From what I understand of the Prop 65 warnings: it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything in the product that requires the label, just that a lot of manufacturers decided to respond to that law by labelling everything with the "may contains" label and call it a day rather than certify that it doesn't contain the chemicals.
yep, they do the same with food packaging. Just put a mention "may contain traces amounts of ,insert potential allergen here>" and they covered their asses... It's all about avoiding a costly lawsuit
@ that PTC commonly uses in automotive and also used in hair blower to resist heat and to prevent burning. It is rolled into Nichrome wire. Unfortunately, that kind of soldering nowadays are not ideal to use because of effects of electric shock if PTC becomes brittle inside. I recommend to use Ceramic-based soldering filament for electronics.
Quick tip: To get wire better heated, you need a small amount of liquid solder on the tip to improve heat transfer. . I use edge of a small piece of cardboard to clean the tip of my soldering iron. It extended its life tremendously. Using a damp sponge creates a thermal shock that degrades the tip over time.
Yup. I always put a little bit of solder onto the tip when soldering wire, it helps transfer the heat into the wire. It also doesn't help when the tip isn't pre-tinned and burnt like in the video. I use those brass/copper wool soldering tip cleaners when I'm soldering, it removes the excess solder and tends to keep the tip from burning.
5:28 be aware that lead free solder always looks more matte than tin/lead solder. The joints may look like cold joints but often are totally fine. My experience with the cheapest lead free solder is also bad. I prefer the SnCuNiGe stuff made according to a Fuji patent, by Felder.
@@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse The leaded solder also contains traces like 1-1.5% copper to prevent damage to the tip of the soldering iron. Otherwise the molten metal residue will dissolve small amounts of copper from the tip and eat a hole into it.
There's a reason why the government wrote a clause in the RoHS lead free law that excluded them. That's because leaded solder is just better. Rules for thee and not for me.
@@1pcfred similar here in the uk, 'proper' leaded solder still used for military purposes, but us 'civilian' hobbyists, very difficult to get it, which seems strange in some ways as hobbyist made stuff far less likely to end up in landfill, and far less quantities, than mass produced equipment, which lead free is now 'mandatory' for 😁
Many devices with heating elements say this in the manual. My heat gun did as well as some space heaters I believe. My Hakko never smoked, but it has a ceramic enclosed element.
These cheap soldiering irons are often live connected directly across the heating element. That could potentially do quite some damage to things that are grounded when being soldered.
@@heggy_69 Even with a good desoldering gun or hot air station, without practise it's easy to mess things up. A beginner tip: For larger components it's better to twist or cut them off before heating up, because it relieves the strain on the pad.
Tinning is crucial. Make sure you wipe the tip on the wet sponge frequently to keep it shiny. It also helps to wrap some solder around the tip as you power on the iron, then wipe it off after it melts. As long as it's tinned, everything else is pretty easy.
Soldering is one of those simple tasks with a lot of details. There's just three rules to soldering really. Clean, clean, clean! I know that sounds like 1 rule but it's 3. What you solder has to be clean, your tools have to be clean and your solder has to be clean too. So preparation is the key. If things go wrong stop and clean some more. Basically if you're not done in 3 seconds stop. Something's going wrong. Bright and shiny begets bright and shiny. Contaminants you can't even see with your eyes can impede proper soldering. Like oils. So don't eat greasy potato chips while you're trying to solder. That won't go well. I was watching a guy on TH-cam and he was trying to solder a board and having a hard time. Then he remembered he had that board at a show and let a lot of people handle it. The oils from their fingers were all over that board. So clean!
I do really miss RadioShack. Even their cheapest, most kid friendly soldering irons actually worked pretty well and were reasonably well made. I can only imagine the sense of failure some nerdy 13 year old might feel trying to learn how to solder with a kit like this.
I am still using some NOS Radio Shack solder that I bought cheap online in three different thicknesses shortly after they closed most of their stores. It works pretty well. It is 60/40 solder, too.
I had one of these pieces of crap as a 13yo kid wanting to do my fist project, took until i was about 18 to even try it again, that time with a proper station and it suddenly was the easiest thing on the planet. These plug in cheapo irons are a waste of resources
@@wardenpotatoi dunno I've got a couple unregulated antexes and they're good enough for the price. Biggest help for me was switching to a bevel tip instead of the default stabby one. More surface area/thermal mass
Radioshack irons were terrible. They came with horrible cheap tips that would burn up in short order. I remember when I was in middle school and Radioshack irons were all that were available to me, I was changing tips on the iron on a monthly basis, because they'd go black and the coating would slake off and expose the copper, then the tip was junk. Part of the problem was that those irons ran FAR too hot, even the metal around the heating element would start to get damaged over time and eventually the iron had to be thrown away. These weren't high power irons either, I had both 25W and 40W varieties and they both had the same short lifespans. I was so glad when I got my first Weller iron. That thing is 30 years old now and it has the original tip that is still in good condition. It's been retired to light duty because the heating element doesn't get as hot as it used to and takes longer to warm up. I have a new Weller soldering station that I bought several years ago.
They both remind me a lot of my first soldering iron and solder tube, almost 25 years ago. My solder wasn't lead-free, but I still managed some pretty crappy, cold solder joints with it :-).
Thank you for the video, I've been in electronics 50+ years, while it's true to not just melt solder on something you'll get better results by adding solder to the contact point of the tip and the object you're soldering, this will cause the solder to melt and make a more intimate transfer of heat to the work. Of course items to be soldered need to be clean and shiny
I had one that looked just like that for a while, I bought it at one of those tool tent sales that used to come around. I think they were $1 then. I didn't bother with the solder, which came with it then, not because it wouldn't stick but because it was eating the cardboard packaging around where it seemingly leaked. The iron lasted for a while but with age got hotter and hotter, finally melting the handle, which slid off the back end. Since it still worked, and did only draw about 40w, I made a new handle for it on the lathe from a piece of and old table leg. It lasted another four or five years, mostly getting used to fix broken plastic rather than for soldering. It eventually just died and got tossed in the trash. For a buck, I considered it a deal but for soldering, I'll stick to my Weller irons.
I'm so glad my ancient temperature-controlled Weller is still alive and kicking. Decent soldering irons don't come cheap nowadays. As you so rightly say, modern "fake" solder doesn't help either.
Agree. I also have a WELLER Soldering Iron with temperature control and changeable tip and power switch that still works. I soldered a lot with it, wires, replaced also motherboard capacitors with it and at 400 degrees C no cold soldering!
My wife and i have a small microelectronics engineering business and we use Weller and also have an Ersa soldering machine. They are pretty solid. No complaints. The temperature control is very accurate, which many lower quality solder stations don't manage well. I live in the EU where leaded solder for commercial purposes has been banned. But sinxe no one controls it, i'm still using it for more difficult work. The only lead free solder which i like using is Stannol with silver. But it's expensive AF.
@@iscander_s I agree. I have switched to some basic Chinese soldering iron a while ago and it has been great so far. No complaints. Only takes a few seconds to heat up, too. I mainly work on small electronics, though. So there might be other benefits to older soldering irons I'm not aware of.
I have had a lot of luck with lead-free solder from Harbor Freight; that stuff flows quite well. I also use one of those generic AliExpress irons that can be had for less than $5. Together, they work quite well. Big Clive has good tutorials on soldering for those curious.
The tip on that iron looks oxidized so it's not getting good thermal conduct with the solder. I used to buy crappy soldering irons from homebase (the local hardware store) and they lasted about 5 days and then the element would fail.
@CamelCasee soldering is one of those things where any weak link is going to fail you. There's not a lot you need to do but you do have to do all of it to be successful. When everything is going right I find soldering easy. But I have experienced difficulties too. It only takes one thing to throw a wrench in the works. I was watching a video where a guy was using poor solder and he was struggling. He adjusted everything else. Finally he got good solder and everything worked.
@@1pcfred Just very very tired, sleep does not recharge me. The only thing that does "recharge" me is energy drinks otherwise I'm groggy all though the day. That's also another reason I converted my bike into an e-bike so I don't have to waste what little energy I have by peddling.
@@CoolDudeClem usually exercise invigorates us. Exercise will make you tired in the moment but refreshes us overall. Which is somewhat counterintuitive. How can something tiring refresh us? But it does. I try to maintain an active lifestyle myself. But that is not getting easier to do as I get older. Still, you've got to keep moving.
that initial smoke was likely just remant oil on the metals from machining, pretty normal to see and it will stop and not happen again once burnt off after 5 mins or so. Also, you can speed up the heating of the wires you were trying to solder by putting a small dab of solder between the iron and wire to massively help the heat transfer, then complete the joint by meltiing the solder on the wire like you were trying to do. It makes a big difference.
I have to admit, having never soldered with anything but lead free solder, I am astonished by the difference it makes! Now I understand what the fuss with Sn-Pb solder is about. I was having the same problems when I started soldering two years ago. Fortunately, flux and high quality (lead free) solder have pretty much fixed these problems. Low quality lead free solder like in this video is useless.
If done properly with the right supplies it's not that big a deal. You just get on with things if you have to, especially if it's to pay the bills. Mostly old guys and understandably repair techs moaning about it, but by and large manufacturers don't really care.
