Soldering Tips

A bit of fun, soldering tips and other recommended stuff…
Assembling one of my Remote PAVA Triggering PCBs and sharing some tips for soldering better.
1. Use Isopropyl Alcohol & lint free cloth to clean the surface first.
2. Start with the shallow components first (like resistors) and work upward to deeper components like the ESP32 board. That way the component presses against the board whilst its laying upside down and holds itself in place.
3. I use the TS100 Soldering Iron. Its compact, very fast heating time and best of all, the heating element is in the tip! Not in the base of the iron. It’s the best iron I have ever used. The newer TS101 version is available on Amazon here:-
🔗amzn.to/3OOPWcp
4. Clean off the flux regular. The Heat makes the flux turn an unsightly light brown and it spits tiny dots of it around the area being soldered. Use isopropyl and cloth to clean it off regular.
5. Pre-test your components before committing to soldering them to the board. In the case of LEDs and Diodes testing also helps you double check you have the polarity oriented correctly.
6. Keep a magnet on your bench to help collect up offcuts from trimming off the component legs. The offcuts can be useful for prototyping boards, keep them in a pot for later.
7. I use leaded solder, although its difficult to buy in the UK. Unleaded solder is prone to dry joints. This is because it does not solidify quickly in the cooling process.
8. Keep cleaning the board as you go. Dirt and contaminants prevent good heat transfer.
9. Use razor sharp side cutters for trimming component legs. It makes a big difference to the overall finish. I use Knipex Electronic Knips. Link below.
🔗amzn.to/3ONP7jZ
10. For some larger components that require more solder, I apply additional flux. I use various types, but in some instances its handy to use the sticky type which has a consistency a bit like Vaseline. I find it helps hold the component in place as you flip the board over. I don’t have a link for the YH Advanced Flux used in this video, but I also use MG Chemicals which is a renowned brand. Link below:-
🔗amzn.to/3I0Mis6
11. The additional flux also makes the solder flow better of course and helps prevent oxidisation.
12. For some components, like header pins, I use insulating tape to hold them in place. Then just remove the tape once soldered.
13. Keep the work area clean too. Small deposits, dust and smaller offcuts build up on your bench and can contaminate the soldering surface.
14. Also clean the tip of your iron after each use. i.e. after soldering a component or batch of components. I use a combination of damp (not wet!) soldering sponge and Solder Tip Cleaning Brass which is also impregnated with flux.
🔗amzn.to/48liEbC
15. KiCAD is a CAD tool for designing electronic circuit schematics and PCB layouts. You can download it free from the link below and you will find countless training tutorials on UA-cam to get you going.
🔗www.kicad.org/
16. You can export the necessary files direct from KiCAD and upload them to PCBWay who will manufacturer them for you at great prices and very quickly. It takes longer to ship than it does to manufacture them.
🔗www.pcbway.com/
17. If your interested in what this mysterious PCB actually does, I have a series of 4 videos from design stage to real usage at Gatwick Airport Railway Station.
Part 1 here:-
• ESP32 Remote PAVA Trig...
Or, just jump to part 4, to see it inaction. Simple but effective!
• ESP32 Remote PAVA Trig...
18. The code I developed for the ESP32 Micro Controller is uploaded using Arduino IDE 2.3.0.
19. It utilises the free facilities provided by the BlynkIO Platform.
🔗blynk.io/

[@prolunatic3366]

Love it! Nice work, man

[@paulpkae]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@IndependentNewsMedia]

Nice video.

[@jjdawg9918]

+1 for Benny Hill