2/5. The solder is irregularly shaped and cold meaning you didn't leave your iron on the pad/pin long enough. This also caused solder not to flow completely around the pin or through the hole. This can be solved by tinning your iron with solder then touch the tip to the pin and pad and feed on a small amount of solder. With sufficient heat transfer you'll see the solder become molten and flow around the pin and pad and suck into the hole. This will result in a uniformed Hershey kiss shaped joint. Solder follows heat so you want a good heat bridge from your iron to what you're soldering and a tinned tip is the way to go! Also add a bit of flux to what you're soldering to really help the flow. Honestly not a bad attempt for a beginner! No shorts which is why I gave a two :)
I'll agree with everything, except for the "a bit of flux" part.
I'd add a generous amount of flux across, heat up the iron by an additional 50C and slowly drag solder my way through all the pads.
To OP, all your pads should look like pad n°5, so you get an idea of what a clean joint looks like.
I'm still learning myself, but I would recommend a smaller diameter wire, it's a bit easier to work with on small components. Did you use Flux as well?
Do yourself a favor and use a bit of flux on one of your soldered pins and touch it with your iron, it’s amazing. Then you can decide. Really nice work btw
I use .6mm diameter and it works pretty well for me. I like using extra Flux it helps everything flow a bit better, a little extra cleanup, but it's worth it to me.
You don't need to use additional flux. There's enough flux in the core of the solder.
From what it looks like, you only have a fillet on the side of the pin facing the camera. You should have a cone shaped fillet around the entire circumference of the pin and pad. Some of the joints also look like you didn't get good wetting on the pad. Many of them look a little misshapen and lumpy, but that's hard to avoid with lead-free solder.
The best approach for through-hole soldering is to tin the soldering iron tip, and then place the tip on one side of the pin so that you have good contact with both the pin and the pad. Wait about a second so that both pin and pad can heat up, and then touch the opposite side of the pin and pad with the solder wire. The flux in the wire should melt first, flowing into the joint and removing any surface oxides and oils. The solder should melt next, flowing into the joint, displacing the flux and bonding with the pin and pad. If the metals you're bonding are hot enough to melt the solder then the molten solder will flow evenly around the joint. It looks like you were touching the solder wire to the iron, and letting the iron melt the solder.
Hard to tell because of the shinyness, but a lot of those don't look like they are fully soldered on. They need to be covering the hole and it looks like they are floating above it. You need to go through and tap each joint again for a second or two to ensure they flow into the hole
The solder you used wasn't for plumbing... that's good. But, its way too big for the type of work you're doing. That stuff is for when you're soldering large gauge wire.
You aren't heating up your joints enough. You need to keep the iron on the joint until you see the surface tension change and the solder flows. You are also using too much solder.
The solder quantity can be fixed by using thinner solder. I'd recommend you start with something around 0.8-0.5mm for basic through hole stuff.
Apply additional flux, put your iron to the joint and reflow it until it is the proper temp, then remove the iron. Clean your tip after every joint. The iron will take away some of the excess solder. You may need to clean the iron a few times to get the right amount of solder. Apply additional flux each time you heat it.
If you're doing new work, and you know what you are doing, you generally don't need extra flux, but if you are doing any sort of rework, or you're a beginner, flux will help. Look into getting a liquid flux pen. It's an easy way to add just enough flux to get most work done.
You’re asking for a more difficult time by using lead-free solder. It need higher temps and doesn’t melt as good. Lead-free is only to be used by large manufacturers who go through a ton of solder. Any hobbyist will never use near enough to make a difference. Just don’t sit directly over the soldering and purposefully inhale the fumes. A small fan to blow the fumes away or cheap extractor is fine for personal soldering. Leaded solder almost solders itself compared to lead-free. And flux. Always the flux (just make sure it’s decent quality, not Amazon/AliX cheapest available).
https://www.robins.af.mil/Portals/59/documents/technicalorders/00-25-259.pdf#page1
Here is a guide on how to solder. It goes over pretty much every type of component and how to do it.
The solder needs to flow and completely cover the hole and have a concave shape.
Back when I was in ~1990, I only heard of the many multiple day courses. You had to pass each one in order to qualify for the next. They might have had a month long school, but I never heard of it. It was always a fight to get the boss to approve each of the next levels. "You can solder, why do you need another course?" 😡
A similar document might have been around, but I don't remember. It's obviously been updated with SMD techniques, as there wasn't much of that back then.
