more than you have to. Repeated bending stresses the metal and can cause failure. Besides, in a manufacturing setting, you would want proof that you clinched it.
finally someone who knows how to solder properly on youtube. great job
Nice job on the video. It's really taken off quickly at 626K at this time. I took a condensed version of the NASA soldering course back in late 90s from my Electronics instructor who has NASA certified from the military, and I've always enjoyed it.
I've learned alot from your videos, and they've really helped me brush up my skills. In many ways, your explanations are better than the ones I had in college.
Thx and keep it up.
That Nasa Cert is nothing special.
I’ve been soldering for years now....my gosh I’m a noob compared to you sir!!! Thanks for all the great tips!!! I never thought those small components could be soldered so easy!!!!
I always found your technique of making solder bridges to create the paths rather interesting. I always had trouble with that because the solder would stay on one pad instead of bridging.
Yeah, solder isnt the greatest thing for making electrical connections which is why id say just using stranded copperwire with solder paste would be much more efficient
What I like to do when creating bridges is to get a bit of solder onto the iron, let it sit for a second or two, and then touch the soldering iron tip to the space between the joints you want to bridge.
@@vinnysworkshop I just use the leads of the components to make my connections. Though these days I prefer to just use strip board. I tend to do RF work too which requires the use of a circuit construction technique known as Manhattan style.
Best soldering video I’ve seen on TH-cam to date- definitely earned a like
Obviously bending the leads works for you, but I always find that it makes the component harder to remove and replace if the leads are bent.
Matthew Harrison (matthehat) i always use a piece of tape to hold it in place
Apply flux to leads, solder to iron, poke leads through holes supporting the board with a hand and the lead with a finger on that hand, touch soldered iron to fluxed lead.
Alternately, pre-tin the lead and pad, then just bring in the iron once you've stuck it through and maybe come back and apply more solder once the other pins are done.
y-y you cut theleads tho
you are a true diy-er: just noticed the little blister on your finger at 1.37 caused by heat when soldering. excellent work!
Brilliant! Thanks very much, 'exactly what I wanted.
I'm teaching myself microelectronics work, and this was very helpful.
I'm 72, was a telephone exchange tech, and at home was mostly used to mains power rather than this fabulous digital stuff I'm getting into.
Definatly one of the best electronics channel here on youtube
I would like to add that when soldering THT, trimming off the legs of components should ALWAYS be done PRIOR to soldering. As the snipping creates force inside the solder which will weaken it.
It's usually not a big deal tho, but it's a good practice to make use of.
I just reflow once done trimming everything
Fortunately I found your video, I needed clear and easy instructions to solder with SMD (I'll need to repair SMD circuits and I only have flux paste in a pot, not in a syringe, and my hot gun is over-dimensioned so its wind speed is too high), and your videos are perfect for that, because they're clear and well made! Keep up the good work 👌
Scott you're really great! Firstly doing all this great stuff, I watch almost all of your videos and it's satisfying, secondly you teach us... I solder stuff for about 2 years already, but you taught me lot. I'll might be better now. Keep up!
Thank-you for showing how you like to solder things down plus all the tips which were concise and to the point.
I have soldered a few things in my life but nothing like a motherboard or anything like that so I'll leave that work to
other people and do the job that many others cannot do and that is lime plastering.
10:17 "This is why it's called QNF". I can clearly see it's QFN.
AqwBroders It's to check who's really paying attention :P
bruh
I prefer to call it a QFO... Quad fuck off... I'm not soldering that.
lol, i noticed that too :D
The problem with you ''people'', is that you only see the person's mistake rather than their hard work
I like the way you flip between pronouncing it ‘solder’ and ‘sodder’. That way you please the Australians AND the Americans.
Those microscope shots look so good
check my microscope shots is it any good
I entered this channel by chance...and this was the best coincidence of my life
My two cents on the matter:
-To solder TQFP, I think it's easier to put a little bit of solder on one pin, then pull the excess on the other pins on the same side with the tip of the soldering iron. If there isn't enough solder for all one side, just add a little bit more, and pull it again until you're satisfied with the result. And if there's too much solder, remove all the solder from your soldering iron, then use the tip to remove a little bit of solder from the pins. Just repeat until the excess is gone!
-For SMDs with only two leads, like resistors and capacitors, you can impress your friends by using two irons at the same time! Put a little bit of solder on both the solder pads, put your component roughly in place, then melt both solder pads at the same time, with one iron in each hand. The component should magically align without doing anything more! It sounds like it's quite hard to do, but to me, it's waaay easier and faster than placing the components by hand. You can just add solder to all the pads, put every component vaguely in place, and then perfectly solder dozens of components in a minute!
now i just have to get 2 soldering irons
I have to comment on your introduction. I spend some time in the U.S. Submarine Service as an Electronics Tech. Anyone who says you don’t know what your talking about are a joke. I love your videos.
