You were doing quite well until the second solder joint. Instead of soldering the adjacent hole, why not solder the one on the opposite corner? This prevents the problem of accidentally nicking the first joint as you bring in your iron in close to make the second joint. If you touch that first joint then the board may move and you have to start over. Working with the opposite corner also allows you to press down on the board to ensure that it's flush with the motherboard. Once you have the opposing corners soldered, _then_ work your way down the board on either side, starting from the last solder joint. For those of us that don't have a completely steady hand, the results are much more satisfying.
To solder two opposite diagonal pins is fairly common practice when soldering IC's or modules. In this case, if you solder one corner and during the course of soldering the 2nd or even third pin, something were to happen (solder iron slips, you drop the module, someone bumps you, your module slips from the helping hand, etc), then the solder joint can cause damage to the module or even to the project board that its being soldered to. On an IC, it could severely bend or even break the pins (legs) off the IC.
Exactly, I cringed when he went ahead and soldered adjacent pins ignoring the potential "torque faults" that might result. This is especially important in a video geared towards beginners like this one.
5:40 NO NO NO! Wiping off the tip before putting the iron back in the stand is precisely how you cause premature tip wear. You want to always leave a layer of solder on the tip: that way, the solder oxidizes, not the tip itself. If anything, it's advisable to add more solder to the iron before placing it in the stand. Either way, only do the cleaning right before making a joint, not after.
I would not use water soluble flux in this application. Rosin core solder will work fine, and you don't have to clean it. Any leftover flux may turn yellow and ugly, but it won't cause corrosion or board damage. It will be difficult to clean out any water soluble flux that gets trapped between those two PCBs.
This is a great soldering video! This guy really knows his stuff and is teaching professional grade techniques. This type of soldering is not uncommon on high end equipment during prototype, testing, or rework phases. I would add that for most hobby projects, Lead Free solder is not necessary, and is fairly undesirable. Use of a 63/37 Tin/Lead solder will not only melt at a much lower temperature, but will flow much easier and the joints will be cleaner, smoother, shinier, stronger, and longer lasting.
Great Video ! I typically remelt soldier without adding flux, and it seems to be fine. Are there some possible bonding issues that can occur when doing this ?
The official fritzing part for Nano Every only has the through holes for PCB. Is there a fritzing part with small rectangular pads like you soldered here?
Why do we need to apply flux before re-doing an existing joint? (The solder already contains flux in it's core...) Do we need to match the flux type: water-soluble vs. rosin? (or has the flux in that joint already evaporated during the previous soldering so no need to care which flux to use?)
So far I've only found OSHPark to make the castellations. Problem is they need cleanup as there is left over foil from the cut, and the purple they uses for their mask seems to go into the castellation holes, leading to even more clean up with an xacto knive or other to get to metal. Who does your castellations? thanks
Could you solder on springy ribbons, bent kinda in the shape of the Malayim letter "pa" ( പ )? This way you could clip the test board in and out of the breakout.
video is too painfully slow to watch. its like giving instructions to a 5 year old. I don't know what kind of solder you use,, 225C or 430F is plenty hot for most solders.
UA-cam let’s you vary playback speed to suit yourself. It’s normal to be able listen faster than people can speak. Also depends on your pre-existing knowledge of the subject matter.
If you use a hotter iron you can solder faster and the heat has less time to dissipate into the chip... 350 to 370 deg C is a good temp for lead free solder.
***** You haven't watched very many of Sparkfun's videos then, they do the focus-scan thingy every single time in the exact same manner. It is clearly done on purpose.
I appreciate the level of detail in this video that experienced people might consider to "duh" to mention. Is very helpful for beginners.
I'm experienced and I also appreciate it.
Thank you for another great video. I have gone quite a bit of soldering, but I learned some very useful tips!
You were doing quite well until the second solder joint. Instead of soldering the adjacent hole, why not solder the one on the opposite corner? This prevents the problem of accidentally nicking the first joint as you bring in your iron in close to make the second joint. If you touch that first joint then the board may move and you have to start over. Working with the opposite corner also allows you to press down on the board to ensure that it's flush with the motherboard. Once you have the opposing corners soldered, _then_ work your way down the board on either side, starting from the last solder joint. For those of us that don't have a completely steady hand, the results are much more satisfying.
I just practiced soldering wires to these for a drone build project. I didn’t realize that these were created to interface with another board. Thanks!
You should solder two diagonal pins first. This helps to keep the circuit really in place.
***** Why do you think that?
+Davey Hi it's standard technique in welding to reduce heat-induced stress.