I'm sorry if they can't figure out how to manage the waste stream but I'm not going to be punished for their failings. Lead free solder is absolute trash. Lead solder is just a superior product. If you're not a commercial user you're not obligated to use lead free solder either. There's no way I'd use lead free solder. I have enough problems.
@@1pcfred The best lead-free solders are almost as good as a good leaded solder. (They can’t quite match the best leaded solders, but they are close.) IMHO lead-free solder places noticeably higher demands on the flux, and that’s where you see huge differences between brands. Try one of the alloys with traces of nickel and germanium (SN100C, SN100Ni+) - those additives help them flow nicely.
@@tookitogo there is no reason why I would ever want to use lead free solder. I don't have to meet any government standards and screw them if they try to impose that nonsense on me. I'm going to do what's best for me. Lead free solder offers me no tangible benefits. I have enough lead solder to last me the rest of my natural life too.
@@grantm902 They minimize lead free solder in aerospace platforms because the stuff sucks. Look up "tin whiskers". It also has terrible thermal fatigue problems. One of the reasons electronics are not as reliable today is lead free solder.
The hazardous part of solder smoke is the burning of the rosin flux rather than the lead itself, as lead does not turn gaseous. You're right about washing your hands though, as touching the lead and then touching your nose, eyes or mouth can cause you to ingest it.
I bought 3 of those about 20 years ago. 2 are Telstar, 1 was some other brand. I never used that other brand one, it's a backup. The first Telstar worked fine for a few times, then one day it was heating up and the center part where those holes are started to glow very red very quickly and smoke started pouring out of it. The other Telstar has been working well for years. But I have never used it for soldering, only melting plastic. China had sent me a couple of soldering irons, completely with lead-free solder and a mechanism to automatically feed solder through. Each one of them, after being plugged in for a solid 5 minutes, would cause the tip to glow red. You don't need, nor want the tip glowing red, to solder. That lead-free solder was extremely smoky, I had tried it on my Weller iron and it was still smoky and didn't work well. Junk. Solder fume extractors are out there, and they're not very expensive. Really nothing more than a small fan with a charcoal filter, you can make your own. I had actually planned on that using the fan out of an old microwave, and a couple of computer slot cover bracket as a stand. But I never needed to make it, I was sent one to review.
Same here - it's also the quality of the solder, flux, and wick. After I got higher quality equipment, I went from not being able to repair anything at all (except some headphones I had) to a very high success rate. Cheap hot air stations are even worse, they end up burning the board because they take so long to melt the solder especially if you're trying to melt lead-free solder.
I got one of these a couple of years ago, i was just soldering a whole bunch of wires together for a project with a lot of wiring to be done, a friend provided this kind of iron, it was so frustrating to use. And i left it plugged in because of the frequent use, and after about 30 minutes, the tip was red hot, it glowed in the dark! I was stripping a whole bunch of wires and didn't pay attention to this thing for about 10 minutes, i was amazed by how red hot this thing got.
Wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with lead-free solder. I got so frustrated the other day that I actually left the house in search of "the good stuff" so that I could finish a project.
I have been able to get reasonable success using that crappy solder doing it this way: Put the soldering iron under the wire (like you did). Then put solder on the iron where the iron is touching the wire. This will help transfer heat from the iron to the wire (flux helps with this as well). Touch the solder to the wire directly above the iron since that part of the wire will heat up first. As the rest of the wire heats up move both the solder (on top) and the iron (on bottom) back and forth over the area being soldered. Also, for thicker wires, you can start by splaying the strands of the wire out, butt the two wires together, then pinch the strands together so that the two wires are meshed together, then solder that. This make for a much stronger connection than just resting one wire next to the other.
45 years soldering with leaded and lead free, never really been a problem. Problem comes with cheap solder. As my Dad is fond of telling me, "you get what you pay for." I feel the test was also a little unscientific, the wires soldered by the lead free solder weren't twisted together and had little support. The solder was flowing, and it wasn't a cold, or dry as we say here in the U.K., dry being the opposite of wet of course, because the soldering process always talks about some soldering faults as lack of wetting. Cold joints could literally be that, not enough heat being applied, so I see where it might have come from. I have been soldering for a living now for nigh on 40 years, it's all about technique, having the right tools, equipment and patience. At work we use a well known brand of lead free solder for repairs and rework, it still comes out dull looking, doesn't mean it is a poor joint. when we have finished repair or rework, we clean the board and joints with isopropyl alcohol and a soft lint free pad and soft anti-static brush, leaves the joints nice and shiny. However, when soldering wires together in some applications (automotive mostly) I would still use 60/40 tin/lead because of it's greater resistance to fracture, lead free is less resistant to vibration and fracture. I'm not telling you you're doing anything wrong, because that's the point of the video right? This is just what I have done. A little concerned too about the lack of an earth connection on a directly mains powered heating device with exposed metal.
Also, don't put the 60/40 solder in your mouth. I saw a video of Woz soldering and he was holding the solder between his lips while manipulating the components, which is probably an old-school shortcut.
Woz may have been using lead free solder but you shouldn't put any kind of solder in your mouth. It isn't just lead that can kill. In my younger years I saw that being done, too, though. Also, don't chew on the insulation that you strip off of wires -- people have died from lead in those as well.
And the women who painted the dials of clocks with glow-in-the-dark radium paint put the tip of the paintbrush between their lips to shape it, with horrifying results.
@@mharris5047The chances that he was using lead-free solder are asymptotically approaching zero. Nobody used lead-free back then for general electronics soldering. But though it certainly isn’t recommended to put lead solder in your mouth, the risk is minimal - elemental lead is not particularly toxic, even when swallowed. (Lead compounds are far, far more toxic.) If you don’t chew it and don’t swallow it, it’s not likely to be harmful. As for lead in the insulation - what are you referring to?!?
It reminds me when lead was used by the Ancient Romans to sweeten wine! YUM! Sugar cane was yet to be discovered by Europeans which did a lot to preserve teeth into the ripe old age of over 40 years old. LOL. Most people didn't live into their 30s, though. If it wasn't illness that got them, it was war.
I would be very smart now if it was not for me putting the lead/tin solder in my mouth around 65 years ago years ago. It may have dropped my IQ down to 130.
UK here. I had no idea solder is pronounced without the L in the US. I've heard the word said by Americans many times, I just thought it was a very soft L. In south UK here, we don't pronounce the R in iron, it's 'ion'. Go figure!
it's not truly "not pronounced", it is in fact very soft like you perceived it to be. You'll often find yourself still making the tongue movement for the R in iron, even if it's almost inaudible. But the letters are still there, and their presence vastly changes how the preceding and succeeding letters sound when pronounced! :)
Yeah it's not like we intentionally don't pronounce the L, we just don't. So it sounds like we're saying, "sodder". Which has no special meaning here. No one's telling anyone else to sod off. We use the F word for that. When people do pronounce the L in solder it sounds weird too. Like they're trying to say soldier or something.
You should have hooked/twisted the wires together the first time; it would likely have worked okay on that occasion, too. Also, I do indeed usually melt the solder first in order to not overheat and oxidize the wires; I have seldom had any luck with heating the conductors and trying to get them to melt the solder; usually I just make an oxidized mess and overhead the connection. If you spread paste-flux onto the wires first, it will let the solder melt onto them more smoothly. Another good practice if you have small-diameter solder is to wrap the solder around the wires to be joined, and then heat everything with the iron so that the solder and flux melts and flows into the joint.
It's the perfect single use iron! You probably don't solder things often and won't invest in quality tool. After you are done using it is probably already broken.
The trick with those cheap non regulated soldering irons is, wire them to a triac light dimmer... They always go into self-destruct mode if you leave them on full power for too long, with the dimmer you can at least somewhat control the temperature.
@westelaudio943 I never thought of that. If the variac dimmer can handle the 100 or 150 watts of an old style incandescent light bulb it should handle a "60 watt" soldering iron that actually draws about 45 watts.
@westelaudio943 or add a resistor in a box inline with it, or a diode, so it only heats on half wave, but then that'd probably be too low for it, especially that unleaded stuff 😁
Solder tip: Heat the wire then quickly apply the solder to the wire. The hot wire will draw the solder across and into the heated areas. Took me many tries before I understood that principle. You'll perfect result nearly every time.
There is no lead in the rosin smoke, but it's still not good to breathe. It helps a lot to use a solder bridge. Initially, you do melt the solder to the splice with the iron as it creates a solid path for the heat from the iron to conduct to the wire. Thereafter, you only touch the solder to the splice to do the actual soldering. It saves time.
The reason why the iron might not be heating up the copper on the wire test, is because the tip is quite sharp and small, So it might not have the best thermal contact to transfer the heat to the wire. Usually I prefer to use a flathead kind of tip while soldering , it improves the experience alot. Ive noticed that alot of these el-cheapo soldering irons don't come with any good tips, usually just the conical one, and you can never get replacement tips anywhere either.
I sent my complaint to Daniel Webster 200 years ago but unfortunately I was told that the time machine I used won't be able to deliver his reply until the year 2225.
My experience with lead free solder has been that it's fine as long as you spring for the really good name brand stuff and use a decent iron. I've used it for everything from 0201 SMD resistors up to soldering RF screen cans to large ground planes. It works fine on wires too. You may want to bump the temperature of your iron up ~10°C. Cheap lead free solder is more hassle than it's worth.