Next video: Smartphones DIY or Buy. DIY wins.
Hahaha
Strange Parts may have done that video.
I'm currently in the process of making my own phone. Custom PCB and everything.
@@User_1795 Hows it going? :)
@@laypyu working on the screen as of now... Going for a besle less design. Either gonna put the cam under the screen or a pop up cam.
Was awesome. Very informative and succinct. Thank you very much for this. Hope your soder never runs out and your iron never gets cold.
One of the best tutorials here! I have less fear in front of SMD now :)
I could watch your vids all day man....
Thank you very much! Now I need A LOT of practice. Soldering is so fascinating and can really make me feel I'm actually making/repairing something!!
It is good ideas but soldering is base work and you need many information in electronic
Practice is everything...totally correct. I learned since last year soldering and i must say, it is (depends on the situation) relatively easy. And i like to solder.
Darn, needed this a couple months ago before I wrecked my tablets motherboard trying to solder the broken micro-usb port back on . Oh well, I guess mistakes are what you learn from.
It's better to fail and learn than never try! Dont get discouraged, just go trough the process of what you are trying to do in your head a couple of times before going for the kill! And practice, of course. That's what old mobos are for!
Yeah, it was an old Dell tablet which the repair shop had given up on, so I think it was worth the lesson that some components might melt under the hot air station, but it could still have been avoided if I had seen this video beforehand. A micro-USB port was probably also the wrong part to start with considering the amount of pins it has so tightly together, a smd resistor or a full size USB port would probably have been an easier place to star.
Yeah micro usb really isn't the easiest to start on. I actually gave up reattaching a socket a few years ago, I just soldered the wire straight on to the pcb. I only got away with that because the wire was thicker than the gap normally taken by the socket so functioned as a pretty effective strain relief.
I actually reused the socket to test phone chargers after I soldered some wires to the pads on the bottom of the socket.
I tried that but by that time I had already melted away some tiny smd capacitors that were located around the charging port.
Anonym I don't have hot air so I was just using a fairly blunt chisel tip on my iron. I didn't have the skills to pull it off :)
I always enjoy your videos. They're great! I was particularly struck by your bold assertion regarding "SMD or get out!" You don't find that anywhere but on your channel. Thanks to your clip, I'm inspired to give SMD a go.
I've used my cellphone camera zoom function many times to magnify especially resistor color codes and hard to see markings. Even on IC packages.
⚡⚡⚡Danke Scott für das was du machst! Dein Video mit dem Gameboy hat mein Interesse an Elektronik geweckt! Du bist einfach ein Magier. ⚡⚡⚡
Hey Great Scott. I really enjoy your videos and learn a lot from them. Keep up the great work. In the future can you show us how to make uv sensitive pcb and how to develop and etch them with Ferric Cloride. It will be very interesting. Thanks
I put it on my to do list
Clayton Camilleri he has already done etching tutorials..it's a 2 part vid.
Piece of cake :D
Der Name " Great Scott " ist wohl mehr, als nur verdient.
At 9:27 I first was like "Now you're just kidding man.. You can't be seriouse" :D
You can also just add an appropriate amount for the whole side to one Pin and "drag" it across.
If you have a good understanding of how much you need this works well, otherwise you still need the desoldering wire and would be probably faster with the strat in the Video (but I have never done it that way)
I watch the intro for the first time and subscribed... not much more I needed to see, great scott
I used to write entire dictionaries into rubber erasers
Seems like SMD would be something that I could do
Gotta say, always avoided SMD because I thought it would be too difficult and costly...now, between this and your custom lipo charger/boost supply video, I feel like this is something I have to do! Thanks for inspiration, I always love your videos
+Laiza Lott Thanks for the feedback. Glad I inspired you.
My father taught me to solder in the 1950s but he must have done a good job. I've been able to replace components on multi-layer boards with SMD components. Of course I had a soldering instructor from NASA teach me to be better. We worked on two benches opposite each other and competed. But you did some good work, there, and show some good info and technique. When I was working on the bench, we were just seeing those TQFP ICs and the no leads weren't in use yet. Flux pen? Nice. Times have changed. I need to buy some new stuff. My experience is to use plenty of flux, a hot enough iron so you don't have to stay long on any soldering point, and scrupulous cleanup. Crud on the board picks up dirt and makes for trouble later.