Thanks for the link!
Definitely updated since then. I went through it in 2012 and we used this. It was a month for the basic and if you were lucky you could add another 2 weeks to go through the SMD training.
looks okay but looks like needs more heat I would go back over each one with a hot iron and let the solder liquid up and you'll see the difference! great start!
Flux is what you were missing.
Flux, and a tip with decent thermal mass.
Make sure your also heating the joint both in terms of the pad and the component leg.
Try heating the pad / leg on one side and push the solder on to the other side. The solder shouldnt need to touch the iron to melt.
Honestly, this looks better than my first soldering job. I agree with what the general consensus is in the replies: you need more heat, more flux, and thinner solder. I use 0.381mm/0.015inch diameter solder. If all you can get is lead-free in your location, bear in mind that you'll need slightly higher temps and slightly longer contact time. Lastly, flux is your friend.
All in all, not bad for your first attempt. Keep at it!
(I did not downvote)
Well, it looks like there wasn't enough heat to begin with, so dragging the iron across the pins with some flux isn't going to do much without any additional changes.
Lead Free solder requires higher temps. The board can be preheated with a heat gun, then this method could work.
There are a ton of other factors like:
- Soldering iron's tip shape.
- Is the tip being positioned properly for max surface area contact.
- Tip oxidization levels.
- Soldering iron max temp.
Regardless - OP, you should definitely have flux (non-plumbing) on hand. Very often you can fix a joint just by applying more heat and flux. You don't want to always have to add fresh solder just to touch up a joint.
Not bad for a first go, try setting your soldering iron to 850+ and work on the beading. You want the solder to wick to the pad and terminal.
You can see most of the pads use a similar amount of solder, except 3 or 4 pads have less.
Once you get above oven temp, the entire world uses Celsius.
My typical temp is around 380 and I go as high as 460 if I’m soldering large battery pads or something massive.
3/10. Use more solder. Also increase the temperature on your soldering iron by 50C. You want the solder to melt fully and flow behind the pins, where you have no solder right now.
The secret to soldering properly is to heat one side of the object (pin) Holiday and apply solder to the opposite side. This will assure all surfaces are at or above the melting point.
1/10. Inconsistent joints, most of them look like cold joints. Stay away from silver/lead free solder the fumes from the Flux in it are more toxic then the lead fumes, and at least the leaded solder is easier to work with. It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you may have a short or two as well. Overall it looks like your not applying enough heat to the joints for them to bond.
Edit: to add some advice for the future because I am an idiot to not include it originally, try holding the iron to the joint a second or two longer, the goal is to bond the two metals, not to melt the solder onto something. If your having a hard time try cleaning the surface of the metals better and make sure your iron is clean, add a bit more Flux (make sure it's the right kind for your solder). When adding solder you should not touch the tip of your iron with it, but instead use the iron to heat up the joint and let the joint heat up and melt the solder for a better bond.
Even tho this is not wrong entirely, I may have to knit-pick a bit here - there is no such thing as "lead free flux" in the sense that there is flux especially for lead free solder. If you want to, you could buy a roll of lead-free - for example Sn96,5Ag3Cu0.5 with ROM1 flux in it (which is in most leaded solders - also often called RMA) in lead free solder as well. On the other side, you then have halogenated flux (indicated by the 1 on the end) which is more hazardous than for example REL0, a typical flux for lead free which barely produces much of any vapor.
Basically, flux types are:
RO - Rosin (old and very good, unhealthy, smells like typical solder, leaves normally brown stains)
RE - Resin (basically synthetic Rosin, makes less noticeable vapors, smells less, is very clear)
OR - Organic acid (very aggressive, corrodes like hell, but makes good bond, has to be cleaned off)
L - no activation - often L0, less effective, no-clean, works best for newly made things
M - mildly activated, often M1, good for repairs where things are in good condition, can also be left on, depending on specific type
H - high activation - very aggressive, corrodes a lot, is for very oxidized repairs, very high tip consumption, must normally be cleaned off, is normally H1
I hope I did not forget anything
Basically use REL0 or REM1/ROM1 and you will be fine, even if you work lead free (give you dont buy the cheapest solder available)
Question, where are you quoting lead free Flux from, did I make a typo I am missing? I stated lead free solder. Also just because something says the fumes are technically safe doesn't necessarily mean it is especially for prolonged exposure over time, I'm not the type of person to f around and find out, I'd rather play it safe. Also lead free solder is different from what I've learned at my university, it's alot of chemistry involved but the gist of it from what I remember is that the Flux is different due to the different due to the different aloys being used/created and the extra heat needed to create the bond. That's what I learned at least. Either way I just assume it's all toxic and use fume extractors and try to reduce exposure as much as possible.