Using 1mm solder for the majority of use cases is a good way to hate lead-free solder. 0.7mm provides a better balance of solder density and flux core. Lower than that, you'll want to apply flux.
Here I thought my Hazard Fart soldering station was going to be concerning, but this exists. Actually, that cheapo soldering station I bought seems to just be a rebranded version of one of those "digital" soldering stations Clive showed off at one point. This looks like a cheaper version of one of those $3 Walmart irons (works, but you'll wanna exercise caution when using it). I also noticed that the tip didn't seem to want to take solder super readily. Not sure if that's the tip or the cheap solder, but I'd put my bet on it being the solder as I have gotten crappy tips to work using "the good stuff" (60/40).
Man you just triggered a core memory for me as this iron reminds me of ones that use to come in a lot of the fake leather zip pouch Electronics/PC repair/tech kits back in the 80's, and through the 90's where the included iron looked like this one, and was decent enough to get the job done, but you had to wait a while before putting it back in the case so it was cool to the touch, but the included solder in a plastic tube was ALWAYS junk, I had one of those kits my stepdad got me when I was 10, as he knew I was into computers, and electronics repair, & thankfully him being an ASE certified auto mechanic had plenty of plenty of lead based solder, and gave me a big roll along with solder wick to get me started learning by practicing on some junk TV's from the community dumpster near our house, & him also teaching me by helping him fix his little shop radio. Good memories!! 🙂
The smoke is normal when the soldering iron is new.The PTC and some other parts are coated with oil to prevent corrosion during storage and this burns off when used for the first time. Also for an ultra cheap iron, this is quite decent for casual use.
Lead free solder always looks ugly, even when the joint is good. Doesn't mean it's a cold joint necessarily. Its worth mentioning that there are many different lead free alloys and you probably got one of the cheapest ones. With leaded solder, you can pretty much use 60/40 or 63/37 for nearly anything. Maybe some silver in there if you're fancy. In contrast, there are dozens of different lead free solders on the market--all mostly tin, but with varying amounts of copper, silver, bismuth, indium, gold, nickel, etc depending on the particular application. And then there's just the fact that leaded solder melts at a lower temperature, so you always need the iron up higher for lead-free.
0:28 YES!! Thank you! It’s pronounced “SOD-der “! At least that’s how I pronounce it as a Texan. As far as the “iron” part goes, we don’t pronounce the O part. I guess unless you’re from East Texas. Then it’s “ARN”. But they’re a little less sophisticated than we are in North Texas.
That was the first soldering iron i bought. I replaced the stock cable for a cable with a dimming switch and it worked just fine. Although we have 230V here.
That's fine as the dimmer reduces the average current to the level required. The big hazard is - Is the insulation adequate for 230 volts? The answer is probably YES since you're alive to post the comment.
A soldering iron is as basic as it gets. A lighter would do it. But the solder they give you in these cheap things is crap. I ordered 3 different types of solder from TEMU and all of it was crap. Went to my local hardware store and bought overpriced solder but it worked great. I think it was plumbing solder but never had any issue with it.
There is no problem with the lead/tin plumbing solder for electronics just make sure it does not have an acid core flux. Plumbing solder is often 50/50 tin lead instead of 60/40 or better 63/37 tin/lead at it goes from a liquid to solid instead of passing through the plastic stage.
I have a soldering iron and solder that I bought at Walmart and it seems to work for me. It says for electrical use only but I use it for electronics as well and it seems to work fine.
Great, fun video, thanks. Just a tip....don't throw that solder away. If you know anyone that likes to cast their own lead bullets, they will thank you for it. It hardens and improves the bullet for faster velocity, when a little is added to the lead pot. Thanks.
I don't know about that slider in particular but I find leadfree solder tends to require a little bit more heat to get a good joint. It also doesn't finish with a reflective surface so it might well be a good joint if it's cloudy. But I do have to say it tends to have trouble wicking.
Before I watch the video, let me first say that I am both excited and apprehensive about the use of ELlectrical *SOLDER* on-screen. 4:39 - Hey Kevin! You're not supposed to connect the 12v memory/clock lead to your dimmer wire, or your parking lamps, license plate/marker lights, and gauge cluster will be lit all the time once you plug the harness adapter into the factory harness! 🤣
The cloudy/matte look is always there with lead free solder. Only regular lead solder becomes nice and shiny when soldered properly. Oh and btw, even my JBC soldering iron smoked when I first turned on. It's normal for a new soldering iron... probably traces of manufacturing that are burning off.
Apparently, a person from the United States has just realized what technicians around the world use every day to solder. Good for you. Little by little he is leaving his bubble in his country.
I did as instructed and was surprised to receive a reply. Mr Webster said, "Sorry y'all I messed up! In my defense my front tooth was hurting bad that day, when I was informing the office for spoken language on how to pronounce the new words. Real sorry mister, and I hope you can fix my mistake for future humans on Earth.".
I brought a very similar looking iron as my first one and it very quickly melted. Possible reason was it was a 110V model accidentally labeled and packaged as a 240V model.
Lol. it's a wonder it had time to melt before the element burnt out! It would be running at 3 to 4 times the rated wattage. Not a soldering iron anymore but a hand-held fuse.
With lead free solder, you have to always use flux. Fun fact, lead solder is still used for military applications because it's more reliable. Unless things changed lately.
It is changing for medical applications already. Lead-free solder is actually stronger than leaded solder, and the impression I get is that at the moment, the military specifies leaded not because there is actually true concerns about lead-free reliability, but because there simply aren’t 100 years of data proving it. I expect that once lead-free has been in successful use commercially for 40 years (the typical lifespan of a piece of military hardware), they will relax on it. And before you cry “but tin whiskers”, remember that tin whiskers were known as a problem loooooong before lead-free solder, and that it doesn’t take much of some other metal in the alloy to prevent whisker growth. That’s why the military (and other high reliability users like aerospace) has banned pure tin plating on components for many decades.
@@tookitogo lead is more ductile and easier to work with. So results are just going to be better. I've done mil spec soldering and their standards are absolutely insane. Good luck meeting them with lead free solder. They want to be able to see the form of the conductor under the joint. That means no meniscus at all. You basically have to solder plate the components. Lead free just doesn't flow good enough to do that. In my opinion they want it too dry but I'm not the one making the decisions. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it how they do.
@@1pcfred I am well familiar with mil-spec and aerospace soldering standards, and while leaded certainly is a bit easier to work with, to claim that it’s impossible to make mil-spec joints with lead-free is ridiculous. You absolutely can. You are certainly correct that lead-free does not flow _as well_ as leaded, but it definitely flows _well enough_ to achieve those results. I will add the caveat that the inferior flow means you really have no wiggle room for poor flux, and in my opinion, many lead-free solders (including ones from some of the biggest brands) have fluxes that aren’t quite good enough. But the solders that combine the best alloys (the ones with nickel and germanium, which both increase flow) and the best fluxes work really well. (I will add that even with my favorite alloy, classic 63/37 leaded, there are huge differences in flow depending on the flux type. This fact supports my opinion that many people’s disappointing experiences with lead-free stem from lead-free that has inferior fluxes.)
@@1pcfred P.S. As I understand it, the driving force behind mil-spec preferring fairly “dry” joints is inspectability, so that you never have a wire or component lead/pad that didn’t wet, but is hidden under a mound of solder. Since the mil-spec standards also make it abundantly clear that the solder joints are not intended to be the primary mechanical support, that is ok.
I bought my first soldering iron at 11 years old from radioshack for 13 dollars. This channel, eevblog, and others are the catalysts for why I decided to teach myself how. I still have the same massive roll of radioshack brand unleaded solder, and I've gone through about half of it.
Telstar was a very popular name to give an impression of 'HiTech' in the 60s after the launch of the Telstar communication satellite 91st real electronic commsat)
Still using my Hakko 936 that spawned so many knockoff's, and pretty good ones at that with features like temp presets, and cool down timers after iron is placed in the holder. I don't mess with lead free unless I absolutely have to though. 😎
The melting point of lead-free solder is just too damn high. It's a bit easier to work with given a good temperature controlled iron but leaded solder is just so much better in general.
Ive been using a harbor freight one temp soldering iron that barely solders for a couple years. If she heats up enough to solder right, its just fine 😊
Two of the best ways I've found to tin the tip of a soldering iron or gun: (1) wrap the solder around the tip to cover it completely, smear on lots of paste-flux, then power on the iron/gun so that it melts the solder right away, before the tip has a chance to oxidize and thus prevent the solder from sticking to the tip properly. Or even better: (2) wrap the solder and add flux as described in the first procedure, then use a second iron or gun (borrow one from a friend just for this operation if you're on a limited income, and so purchasing a second iron/gun would be beyond your budget; of course, you can also "return the favor" to your friend by letting HIM temporarily borrow YOUR iron/gun whenever HE needs to tin the tip on HIS iron/gun) to heat up the solder and melt it onto the tip, just like soldering a wire. (This second method can be especially helpful in cases where you've had to sand all of the corrosion and old plating off from a copper tip, and thus have the bright copper base-metal showing, which would just oxidize before the tip even got hot enough to melt the solder to tin it --- by using a second iron/gun, you can melt and spread the solder onto the tip and coat it properly without having to heat the bared tip up too much.) Now of course, for a soldering iron/gun with a removable tip, you may not actually need a second iron/gun for this procedure, since you probably can merely tin the new tip before you first attach it to the iron/gun --- just use your iron/gun with its currently-installed tip (if it's still clean/solid enough to use this one last time; if not, obtain another new tip [sometimes they come in packages of two, anyway] and then swap them back and forth on your iron/gun to tin them both) to melt the solder and tin the tip while it's just sitting loose on your workbench.