Thanks for taking time to make this and share it. I don't know if this is for me, but you really did a great job of showing how it's done. If you could also share some tips about the actual physical process and what problems a person would run into when learning how to solder small components, that would great. Thanks again.
In my (minimal) experience, shaky hands is my biggest problem.
Don't let the shaky hands stop you from learning soldering techniques, I worked with a guy that had hands that moved like a jack hammer and his solder joints looked perfect every time, and his soldering was inspected to IPC class 3 guidelines.@@justinyates1154
That TQFP technique was a thing of beauty! Great video.
Flooding all of the QFP pins with solder, then using solder wick is not ideal for overheating the chip.
With a dab of flux, decent soldering station / tip, and finer solder, it's really not that hard to quickly solder each pin, even on those small TQFP chips.
Or, use a "hoof" style tip, and drag-soldering technique.
Best not to dwell the heat onto the pins for too long, especially with the mass of a big blob of solder.
For QFN chips though - yeah, they suck. lol
I had to solder one the other week which had a thermal pad underneath.
I used regular solder, but added a tiny bit too much to the thermal pad on the PCB, so the chip sat slightly above the pads on one corner.
I had to redo it, but it was OK after.
You can reflow the pads around the edge with the right sized chisel tip though, or a pointy hook tip.
(which is the tip of choice for Louis Rossmann. You don't necessarily need quite as much flux as he uses, but hey, it works. lol)
It shouldn't if you use a wave tip as the heat is is over three or four pins at a time and you shouldn't need any wick. It is fairly common practise to drag solder these chips.
Glad your Pronouncing the word SOLDERING properly instead of so many, say it without the L it's SOLD-ER not SODDER
We all pronounce it differently, kid.
@3:35 Yes, bam, appreciate you good sir. Was wondering what that was called.
i am glad that people like this guy exist
After watching this video, i feel a little less afraid of SMD
I was hoping for that :-)
The most important thing to realize with soldering is that it's not about smearing the solder into place, but about letting surface tension do the job for you. That's why even a huge solder iron tip can handle much smaller SMD components fine. The surface tension will even center SMD components for you on the pads.
I solder SMD components 99% of the time (only through hole with connector) and i nearly never use soldering iron, i always use hot air and never damage any IC or components. I mostly solder DFN, QFN and CSP package which nearly dont have any pin sticking out so hot air is my only and best option. Underneath preheat really help with pcb that disapating heat too quickly.
10:15 "qnf" do ya mean qfn?
thanks man! been thinking I couldn't solder well due to my unsteady hands and didn't think I'd ever be able to smd
Okay, there's still one left: BGA soldering ^^
Anyway, great Video!
I was very impressed with how you soldered the tqfp. Very nice!
Nice microscope camera!
Camera-based microscopes are cheap, but a pain to work with. There's always a significant delay so when you need to move something, it's hard to tell when you need to stop moving it until it's too late.
And a single-lens microscope has no depth perception, making it hard to position your tools where you want them.
Use a camera-based one when you want to examine an item or show it off to others, but use an optical (preferably stereo) if you need to actually work on what you're looking at.
I used to be a cheap person and try to use lower end low wattage soldering irons. I always ended up having to hold it on the components too long, and usually crusty grey solder joints. I realised that soldering is easy if you have a powerful iron, so I looked at Big Clive's videos and he showed a Chinese knockoff of Japan's Hakko soldering irons, the knockoff actually copies nearly the entire design, meaning the Chinese knockoff itself is pretty good. This is what I then purchased, and I have been easily soldering ever since, shiny joints now that are strong, and form quickly. It doesn't matter what solder I use, the joints form well when a high temperature is used, even solder without lead. I typically just buy the cheapest solder wire I can from ebay.
Listen with headphones and get captivated by his wonderful breaths.
I CANT UNHEAR THAT NOW WTF
I'm a beginner and must say this is such an excellent video!
*terrific video!! uprated and faved!!*
Your drag soldering instructions for IC's were helpful, but FWIW I managed to do it with a regular chisel tip. If you don't use too much solder, it makes nice joints that don't require clean-up!