To solder two opposite diagonal pins is fairly common practice when soldering IC's or modules. In this case, if you solder one corner and during the course of soldering the 2nd or even third pin, something were to happen (solder iron slips, you drop the module, someone bumps you, your module slips from the helping hand, etc), then the solder joint can cause damage to the module or even to the project board that its being soldered to. On an IC, it could severely bend or even break the pins (legs) off the IC.
Exactly, I cringed when he went ahead and soldered adjacent pins ignoring the potential "torque faults" that might result. This is especially important in a video geared towards beginners like this one.
That was My thought.
5:40 NO NO NO! Wiping off the tip before putting the iron back in the stand is precisely how you cause premature tip wear. You want to always leave a layer of solder on the tip: that way, the solder oxidizes, not the tip itself. If anything, it's advisable to add more solder to the iron before placing it in the stand. Either way, only do the cleaning right before making a joint, not after.
Very helpful. Thank you.
I would not use water soluble flux in this application. Rosin core solder will work fine, and you don't have to clean it. Any leftover flux may turn yellow and ugly, but it won't cause corrosion or board damage. It will be difficult to clean out any water soluble flux that gets trapped between those two PCBs.
Cleanest soldering video
very handy as someone just starting out with a solder iron
In my experience i prefer some used solder wick to be kept it helps with heat transfer , i usually start with used one and drag the fresh one
Or solder pin headers right into the castellated vias instead of using an adapter board.
This is a great soldering video! This guy really knows his stuff and is teaching professional grade techniques. This type of soldering is not uncommon on high end equipment during prototype, testing, or rework phases. I would add that for most hobby projects, Lead Free solder is not necessary, and is fairly undesirable. Use of a 63/37 Tin/Lead solder will not only melt at a much lower temperature, but will flow much easier and the joints will be cleaner, smoother, shinier, stronger, and longer lasting.
It's OK hobbyist-level soldering, but it's categorically NOT professional grade.
But where can I get the SparkFun ESD mat?
Great Video ! I typically remelt soldier without adding flux, and it seems to be fine. Are there some possible bonding issues that can occur when doing this ?
Excellent video!
But could at least have mentioned metric units
Still cool stuff...
The official fritzing part for Nano Every only has the through holes for PCB. Is there a fritzing part with small rectangular pads like you soldered here?
Why do we need to apply flux before re-doing an existing joint?
(The solder already contains flux in it's core...)
Do we need to match the flux type: water-soluble vs. rosin?
(or has the flux in that joint already evaporated during the previous soldering so no need to care which flux to use?)
Why not just make the board with pin headers?
So far I've only found OSHPark to make the castellations. Problem is they need cleanup as there is left over foil from the cut, and the purple they uses for their mask seems to go into the castellation holes, leading to even more clean up with an xacto knive or other to get to metal. Who does your castellations? thanks
Could you solder on springy ribbons, bent kinda in the shape of the Malayim letter "pa" ( പ )? This way you could clip the test board in and out of the breakout.
Thanks
Antistatic brush
Solder X pattern
You should add flux to the module itself so both pads are soaked
This was a great video, thanks for posting! I have tried to find a flux pen on sparkfun's website, and could not find it. Does it exist?
*****
Thanks for the reply. Love the avatar, btw.
The only thing I don't like about this video, you said just said 700 degrees and forgot to mention Fahrenheit.
Wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to just use a clothes pin to hold the module in place and then solder it normally?
700 Degree? OMG I have never crossed 400!
Lead free? Dang Hippy!
But thats thats that fun part! ;)
Soldering for over 50 years and never used lead-free and still here!
Please eliminate the distracting and totally unnecessary "music." Thanks!
700 degrees?! I use like 350 deg
700F or 350C
TheRojker 176C???
video is too painfully slow to watch. its like giving instructions to a 5 year old. I don't know what kind of solder you use,, 225C or 430F is plenty hot for most solders.
UA-cam let’s you vary playback speed to suit yourself. It’s normal to be able listen faster than people can speak. Also depends on your pre-existing knowledge of the subject matter.
If you use a hotter iron you can solder faster and the heat has less time to dissipate into the chip... 350 to 370 deg C is a good temp for lead free solder.
Sometimes the camera de-focuses or you move out of it. so distracting.
JJ CC That is called "artistic license"
*****
You haven't watched very many of Sparkfun's videos then, they do the focus-scan thingy every single time in the exact same manner. It is clearly done on purpose.
+AvE Legend says that if you comment, AvE will respond...
Why is there an "L" in the word Solder, and/or, why can't Americans pronounce it?
Ha ha. A ‘soddering’ iron sounds very dangerous.
Very helpful. Thank you.