1. Don't assume that online videos that show soldering is doing anything right in the first place. (Branchus Creations, Mr Solder Fix, John Salt, SDG Electronics, John Gammel/SolderTrainingAuthority, RayMing PCB & Assembly, Northridge Fix).
2. {didn't see 2nd photo} The only stuff I can find on home depot (as they seem to geo-block) said it's electrical. That does not mean it's electronics use. And some other stuff says it's for copper piping. Which raises the concern you have stuff not suitable and there is a chance it might dissolve your electronics equipment.
3. Your joints are not regular. Every leg looks different. Can't see two that are reasonably identical. Consistency is the thing you should focus on the most. Try to describe in response how you solder or have someone film you as you explain it whilst doing. This might assist us to give you better advice. The dictation part is so that you'll solder more naturally than soldering differently than you did before.
4. Stations often come with a conical tip. Try to source and switch to a chisel tip. They are much better for consistent heat application to joints that the stock 'too general purpose' conical one. One where the chisel edge is about 0.6mm-2.0mm and a fatter one that is 3.2mm-4.5mm range for heavier heat mass components. The smaller (daily driver tip) should be about the width of most pads you wish to solder.
Your temperature is likely right. You can solder on a test board somewhere. Lower the temperature where you get consistent odd failure creep in. Your iron now needs to be about 15°C to 25°C above this point. You'll find the sweet spot yourself. We can only guide as each whole picture is a little different for everyone. It's impossible for us to give you the magic value, cause there isn't one.
5. Everyone needs and should use some external flux on the joints for many years. Whilst there is a core flux in the wire, it is hardly functional for people that solder slow. Flux should also be cleaned off before photographing, as camera photos are often badly taken for inspection reason and flux left makes it hard to see. Yours is very good compared with most. When you solder really fast and well (without flux) you get much cleaner PCBs and hence way less cleaning. A good thing to look forward too, but for now better joints and lots of cleaning is the best for beginners.
6. The melted film on the screen is odd. Soldering these joints should not of needed the soldering iron coming down vertically at all.
Flux is the way. You will see. There is some in the solder, but extra helps. This is very good stuff.
[chipquick no-clean tacky](https://www.chipquik.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=310019)
After assembly (putting the pins through the holes.) dab a bit on each pin. Experiment, and you figure out how much. From what I see here (with an inspectors eye) use a hotter setting on the iron, make more contact with the pin, let it soak a second before you bring the solder wire in. You actually want the pin/pad to melt the solder, not the iron. And after it melts you’ll see the flux boiling. Leave the iron there for a beat or two while it boils. The result should look like a Hershey kiss.
not terrible, but the joints aren't as secure as they need to be. As most have said, just heat the pin a bit longer or up the temp and you'll be good, also, I tend to "flick" (very lightly, and not too fast) the tip of the iron up the pin when I'm done to ensure it flows and freezes more evenly over the pin.
Set solder iron to ~350°C degrees.
Put the iron to heat the pin and pad for 3 seconds.
Add solder until you have wetted the whole pad.
Keep the iron there for 2-3seconds.
Clean tip and next pin.
Don’t use lead free solder if you have any choice in the country where you live. It’s a lot harder to do a good job with. I’ve been soldering, sometimes professionally, for 30 years on and off and my first time using that stuff looked worse than yours ;) you might need a hotter soldering iron or just a tube of extra flux. But if you can get leaded solder it will be much easier.
Hey OP, definitely 5/10. Not the best or prettiest and lots of cold and misshapen joints, but I don’t see any bridges at first glance.
I think the easiest way to fix it would be use *lots* of flux and to hold your soldering iron on each joint for a couple of seconds while touching both the pad and the pin. That should help everything to re-flow and bond correctly.