The wrap method doesn't work. Before the element can get a tip hot enough to melt solder the tip will already be oxidizing in the atmosphere. What works is dipping the cold tip into molten solder. That'll tin it. I have a solder pot for doing that.
@@1pcfred Yes, dipping the unheated tip into molten solder in a separate electrically-heated crucible is indeed a better method than the coil-wrap method, but how many casual soldering-iron/gun users have something that high-end in their workshop? You are also correct that one may have limited tip-tinning success with wrapping the solder around the tip, but it might literally be the only even-partly-effective way of tinning the tip if you have limited equipment available (again, using a second iron/gun to tin the first iron's/gun's unheated tip is much better, but of course, not everyone has access to a second soldering-iron/gun; using your iron/gun with its presently-installed tip to melt solder to tin a new/cleaned unmounted tip would be an excellent option if you only had the one iron/gun to use); also, I was saying that you should apply lots of flux onto the tip along with the coiled solder in order to reduce oxidation and speed up the melting process of the solder. One thing you can do if you have to use the solder-wrapping method would be to just heat the tip enough to merely begin melting the solder, then unplug/switch off the unit and rub the semi-molten solder onto the tip. Then add more flux and coiled solder, and partially re-heat the iron/gun as necessary till the tip is tinned properly, and the excess solder drips off.
@@Quacks0 I have an electric solder pot but I don't know if anyone needs one just to tin a tip. You could heat solder in a ladle over any heat source. My workshop is far from high end too. But I got the solder pot to remove through hole components from printed circuit boards. I was big into parts stripping and the wet method is very fast and easy to do.
You have to twist the wires onto each other tightly like you're making a braid...then let the solder go in the through the copper by capillary action. I also use thinner solder, just because it's way easier to work with. I use one of those soldering pens (I think it's a ts101).
Gotta give these dollar-store product makers credit for setting the bar high for themselves: "Telstar" was the name of one of the first telecommunications satellites.... and later a whole series of them. A VERY ambitious, "space age" high-tech name to put on a cheap soldering iron and cheap no-lead solder! 🤣
I love lead solder ,got tons of the old "Nassau Metals " (AT&T).solder that use to be made on Staten Island by the Bell System, that stuff works absolutely the best ,the plant is long gone decades ago, but not the rolls that i got
I bought a 40w iron from the dollar store around 20 years ago and it lasted about 5 minutes before the whole element fell out of the handle because the plastic it was made of couldnt stand the heat.
Seeing you struggle due to the crap iron and lead-free solder is a level of torture I wasn't expecting from a vwestlife video but here we are. 😂 Also when soldering wires you're better off using tacky flux rather than liquid flux, and in general you should use brass wool (proper brass, not the plated stuff) as wet sponges cause rusting, extreme temperature drop, smell f**king awful if not properly wetted, and are just awful at removing excess solder in general. If anyone needs to do soldering, please don't use these cheap irons, you will suffer so get one with proper temperature control and easily replaceable tips, get leaded solder if you can, and use tacky flux from a reputable brand such as MG chemicals or amtech/inventech. You will find soldering isn't anywhere near as hard when you use decent quality stuff to begin with instead of cheap crap like the iron and solder in this video.
I prefer coarse steel wool instead of the damp sponge for cleaning the tip. It makes it last longer because you're not shocking the metal so much by rapidly cooling it.
my cheapo soldering iron has a temperature knob on the pencil. it's just barely better than this, but tbf it came with a case and a stand , and a crappy wire stripper and a bunch of wire
It should be pointed out that most "lead-free" solders need a much higher temperature soldering iron to melt. The metals in non-leaded solder won't melt at the same temperature as 60/40 tin-lead solder. That's why your leaded stuff melts very easily with that 45 watt iron but the lead-free stuff wouldn't melt. It isn't the fault of the iron, your flux or your technique. If you're trying to solder anything with lead-free solder, you need a much hotter soldering iron and some really good liquid flux or it won't melt or flow into the joint properly. Your iron is perfectly adequate for use, just not with any kind of lead-free solder as it doesn't get hot enough. The solder itself may be just fine, but your iron couldn't get hot enough to melt it. Plus, that was a rather large joint and it looked like you might not have been getting good contact between the iron tip and the wires you were soldering. Good video.
Actually saw that same iron in the dollar store near me not too long ago, it was an independently owned one, not a Dollar Tree/Dollar General, same packaging and everything (but very faded, like it had been there a few years, the original owners of the store had sold it off to new ones months ago), I always wondered why they just have spindly little plugs barely hanging onto them like that, it seems like a fire or tripping hazard (or both)
i have a cheap soldering set, i assumed i was doing something wrong or something as i had all the same problems you did, just i had no other experience to go from. its made me avoid soldering anything
For a dollar store soldering iron it does just as good as a $10 iron from Walmart both are fine for small jobs but I would recommend investing in a proper soldering station if you are going to work on anything you care about so you have some control over the temperature so you don't burn traces on boards.
From what I understand of the Prop 65 warnings: it doesn't necessarily mean there's anything in the product that requires the label, just that a lot of manufacturers decided to respond to that law by labelling everything with the "may contains" label and call it a day rather than certify that it doesn't contain the chemicals.
yep, they do the same with food packaging. Just put a mention "may contain traces amounts of ,insert potential allergen here>" and they covered their asses...
It's all about avoiding a costly lawsuit
Thank you California. You truly are making the world a better place
If "everything" is poisonous, then nothing is poisonous. The prop 65 warning is so overused, it has almost no meaning now.
I sometimes use the spot reserved on eBay listings for the prop 65 warning: "Will not cause cancer in Californians."
@@brunohebert1351I’ve heard they actually add sesame seeds now to keep lawsuits away!
3:32
That smoke coming from your iron is because your PTC and Nichrome Wire is new. But when you use it for a long time, smoke disappear. It's normal.
Also, your iron uses Metal tip instead of long life copper tip which is very efficient at tinning solder lead.
@@JaypiTechPHOfficial But copper is a metal too, friend
@ there's a difference.
Better tinning for copper. I can solder it properly without cold solder on that
@@JaypiTechPHOfficial doubt very much theres any 'ptc' part to it, just resistance wire...
@ that PTC commonly uses in automotive and also used in hair blower to resist heat and to prevent burning. It is rolled into Nichrome wire.
Unfortunately, that kind of soldering nowadays are not ideal to use because of effects of electric shock if PTC becomes brittle inside. I recommend to use Ceramic-based soldering filament for electronics.
Quick tip: To get wire better heated, you need a small amount of liquid solder on the tip to improve heat transfer.
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I use edge of a small piece of cardboard to clean the tip of my soldering iron. It extended its life tremendously. Using a damp sponge creates a thermal shock that degrades the tip over time.
That’s why brass wool has been the norm for probably 15-20 years now.
Yup. I always put a little bit of solder onto the tip when soldering wire, it helps transfer the heat into the wire. It also doesn't help when the tip isn't pre-tinned and burnt like in the video.
I use those brass/copper wool soldering tip cleaners when I'm soldering, it removes the excess solder and tends to keep the tip from burning.
Exactly. He's not getting good heat transfer regardless of which solder he's using.
@@madmax2069 That is what I have used for a good number of years. Works great, much better than the wet sponge.
I actually use toilet paper to clean my JVC soldering iron tip 😂
5:28 be aware that lead free solder always looks more matte than tin/lead solder. The joints may look like cold joints but often are totally fine.
My experience with the cheapest lead free solder is also bad. I prefer the SnCuNiGe stuff made according to a Fuji patent, by Felder.
I find the 1% copper in my lead free solder to be both amusing being present, and also tremendously helpful as well.
@@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse The leaded solder also contains traces like 1-1.5% copper to prevent damage to the tip of the soldering iron. Otherwise the molten metal residue will dissolve small amounts of copper from the tip and eat a hole into it.
There's a reason why the government wrote a clause in the RoHS lead free law that excluded them. That's because leaded solder is just better. Rules for thee and not for me.
Lead free usually needs a higher temp too.
@@1pcfred similar here in the uk, 'proper' leaded solder still used for military purposes, but us 'civilian' hobbyists, very difficult to get it, which seems strange in some ways as hobbyist made stuff far less likely to end up in landfill, and far less quantities, than mass produced equipment, which lead free is now 'mandatory' for 😁
Most new soldering irons smoke a little when you turn them on for the first time, I got a midrange Japanese one and it mentions it in the manual
Many devices with heating elements say this in the manual. My heat gun did as well as some space heaters I believe. My Hakko never smoked, but it has a ceramic enclosed element.
@@JulianA-tr6pt Or even just ovens and toasters and other heating appliances like that.
My Weller smoked when it was turned on for the first time as well.