Sad that you did not do drag soldering on the TQFP
Your video is just excellent and very detailed but lot's of procedures have been compressed in one video...👌👌👍👍
0:30 Was that "ici-pici" in hungarian? :D
Itsy-bitsy, meaning exactly the same thing. Vicces egybeesés. :)
Jumper Wire Tips: use a clothes pin or bobby pin to hold the wire to the perfboard while soldering it (instead of crappy helping hands). I like silicone-insulated wire because it does not burn and shrink away when the end is heated. When using stranded wire, twist the stripped ends so that they do not fray apart and cause issues, kind of like sewing or other stranded rope applications.
be careful when wicking the TQFP not to apply too much pressure or you are going to bend your pin, i did it once on a processor chip with a very small pin pitch on a LCD TV motherboard, then it broke off and its a disaster to fix
Marek Ant forgot to mention that upon closer inspection after i removed the chip i actually ripped the pads as well and ended up messing around the board for 2 hours fixing the damaged trace with tiny jumper wire
I just started soldering, so this was really helpful, now I just need to get use to being delicate, and I can repair that pesky WiFi Dongle USB port I broke two weeks ago, and have the skills to fix anything else I break in the coming years.. Or hopefully someone else breaks as a side job.
How about making something too? I'm watching this video because I wanted a button box for sim racing, and they are too expensive. I'm sure we all need something once in a while that would cost $1 in parts.
THT Through Hole Technology
SMD surface mount device
DIP8 Dual in line package
PCB printed circuit board
IC integrated circuit
TQFP thin quad flat package
QFN quad flat no leads
perf board
sockets
solder wick
flux pen
cotton pads with isopropanol
//just ignore this cmt. I'm just new to this and want to take note of the terms
I have 13 years old and i can soldering easly! Thank to helping me to much.
I thought that QFN stood for "quickly f**king nuisance" :-)
Lol
I once forgot to use flux, and my solder got dry. Then, I remembered how you said that flux makes sure that solder only sticks to the iron, lead or pad. So I pulled out my flux (which already hardened but melted when I heated it with my iron) and used it well.
Me: SMD soldering with an iron
Shaky hands: Allow me to introduce myself.
No SMD microscope: I'm about to end this man's whole career.
4:37 Every time I see see solder traces like this in one of your videos it gives me anxiety with how close the discrete regions are to touching
Legends says that you will reply me
If you have a good question, sure.
that time lapse intro alone deserves a like
What camera do you use at 3.50??
That is the microscope. It can also record video. I am pretty happy with it. Like I said, links are in the video description.
Solder with flux core/fluxfree solder: some solder (duh, word repetition) have tiny channels inside them which contain flux (usually rosin). It helps in cleaning the soldered area and making a solder joint all the better. Flux-free solder doesn't have this; it requires the flux to be applied prior to soldering. (I imagine it may be useful where the PCB/components call for a definite/special type of flux. Practically useless in the DIY universe, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong :) )
I'm an electronics tech for philips. I would heavily recommend using lead based solder w/ a flux core. Main reason being that lead based solder tends to be more consistent.
It isn't good idea to solder exactly like him :/
Seriously! This shit made me cringe.
What's wrong with the way he solders?
FHRsLP no
Yeah. Especially the SMD techniques used. I expected him to solder the TQFP with some kind of drag-soldering method or solder each individual pin, but then the screen filled with massive blobs of solder and my reaction was "Oh god, no, please, what did I do to deserve this". Also, if he's soldering at 350°C, that's a bit hot to be blobbing solder on all sides of a TQFP
Skuldugery bending pins isn't so bad, it's easier if you're setting up your circuit first and then soldering. I don't really mind that. But, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this video causes an SMD IC genocide.
Thank you for your videos! So helpful and clear. The Macro shots make it even clearer!
10:16 you did a mistake there 😂
A little helpfull tip, if you have multiple parts you want to solder at once, bending the wires to hold it to the board while you solder can get messy. Use blue tack on the other side of the board to hold them. That’s what I do and so far it’s never failed me, just make sure not to touch it directly with the iron :)
When he said "through hole technology" just after the intro my Google assistant activated
Wow. New subscriber , self teaching myself. I got a Christmas tree led project.
Thanks for the great video.
The last time i tried to solder something i soldered through the pcb 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Tip from another german EE-Guy: Use the iron only to heat the spot up, then melt the solder directly on the spot. Add only a little solder on the Iron for better heatflow, but never melt solder on the iron and smear it on the spot. The lack of flux will produce bad quality connections. If needed use these cheap support clamps as third hand.
My circuits never work 😭
9:29 tfw you don't use hot air method because you are concerned for the heat you apply to the ic, but you quench all four sides of a tqfp package with molten solder. the solder paste is more difficult to melt because it is made of lead-free solder. here is my tip, tin the pads with soldering iron, using leaded solder and flux, then place the ic on the pads and apply hot air. it'll be a much gentler soldering job and will leave a better looking joints, without the wicking part.