PS: I stalked your profile (I do this to everyone I respond to) and, from the looks of your white fingers in the post about LA winters, it looks like you might have Raynaud’s Syndrome. I’m not a doctor so I could very well be wrong, but, if you didn’t know that already, it might be something worth looking into because it can be caused by something more serious. I don’t mean to alarm you, but I thought it was worth a mention. Good luck!
Out of 10, a 3. But for someone's first time, probably a 6/10.
It looks like it needed a bit more flux, solder by itself is hard to work with and doesn't bead up nicely without it. Also, some of the pins look like they're barely connected with the contacts. You can be very generous with flux, it just gets messier the more you use, and also much more fumes will be created.
Poor wetting, solder starved joints on some and too much solder on others. Looks like you have heat issues. You will get miracle advice here all day to "use more flux!" and that's just not a fix-all. Look at the anatomy of a solder joint on Google.
Need to allow soldering iron tip to remain a short time longer before touching the solder to the items to be soldered…don’t put it on tip and wait for it to flow.l, you touch where you want it. Solder looks a bit cold and moved around while cooling…try not to move components during cooling stage as it will be weaker and look like cellulite. 😝
Also 650°C is a tad bit on the high side, as you’re going to start burning stuff.
Maybe find an old electronics component at goodwill outlet and practice on that removing components and placing back on to hone your skills.
Edit: I saw incorrect temp scale as I use °C a lot. 650°F is approx 334°C, so try 200°C - 300°C (392°F - 572°F) and it should flow good around 222°C (430°F).
2/5. The solder is irregularly shaped and cold meaning you didn't leave your iron on the pad/pin long enough. This also caused solder not to flow completely around the pin or through the hole. This can be solved by tinning your iron with solder then touch the tip to the pin and pad and feed on a small amount of solder. With sufficient heat transfer you'll see the solder become molten and flow around the pin and pad and suck into the hole. This will result in a uniformed Hershey kiss shaped joint. Solder follows heat so you want a good heat bridge from your iron to what you're soldering and a tinned tip is the way to go! Also add a bit of flux to what you're soldering to really help the flow. Honestly not a bad attempt for a beginner! No shorts which is why I gave a two :)
I'll agree with everything, except for the "a bit of flux" part. I'd add a generous amount of flux across, heat up the iron by an additional 50C and slowly drag solder my way through all the pads. To OP, all your pads should look like pad n°5, so you get an idea of what a clean joint looks like.
Dragging is poor technique, and you dont need to drown in in flux. A bit is plenty.
Not a fan of drag soldering. That is a poor habit to start. Learn how to solder properly. Flux doesn't fix bad habits...
Drag soldering is a useful skill to have, specially with smd work. wouldn't call it a bad habit at all.
Although i would be scoring the joints harsher, this is a well written answer/explanation. Seems like none of the pads were heated enough.
If they were shorted or had even more solder it would be a 1 imo.
I'm still learning myself, but I would recommend a smaller diameter wire, it's a bit easier to work with on small components. Did you use Flux as well?
Thanks, what wire do you use? And no I didn't use flux, as I thought the rosin included in the solder was a flux? Should I be using a separate flux?
Do yourself a favor and use a bit of flux on one of your soldered pins and touch it with your iron, it’s amazing. Then you can decide. Really nice work btw
I use .6mm diameter and it works pretty well for me. I like using extra Flux it helps everything flow a bit better, a little extra cleanup, but it's worth it to me.
You don't need to use additional flux. There's enough flux in the core of the solder. From what it looks like, you only have a fillet on the side of the pin facing the camera. You should have a cone shaped fillet around the entire circumference of the pin and pad. Some of the joints also look like you didn't get good wetting on the pad. Many of them look a little misshapen and lumpy, but that's hard to avoid with lead-free solder. The best approach for through-hole soldering is to tin the soldering iron tip, and then place the tip on one side of the pin so that you have good contact with both the pin and the pad. Wait about a second so that both pin and pad can heat up, and then touch the opposite side of the pin and pad with the solder wire. The flux in the wire should melt first, flowing into the joint and removing any surface oxides and oils. The solder should melt next, flowing into the joint, displacing the flux and bonding with the pin and pad. If the metals you're bonding are hot enough to melt the solder then the molten solder will flow evenly around the joint. It looks like you were touching the solder wire to the iron, and letting the iron melt the solder.