These cheap soldiering irons are often live connected directly across the heating element. That could potentially do quite some damage to things that are grounded when being soldered.
Just starting to learn to solder thanks for the impromptu tutorial.
Wait till you try desoldering stuff, I still struggle with that sometimes but I can get most parts off a board without totally destroying them
@@heggy_69 Even with a good desoldering gun or hot air station, without practise it's easy to mess things up.
A beginner tip: For larger components it's better to twist or cut them off before heating up, because it relieves the strain on the pad.
Tinning is crucial. Make sure you wipe the tip on the wet sponge frequently to keep it shiny. It also helps to wrap some solder around the tip as you power on the iron, then wipe it off after it melts. As long as it's tinned, everything else is pretty easy.
Soldering is one of those simple tasks with a lot of details. There's just three rules to soldering really. Clean, clean, clean! I know that sounds like 1 rule but it's 3. What you solder has to be clean, your tools have to be clean and your solder has to be clean too. So preparation is the key. If things go wrong stop and clean some more. Basically if you're not done in 3 seconds stop. Something's going wrong. Bright and shiny begets bright and shiny. Contaminants you can't even see with your eyes can impede proper soldering. Like oils. So don't eat greasy potato chips while you're trying to solder. That won't go well. I was watching a guy on TH-cam and he was trying to solder a board and having a hard time. Then he remembered he had that board at a show and let a lot of people handle it. The oils from their fingers were all over that board. So clean!
@@steve.b.23 if your instructor knew the rules better he could have gotten by with less flux.
I do really miss RadioShack. Even their cheapest, most kid friendly soldering irons actually worked pretty well and were reasonably well made. I can only imagine the sense of failure some nerdy 13 year old might feel trying to learn how to solder with a kit like this.
I am still using some NOS Radio Shack solder that I bought cheap online in three different thicknesses shortly after they closed most of their stores. It works pretty well. It is 60/40 solder, too.
I had one of these pieces of crap as a 13yo kid wanting to do my fist project, took until i was about 18 to even try it again, that time with a proper station and it suddenly was the easiest thing on the planet. These plug in cheapo irons are a waste of resources
Those irons were terrible and not much different than what we're seeing here. Rat Shack deserved to go under.
@@wardenpotatoi dunno I've got a couple unregulated antexes and they're good enough for the price. Biggest help for me was switching to a bevel tip instead of the default stabby one. More surface area/thermal mass
Radioshack irons were terrible. They came with horrible cheap tips that would burn up in short order. I remember when I was in middle school and Radioshack irons were all that were available to me, I was changing tips on the iron on a monthly basis, because they'd go black and the coating would slake off and expose the copper, then the tip was junk. Part of the problem was that those irons ran FAR too hot, even the metal around the heating element would start to get damaged over time and eventually the iron had to be thrown away. These weren't high power irons either, I had both 25W and 40W varieties and they both had the same short lifespans.
I was so glad when I got my first Weller iron. That thing is 30 years old now and it has the original tip that is still in good condition. It's been retired to light duty because the heating element doesn't get as hot as it used to and takes longer to warm up. I have a new Weller soldering station that I bought several years ago.
They both remind me a lot of my first soldering iron and solder tube, almost 25 years ago. My solder wasn't lead-free, but I still managed some pretty crappy, cold solder joints with it :-).
"I don't solder often, but when I do, I like to use dicey dollar store supplies."
Thank you for the video, I've been in electronics 50+ years, while it's true to not just melt solder on something you'll get better results by adding solder to the contact point of the tip and the object you're soldering, this will cause the solder to melt and make a more intimate transfer of heat to the work. Of course items to be soldered need to be clean and shiny
I go between both pronunciations of solder so i can maximize annoyance
must be the Yebisu
@@Sohryu-Asuka-Langley kino
But are you using aluminium free solder, or aluminum free soder?
I had one that looked just like that for a while, I bought it at one of those tool tent sales that used to come around. I think they were $1 then. I didn't bother with the solder, which came with it then, not because it wouldn't stick but because it was eating the cardboard packaging around where it seemingly leaked.
The iron lasted for a while but with age got hotter and hotter, finally melting the handle, which slid off the back end. Since it still worked, and did only draw about 40w, I made a new handle for it on the lathe from a piece of and old table leg. It lasted another four or five years, mostly getting used to fix broken plastic rather than for soldering. It eventually just died and got tossed in the trash. For a buck, I considered it a deal but for soldering, I'll stick to my Weller irons.
put a little bit of solder on the tip and you get a lot better heat transfer to the wire.
Yep, exactly my thoughts. Especially with a tip of this shape.
Exactly right you start it on the hot tip of the iron and work back by transferring heat to the wire and won’t have any problems guaranteed 👍
I'm so glad my ancient temperature-controlled Weller is still alive and kicking. Decent soldering irons don't come cheap nowadays. As you so rightly say, modern "fake" solder doesn't help either.
Agree. I also have a WELLER Soldering Iron with temperature control and changeable tip and power switch that still works. I soldered a lot with it, wires, replaced also motherboard capacitors with it and at 400 degrees C no cold soldering!
My wife and i have a small microelectronics engineering business and we use Weller and also have an Ersa soldering machine. They are pretty solid. No complaints. The temperature control is very accurate, which many lower quality solder stations don't manage well.
I live in the EU where leaded solder for commercial purposes has been banned. But sinxe no one controls it, i'm still using it for more difficult work.
The only lead free solder which i like using is Stannol with silver. But it's expensive AF.
Actually, they do. Look into Chinese knock-off soldering stations with T12 tips, they are surprisingly good
@@iscander_s I agree. I have switched to some basic Chinese soldering iron a while ago and it has been great so far. No complaints. Only takes a few seconds to heat up, too. I mainly work on small electronics, though. So there might be other benefits to older soldering irons I'm not aware of.
Peter Weller? 😮
I have had a lot of luck with lead-free solder from Harbor Freight; that stuff flows quite well. I also use one of those generic AliExpress irons that can be had for less than $5. Together, they work quite well. Big Clive has good tutorials on soldering for those curious.
this actually explained my frustration with cheap solder from harbor freight as well.
The tip on that iron looks oxidized so it's not getting good thermal conduct with the solder. I used to buy crappy soldering irons from homebase (the local hardware store) and they lasted about 5 days and then the element would fail.
Hey Clem how are you doing?
I used to do the same, then I got myself an antex and it works fine for my hobby needs. Good quality solder helps too.
@CamelCasee soldering is one of those things where any weak link is going to fail you. There's not a lot you need to do but you do have to do all of it to be successful. When everything is going right I find soldering easy. But I have experienced difficulties too. It only takes one thing to throw a wrench in the works. I was watching a video where a guy was using poor solder and he was struggling. He adjusted everything else. Finally he got good solder and everything worked.
@@1pcfred Just very very tired, sleep does not recharge me. The only thing that does "recharge" me is energy drinks otherwise I'm groggy all though the day. That's also another reason I converted my bike into an e-bike so I don't have to waste what little energy I have by peddling.
@@CoolDudeClem usually exercise invigorates us. Exercise will make you tired in the moment but refreshes us overall. Which is somewhat counterintuitive. How can something tiring refresh us? But it does. I try to maintain an active lifestyle myself. But that is not getting easier to do as I get older. Still, you've got to keep moving.
that initial smoke was likely just remant oil on the metals from machining, pretty normal to see and it will stop and not happen again once burnt off after 5 mins or so. Also, you can speed up the heating of the wires you were trying to solder by putting a small dab of solder between the iron and wire to massively help the heat transfer, then complete the joint by meltiing the solder on the wire like you were trying to do. It makes a big difference.
I have to admit, having never soldered with anything but lead free solder, I am astonished by the difference it makes! Now I understand what the fuss with Sn-Pb solder is about.
I was having the same problems when I started soldering two years ago. Fortunately, flux and high quality (lead free) solder have pretty much fixed these problems. Low quality lead free solder like in this video is useless.
If done properly with the right supplies it's not that big a deal. You just get on with things if you have to, especially if it's to pay the bills. Mostly old guys and understandably repair techs moaning about it, but by and large manufacturers don't really care.
I'm sorry if they can't figure out how to manage the waste stream but I'm not going to be punished for their failings. Lead free solder is absolute trash. Lead solder is just a superior product. If you're not a commercial user you're not obligated to use lead free solder either. There's no way I'd use lead free solder. I have enough problems.
@@1pcfred The best lead-free solders are almost as good as a good leaded solder. (They can’t quite match the best leaded solders, but they are close.) IMHO lead-free solder places noticeably higher demands on the flux, and that’s where you see huge differences between brands. Try one of the alloys with traces of nickel and germanium (SN100C, SN100Ni+) - those additives help them flow nicely.
@@tookitogo there is no reason why I would ever want to use lead free solder. I don't have to meet any government standards and screw them if they try to impose that nonsense on me. I'm going to do what's best for me. Lead free solder offers me no tangible benefits. I have enough lead solder to last me the rest of my natural life too.
@@grantm902 They minimize lead free solder in aerospace platforms because the stuff sucks.
Look up "tin whiskers". It also has terrible thermal fatigue problems.
One of the reasons electronics are not as reliable today is lead free solder.
The hazardous part of solder smoke is the burning of the rosin flux rather than the lead itself, as lead does not turn gaseous. You're right about washing your hands though, as touching the lead and then touching your nose, eyes or mouth can cause you to ingest it.
There is a component of fine particulate lead oxide in the smoke. Not good to inhale.
I bought 3 of those about 20 years ago. 2 are Telstar, 1 was some other brand. I never used that other brand one, it's a backup. The first Telstar worked fine for a few times, then one day it was heating up and the center part where those holes are started to glow very red very quickly and smoke started pouring out of it. The other Telstar has been working well for years. But I have never used it for soldering, only melting plastic.
China had sent me a couple of soldering irons, completely with lead-free solder and a mechanism to automatically feed solder through. Each one of them, after being plugged in for a solid 5 minutes, would cause the tip to glow red. You don't need, nor want the tip glowing red, to solder. That lead-free solder was extremely smoky, I had tried it on my Weller iron and it was still smoky and didn't work well. Junk.
Solder fume extractors are out there, and they're not very expensive. Really nothing more than a small fan with a charcoal filter, you can make your own. I had actually planned on that using the fan out of an old microwave, and a couple of computer slot cover bracket as a stand. But I never needed to make it, I was sent one to review.
Beginners always start with budget irons that even professionals struggle to use, then give in thinking they are hopeless at soldering.
Ehhh... Those Harbor Freight specials can go pretty far.
Exactly this! I was so heartbroken as a kid, when I got similar crappy soldering iron and solder, and was unable to make any reliable connection
That's how it started for me, except that I have the patience of buddha and replaced 2 full joysticks of a switch pro controller anyway
@@Grosserracker My god, how did you not destroy any pads?
Same here - it's also the quality of the solder, flux, and wick. After I got higher quality equipment, I went from not being able to repair anything at all (except some headphones I had) to a very high success rate. Cheap hot air stations are even worse, they end up burning the board because they take so long to melt the solder especially if you're trying to melt lead-free solder.
Lead boils at 3200 F, well above the temperature of that iron. That smoke is the flux vaporizing.
we don't want it to boil, just to melt... so temp requirement is much lower at 622F (328C)
I know. Was just saying the smoke he mentioned is not boiled lead but just the flux burning.
When heated lead can form toxic lead oxide fumes. I always recommend soldering in a well ventilated room, as a precaution. 🖋
@@Jdvc-yd5txlead oxide is 2700f boiling point though
@@humble2246 You still get lead fumes even if it doesn't boil. Water doesn't have to boil for wet things to dry out.
I got one of these a couple of years ago, i was just soldering a whole bunch of wires together for a project with a lot of wiring to be done, a friend provided this kind of iron, it was so frustrating to use. And i left it plugged in because of the frequent use, and after about 30 minutes, the tip was red hot, it glowed in the dark! I was stripping a whole bunch of wires and didn't pay attention to this thing for about 10 minutes, i was amazed by how red hot this thing got.
Wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one who struggles with lead-free solder. I got so frustrated the other day that I actually left the house in search of "the good stuff" so that I could finish a project.
Lead-free solder normally looks like a cold solder joint. That i-ron isn't for electronics because it's not grounded properly.
what? ) soldering iron doesn't need to be grounded. cause you never work with equipment plugged to mains.
Please never change ur camera. It's nostalgic
I have been able to get reasonable success using that crappy solder doing it this way: Put the soldering iron under the wire (like you did). Then put solder on the iron where the iron is touching the wire. This will help transfer heat from the iron to the wire (flux helps with this as well). Touch the solder to the wire directly above the iron since that part of the wire will heat up first. As the rest of the wire heats up move both the solder (on top) and the iron (on bottom) back and forth over the area being soldered.
Also, for thicker wires, you can start by splaying the strands of the wire out, butt the two wires together, then pinch the strands together so that the two wires are meshed together, then solder that. This make for a much stronger connection than just resting one wire next to the other.
45 years soldering with leaded and lead free, never really been a problem. Problem comes with cheap solder. As my Dad is fond of telling me, "you get what you pay for."
I feel the test was also a little unscientific, the wires soldered by the lead free solder weren't twisted together and had little support. The solder was flowing, and it wasn't a cold, or dry as we say here in the U.K., dry being the opposite of wet of course, because the soldering process always talks about some soldering faults as lack of wetting. Cold joints could literally be that, not enough heat being applied, so I see where it might have come from.
I have been soldering for a living now for nigh on 40 years, it's all about technique, having the right tools, equipment and patience. At work we use a well known brand of lead free solder for repairs and rework, it still comes out dull looking, doesn't mean it is a poor joint. when we have finished repair or rework, we clean the board and joints with isopropyl alcohol and a soft lint free pad and soft anti-static brush, leaves the joints nice and shiny.
However, when soldering wires together in some applications (automotive mostly) I would still use 60/40 tin/lead because of it's greater resistance to fracture, lead free is less resistant to vibration and fracture.
I'm not telling you you're doing anything wrong, because that's the point of the video right? This is just what I have done.
A little concerned too about the lack of an earth connection on a directly mains powered heating device with exposed metal.
Also, don't put the 60/40 solder in your mouth. I saw a video of Woz soldering and he was holding the solder between his lips while manipulating the components, which is probably an old-school shortcut.
Woz may have been using lead free solder but you shouldn't put any kind of solder in your mouth. It isn't just lead that can kill. In my younger years I saw that being done, too, though. Also, don't chew on the insulation that you strip off of wires -- people have died from lead in those as well.
And the women who painted the dials of clocks with glow-in-the-dark radium paint put the tip of the paintbrush between their lips to shape it, with horrifying results.
@@mharris5047The chances that he was using lead-free solder are asymptotically approaching zero. Nobody used lead-free back then for general electronics soldering.
But though it certainly isn’t recommended to put lead solder in your mouth, the risk is minimal - elemental lead is not particularly toxic, even when swallowed. (Lead compounds are far, far more toxic.) If you don’t chew it and don’t swallow it, it’s not likely to be harmful.
As for lead in the insulation - what are you referring to?!?
It reminds me when lead was used by the Ancient Romans to sweeten wine! YUM! Sugar cane was yet to be discovered by Europeans which did a lot to preserve teeth into the ripe old age of over 40 years old. LOL. Most people didn't live into their 30s, though. If it wasn't illness that got them, it was war.
I would be very smart now if it was not for me putting the lead/tin solder in my mouth around 65 years ago years ago. It may have dropped my IQ down to 130.
UK here. I had no idea solder is pronounced without the L in the US. I've heard the word said by Americans many times, I just thought it was a very soft L. In south UK here, we don't pronounce the R in iron, it's 'ion'. Go figure!
it's not truly "not pronounced", it is in fact very soft like you perceived it to be. You'll often find yourself still making the tongue movement for the R in iron, even if it's almost inaudible. But the letters are still there, and their presence vastly changes how the preceding and succeeding letters sound when pronounced! :)
You are right, me and most every other American I know say the soft L.
@@humidbeing you must not know many Americans. That L is not pronounced at all.
Yeah it's not like we intentionally don't pronounce the L, we just don't. So it sounds like we're saying, "sodder". Which has no special meaning here. No one's telling anyone else to sod off. We use the F word for that. When people do pronounce the L in solder it sounds weird too. Like they're trying to say soldier or something.
There’s no R in iron. It’s Eye-on. From Bedfordshire, England.
You should have hooked/twisted the wires together the first time; it would likely have worked okay on that occasion, too. Also, I do indeed usually melt the solder first in order to not overheat and oxidize the wires; I have seldom had any luck with heating the conductors and trying to get them to melt the solder; usually I just make an oxidized mess and overhead the connection. If you spread paste-flux onto the wires first, it will let the solder melt onto them more smoothly. Another good practice if you have small-diameter solder is to wrap the solder around the wires to be joined, and then heat everything with the iron so that the solder and flux melts and flows into the joint.
It's the perfect single use iron! You probably don't solder things often and won't invest in quality tool. After you are done using it is probably already broken.
The trick with those cheap non regulated soldering irons is, wire them to a triac light dimmer... They always go into self-destruct mode if you leave them on full power for too long, with the dimmer you can at least somewhat control the temperature.
@westelaudio943 I never thought of that. If the variac dimmer can handle the 100 or 150 watts of an old style incandescent light bulb it should handle a "60 watt" soldering iron that actually draws about 45 watts.
@@mharris5047
Sure. A variac should work too.
@westelaudio943 or add a resistor in a box inline with it, or a diode, so it only heats on half wave, but then that'd probably be too low for it, especially that unleaded stuff 😁
Spending a little bit more for some good quality soldering equipment makes a difference in my experience.
Those flux pens are a real game changer for soldering.. i only discovered them the last few years after not using flux and it makes a huge difference
Solder tip: Heat the wire then quickly apply the solder to the wire. The hot wire will draw the solder across and into the heated areas. Took me many tries before I understood that principle. You'll perfect result nearly every time.
There is no lead in the rosin smoke, but it's still not good to breathe. It helps a lot to use a solder bridge. Initially, you do melt the solder to the splice with the iron as it creates a solid path for the heat from the iron to conduct to the wire. Thereafter, you only touch the solder to the splice to do the actual soldering. It saves time.
The extra "L" in ELlectrical is to make up for the silent "L" in solder.
The reason why the iron might not be heating up the copper on the wire test, is because the tip is quite sharp and small, So it might not have the best thermal contact to transfer the heat to the wire. Usually I prefer to use a flathead kind of tip while soldering , it improves the experience alot. Ive noticed that alot of these el-cheapo soldering irons don't come with any good tips, usually just the conical one, and you can never get replacement tips anywhere either.
haha send that complaint in an enveloped marked "things we have no control over"
Shame the 'r' in Iron wasn't silent too! :)
It’s “Eye Earn” not “Eye Ron”
@@rebchi I. Ron Butterfly
@@evacuatedspace69 at first I thought he was talking about the Middle East
Don't be like Larry King. I pronounce it iron and he is up my ass
Spend some time in Pittsburgh, PA. We'll teach yinz all how to say "iron" correctly. Lol
I sent my complaint to Daniel Webster 200 years ago but unfortunately I was told that the time machine I used won't be able to deliver his reply until the year 2225.
My experience with lead free solder has been that it's fine as long as you spring for the really good name brand stuff and use a decent iron. I've used it for everything from 0201 SMD resistors up to soldering RF screen cans to large ground planes. It works fine on wires too. You may want to bump the temperature of your iron up ~10°C. Cheap lead free solder is more hassle than it's worth.
I’d spend at least $15 on a soldering iron. However, I’m glad you got a cheap $1.25 one to work with the right wire.
Using 1mm solder for the majority of use cases is a good way to hate lead-free solder. 0.7mm provides a better balance of solder density and flux core. Lower than that, you'll want to apply flux.
Here I thought my Hazard Fart soldering station was going to be concerning, but this exists. Actually, that cheapo soldering station I bought seems to just be a rebranded version of one of those "digital" soldering stations Clive showed off at one point. This looks like a cheaper version of one of those $3 Walmart irons (works, but you'll wanna exercise caution when using it).
I also noticed that the tip didn't seem to want to take solder super readily. Not sure if that's the tip or the cheap solder, but I'd put my bet on it being the solder as I have gotten crappy tips to work using "the good stuff" (60/40).
Man you just triggered a core memory for me as this iron reminds me of ones that use to come in a lot of the fake leather zip pouch Electronics/PC repair/tech kits back in the 80's, and through the 90's where the included iron looked like this one, and was decent enough to get the job done, but you had to wait a while before putting it back in the case so it was cool to the touch, but the included solder in a plastic tube was ALWAYS junk, I had one of those kits my stepdad got me when I was 10, as he knew I was into computers, and electronics repair, & thankfully him being an ASE certified auto mechanic had plenty of plenty of lead based solder, and gave me a big roll along with solder wick to get me started learning by practicing on some junk TV's from the community dumpster near our house, & him also teaching me by helping him fix his little shop radio. Good memories!! 🙂
Did you try checking to see if it’s really 40W or 45W?
The smoke is normal when the soldering iron is new.The PTC and some other parts are coated with oil to prevent corrosion during storage and this burns off when used for the first time.
Also for an ultra cheap iron, this is quite decent for casual use.
Lead free solder always looks ugly, even when the joint is good. Doesn't mean it's a cold joint necessarily.
Its worth mentioning that there are many different lead free alloys and you probably got one of the cheapest ones. With leaded solder, you can pretty much use 60/40 or 63/37 for nearly anything. Maybe some silver in there if you're fancy. In contrast, there are dozens of different lead free solders on the market--all mostly tin, but with varying amounts of copper, silver, bismuth, indium, gold, nickel, etc depending on the particular application.
And then there's just the fact that leaded solder melts at a lower temperature, so you always need the iron up higher for lead-free.
0:28 YES!! Thank you! It’s pronounced “SOD-der “! At least that’s how I pronounce it as a Texan. As far as the “iron” part goes, we don’t pronounce the O part. I guess unless you’re from East Texas. Then it’s “ARN”. But they’re a little less sophisticated than we are in North Texas.
That was the first soldering iron i bought. I replaced the stock cable for a cable with a dimming switch and it worked just fine. Although we have 230V here.
That's fine as the dimmer reduces the average current to the level required. The big hazard is - Is the insulation adequate for 230 volts? The answer is probably YES since you're alive to post the comment.
@EuroScot2023 well, the cord was rated for 230 volts
1:11 Damn, they managed to lock you in buying their own brand of soldering wire. If you try to use another one, it suddenly melts.
@@cheeseparis1 a lead solder has a lower melting point compared to lead free solders (with a few exceptions)
@@lazy_termite yes I know lead solder, I bought some like 30 years ago, I have enough for the rest of my life
A soldering iron is as basic as it gets. A lighter would do it. But the solder they give you in these cheap things is crap. I ordered 3 different types of solder from TEMU and all of it was crap. Went to my local hardware store and bought overpriced solder but it worked great. I think it was plumbing solder but never had any issue with it.
There is no problem with the lead/tin plumbing solder for electronics just make sure it does not have an acid core flux. Plumbing solder is often 50/50 tin lead instead of 60/40 or better 63/37 tin/lead at it goes from a liquid to solid instead of passing through the plastic stage.
It's funny because in the UK we'd say Soul-der-ing Ion. Love the differences in language!
I have a soldering iron and solder that I bought at Walmart and it seems to work for me. It says for electrical use only but I use it for electronics as well and it seems to work fine.
Given that electronics is a subset of electrical, this is not too surprising.
Great, fun video, thanks. Just a tip....don't throw that solder away. If you know anyone that likes to cast their own lead bullets, they will thank you for it. It hardens and improves the bullet for faster velocity, when a little is added to the lead pot. Thanks.
We do use the l in the UK
I don't know about that slider in particular but I find leadfree solder tends to require a little bit more heat to get a good joint. It also doesn't finish with a reflective surface so it might well be a good joint if it's cloudy. But I do have to say it tends to have trouble wicking.
Before I watch the video, let me first say that I am both excited and apprehensive about the use of ELlectrical *SOLDER* on-screen.
4:39 - Hey Kevin! You're not supposed to connect the 12v memory/clock lead to your dimmer wire, or your parking lamps, license plate/marker lights, and gauge cluster will be lit all the time once you plug the harness adapter into the factory harness! 🤣
👍very good and useful presentation. Keep up the good work. Also testing the soldering iron ,It can save someone money
The cloudy/matte look is always there with lead free solder.
Only regular lead solder becomes nice and shiny when soldered properly.
Oh and btw, even my JBC soldering iron smoked when I first turned on.
It's normal for a new soldering iron... probably traces of manufacturing that are burning off.
Fun fact, Ford sold a car here call the Telstar back in the 80s & 90s here in Australia, it was basically a rebadge Mazda 626.
in NZ too.
Ford sold a version called the probe.
@@danc2014 Yep and that was a reskinned Mazda's MX-6
You can get a beautiful NOS wood-handle iron from China for about $3
FWIW, I've managed to splice wires using lead free solder, but I use a solder station with adjustable temp.
Same price I paid for my first one at Radio Shack back in the 70s :)
By the looks of that encyclopaedia it also seems that people think they're whirling around outer space on a gigantic ball too.
I like the solar system showing Pluto in the same league as the other planets
9:38 "Lead is not a good thing to ingest" Aw man I was gonna have a bowl of lead for breakfast.
Yay! Another Joe Pera product review video!
Apparently, a person from the United States has just realized what technicians around the world use every day to solder.
Good for you. Little by little he is leaving his bubble in his country.
TELSTAR... that's like satellite-grade nasa solder.
I did as instructed and was surprised to receive a reply. Mr Webster said, "Sorry y'all I messed up! In my defense my front tooth was hurting bad that day, when I was informing the office for spoken language on how to pronounce the new words. Real sorry mister, and I hope you can fix my mistake for future humans on Earth.".
I brought a very similar looking iron as my first one and it very quickly melted. Possible reason was it was a 110V model accidentally labeled and packaged as a 240V model.
Lol. it's a wonder it had time to melt before the element burnt out! It would be running at 3 to 4 times the rated wattage. Not a soldering iron anymore but a hand-held fuse.
@@EuroScot2023 Nah it's just the build quality is so good it can run at over double the rated voltage
With lead free solder, you have to always use flux. Fun fact, lead solder is still used for military applications because it's more reliable. Unless things changed lately.
There's an exemption for military and aerospace applications with RoHS. Lead free is good enough for you to use but not them.
It is changing for medical applications already.
Lead-free solder is actually stronger than leaded solder, and the impression I get is that at the moment, the military specifies leaded not because there is actually true concerns about lead-free reliability, but because there simply aren’t 100 years of data proving it. I expect that once lead-free has been in successful use commercially for 40 years (the typical lifespan of a piece of military hardware), they will relax on it.
And before you cry “but tin whiskers”, remember that tin whiskers were known as a problem loooooong before lead-free solder, and that it doesn’t take much of some other metal in the alloy to prevent whisker growth. That’s why the military (and other high reliability users like aerospace) has banned pure tin plating on components for many decades.
@@tookitogo lead is more ductile and easier to work with. So results are just going to be better. I've done mil spec soldering and their standards are absolutely insane. Good luck meeting them with lead free solder. They want to be able to see the form of the conductor under the joint. That means no meniscus at all. You basically have to solder plate the components. Lead free just doesn't flow good enough to do that. In my opinion they want it too dry but I'm not the one making the decisions. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it how they do.
@@1pcfred I am well familiar with mil-spec and aerospace soldering standards, and while leaded certainly is a bit easier to work with, to claim that it’s impossible to make mil-spec joints with lead-free is ridiculous. You absolutely can. You are certainly correct that lead-free does not flow _as well_ as leaded, but it definitely flows _well enough_ to achieve those results. I will add the caveat that the inferior flow means you really have no wiggle room for poor flux, and in my opinion, many lead-free solders (including ones from some of the biggest brands) have fluxes that aren’t quite good enough. But the solders that combine the best alloys (the ones with nickel and germanium, which both increase flow) and the best fluxes work really well. (I will add that even with my favorite alloy, classic 63/37 leaded, there are huge differences in flow depending on the flux type. This fact supports my opinion that many people’s disappointing experiences with lead-free stem from lead-free that has inferior fluxes.)
@@1pcfred P.S. As I understand it, the driving force behind mil-spec preferring fairly “dry” joints is inspectability, so that you never have a wire or component lead/pad that didn’t wet, but is hidden under a mound of solder. Since the mil-spec standards also make it abundantly clear that the solder joints are not intended to be the primary mechanical support, that is ok.
I bought my first soldering iron at 11 years old from radioshack for 13 dollars. This channel, eevblog, and others are the catalysts for why I decided to teach myself how. I still have the same massive roll of radioshack brand unleaded solder, and I've gone through about half of it.
Telstar!! I love their music too!🤭
Telstar was a very popular name to give an impression of 'HiTech' in the 60s after the launch of the Telstar communication satellite 91st real electronic commsat)
Right enough. Cheers for the info, mate 😊👍
Great stuff as always
Still using my Hakko 936 that spawned so many knockoff's, and pretty good ones at that with features like temp presets, and cool down timers after iron is placed in the holder. I don't mess with lead free unless I absolutely have to though. 😎
The melting point of lead-free solder is just too damn high. It's a bit easier to work with given a good temperature controlled iron but leaded solder is just so much better in general.
Ive been using a harbor freight one temp soldering iron that barely solders for a couple years. If she heats up enough to solder right, its just fine 😊
Once you got a new iron with a fresh tip, dip it in plumbers tinning flux to get it to tin well. ❤
You need to get the TL-3335 ellectrical soldering stand
Two of the best ways I've found to tin the tip of a soldering iron or gun: (1) wrap the solder around the tip to cover it completely, smear on lots of paste-flux, then power on the iron/gun so that it melts the solder right away, before the tip has a chance to oxidize and thus prevent the solder from sticking to the tip properly. Or even better: (2) wrap the solder and add flux as described in the first procedure, then use a second iron or gun (borrow one from a friend just for this operation if you're on a limited income, and so purchasing a second iron/gun would be beyond your budget; of course, you can also "return the favor" to your friend by letting HIM temporarily borrow YOUR iron/gun whenever HE needs to tin the tip on HIS iron/gun) to heat up the solder and melt it onto the tip, just like soldering a wire. (This second method can be especially helpful in cases where you've had to sand all of the corrosion and old plating off from a copper tip, and thus have the bright copper base-metal showing, which would just oxidize before the tip even got hot enough to melt the solder to tin it --- by using a second iron/gun, you can melt and spread the solder onto the tip and coat it properly without having to heat the bared tip up too much.) Now of course, for a soldering iron/gun with a removable tip, you may not actually need a second iron/gun for this procedure, since you probably can merely tin the new tip before you first attach it to the iron/gun --- just use your iron/gun with its currently-installed tip (if it's still clean/solid enough to use this one last time; if not, obtain another new tip [sometimes they come in packages of two, anyway] and then swap them back and forth on your iron/gun to tin them both) to melt the solder and tin the tip while it's just sitting loose on your workbench.
The wrap method doesn't work. Before the element can get a tip hot enough to melt solder the tip will already be oxidizing in the atmosphere. What works is dipping the cold tip into molten solder. That'll tin it. I have a solder pot for doing that.
@@1pcfred Yes, dipping the unheated tip into molten solder in a separate electrically-heated crucible is indeed a better method than the coil-wrap method, but how many casual soldering-iron/gun users have something that high-end in their workshop? You are also correct that one may have limited tip-tinning success with wrapping the solder around the tip, but it might literally be the only even-partly-effective way of tinning the tip if you have limited equipment available (again, using a second iron/gun to tin the first iron's/gun's unheated tip is much better, but of course, not everyone has access to a second soldering-iron/gun; using your iron/gun with its presently-installed tip to melt solder to tin a new/cleaned unmounted tip would be an excellent option if you only had the one iron/gun to use); also, I was saying that you should apply lots of flux onto the tip along with the coiled solder in order to reduce oxidation and speed up the melting process of the solder. One thing you can do if you have to use the solder-wrapping method would be to just heat the tip enough to merely begin melting the solder, then unplug/switch off the unit and rub the semi-molten solder onto the tip. Then add more flux and coiled solder, and partially re-heat the iron/gun as necessary till the tip is tinned properly, and the excess solder drips off.
@@Quacks0 I have an electric solder pot but I don't know if anyone needs one just to tin a tip. You could heat solder in a ladle over any heat source. My workshop is far from high end too. But I got the solder pot to remove through hole components from printed circuit boards. I was big into parts stripping and the wet method is very fast and easy to do.
You have to twist the wires onto each other tightly like you're making a braid...then let the solder go in the through the copper by capillary action. I also use thinner solder, just because it's way easier to work with. I use one of those soldering pens (I think it's a ts101).
Gotta give these dollar-store product makers credit for setting the bar high for themselves: "Telstar" was the name of one of the first telecommunications satellites.... and later a whole series of them. A VERY ambitious, "space age" high-tech name to put on a cheap soldering iron and cheap no-lead solder! 🤣
I love lead solder ,got tons of the old "Nassau Metals " (AT&T).solder that use to be made on Staten Island by the Bell System, that stuff works absolutely the best ,the plant is long gone decades ago, but not the rolls that i got
I bought a 40w iron from the dollar store around 20 years ago and it lasted about 5 minutes before the whole element fell out of the handle because the plastic it was made of couldnt stand the heat.
I posted this comment before watching the whole video and it was funny that you had the same experience I did.
0:27 and lower in that picture the word "soldier" were the L is not silent 😂, such a mess.
SAW-jer :P
VeeDub risking life and limb to bring us quality content, 10+!
Seeing you struggle due to the crap iron and lead-free solder is a level of torture I wasn't expecting from a vwestlife video but here we are. 😂
Also when soldering wires you're better off using tacky flux rather than liquid flux, and in general you should use brass wool (proper brass, not the plated stuff) as wet sponges cause rusting, extreme temperature drop, smell f**king awful if not properly wetted, and are just awful at removing excess solder in general.
If anyone needs to do soldering, please don't use these cheap irons, you will suffer so get one with proper temperature control and easily replaceable tips, get leaded solder if you can, and use tacky flux from a reputable brand such as MG chemicals or amtech/inventech.
You will find soldering isn't anywhere near as hard when you use decent quality stuff to begin with instead of cheap crap like the iron and solder in this video.
I prefer coarse steel wool instead of the damp sponge for cleaning the tip. It makes it last longer because you're not shocking the metal so much by rapidly cooling it.
Almost. Steel wool is too harsh. That’s why brass wool is the norm these days.
I solder brushes in starter motors, and I use a Hakko 200-Watt Matchless 557 Soldering Iron
If you want a good cheap soldering iron, the Pinecil is really good.
my cheapo soldering iron has a temperature knob on the pencil. it's just barely better than this, but tbf it came with a case and a stand , and a crappy wire stripper and a bunch of wire
It should be pointed out that most "lead-free" solders need a much higher temperature soldering iron to melt. The metals in non-leaded solder won't melt at the same temperature as 60/40 tin-lead solder. That's why your leaded stuff melts very easily with that 45 watt iron but the lead-free stuff wouldn't melt. It isn't the fault of the iron, your flux or your technique. If you're trying to solder anything with lead-free solder, you need a much hotter soldering iron and some really good liquid flux or it won't melt or flow into the joint properly. Your iron is perfectly adequate for use, just not with any kind of lead-free solder as it doesn't get hot enough. The solder itself may be just fine, but your iron couldn't get hot enough to melt it. Plus, that was a rather large joint and it looked like you might not have been getting good contact between the iron tip and the wires you were soldering. Good video.
Actually saw that same iron in the dollar store near me not too long ago, it was an independently owned one, not a Dollar Tree/Dollar General, same packaging and everything (but very faded, like it had been there a few years, the original owners of the store had sold it off to new ones months ago), I always wondered why they just have spindly little plugs barely hanging onto them like that, it seems like a fire or tripping hazard (or both)
i have a cheap soldering set, i assumed i was doing something wrong or something as i had all the same problems you did, just i had no other experience to go from.
its made me avoid soldering anything
For a dollar store soldering iron it does just as good as a $10 iron from Walmart both are fine for small jobs but I would recommend investing in a proper soldering station if you are going to work on anything you care about so you have some control over the temperature so you don't burn traces on boards.