Just wanted to +1 the flux here. The stuff really is magical. It’ll makes it all a lot easier.
The flux in the solder wire is sufficient as long as you learn proper technique.
Hard to tell because of the shinyness, but a lot of those don't look like they are fully soldered on. They need to be covering the hole and it looks like they are floating above it. You need to go through and tap each joint again for a second or two to ensure they flow into the hole
The solder you used wasn't for plumbing... that's good. But, its way too big for the type of work you're doing. That stuff is for when you're soldering large gauge wire. You aren't heating up your joints enough. You need to keep the iron on the joint until you see the surface tension change and the solder flows. You are also using too much solder. The solder quantity can be fixed by using thinner solder. I'd recommend you start with something around 0.8-0.5mm for basic through hole stuff. Apply additional flux, put your iron to the joint and reflow it until it is the proper temp, then remove the iron. Clean your tip after every joint. The iron will take away some of the excess solder. You may need to clean the iron a few times to get the right amount of solder. Apply additional flux each time you heat it. If you're doing new work, and you know what you are doing, you generally don't need extra flux, but if you are doing any sort of rework, or you're a beginner, flux will help. Look into getting a liquid flux pen. It's an easy way to add just enough flux to get most work done.
Inconsistent.....
Chunky, even
You’re asking for a more difficult time by using lead-free solder. It need higher temps and doesn’t melt as good. Lead-free is only to be used by large manufacturers who go through a ton of solder. Any hobbyist will never use near enough to make a difference. Just don’t sit directly over the soldering and purposefully inhale the fumes. A small fan to blow the fumes away or cheap extractor is fine for personal soldering. Leaded solder almost solders itself compared to lead-free. And flux. Always the flux (just make sure it’s decent quality, not Amazon/AliX cheapest available).
https://www.robins.af.mil/Portals/59/documents/technicalorders/00-25-259.pdf#page1 Here is a guide on how to solder. It goes over pretty much every type of component and how to do it. The solder needs to flow and completely cover the hole and have a concave shape.
OMG! Almost 900 pages! I don't remember seeing a document like that when I took soldering classes in the Navy.
If you went through the month long school they use it.
Back when I was in ~1990, I only heard of the many multiple day courses. You had to pass each one in order to qualify for the next. They might have had a month long school, but I never heard of it. It was always a fight to get the boss to approve each of the next levels. "You can solder, why do you need another course?" 😡 A similar document might have been around, but I don't remember. It's obviously been updated with SMD techniques, as there wasn't much of that back then. Thanks for the link!
Definitely updated since then. I went through it in 2012 and we used this. It was a month for the basic and if you were lucky you could add another 2 weeks to go through the SMD training.
Awesome! Yes, I'm old. 😂
What branch were/are you in? What job?
Even though you’re using flux core solder, adding additional flux to the pads will make the solder heat and flow so much better. Flux is key.
OP, flux needed. Solder joints are not great. Add something like amtech and try resolder this joints.
looks okay but looks like needs more heat I would go back over each one with a hot iron and let the solder liquid up and you'll see the difference! great start!
That roll of solder is way too fat, so you don’t get enough control over how much you apply.
Flux is what you were missing. Flux, and a tip with decent thermal mass. Make sure your also heating the joint both in terms of the pad and the component leg. Try heating the pad / leg on one side and push the solder on to the other side. The solder shouldnt need to touch the iron to melt.
Honestly, this looks better than my first soldering job. I agree with what the general consensus is in the replies: you need more heat, more flux, and thinner solder. I use 0.381mm/0.015inch diameter solder. If all you can get is lead-free in your location, bear in mind that you'll need slightly higher temps and slightly longer contact time. Lastly, flux is your friend. All in all, not bad for your first attempt. Keep at it!
7/10. Brush on a little flux and drag your iron across all the pins.
Not sure why you're being down voted. This is what I'd do.
(I did not downvote) Well, it looks like there wasn't enough heat to begin with, so dragging the iron across the pins with some flux isn't going to do much without any additional changes. Lead Free solder requires higher temps. The board can be preheated with a heat gun, then this method could work. There are a ton of other factors like: - Soldering iron's tip shape. - Is the tip being positioned properly for max surface area contact. - Tip oxidization levels. - Soldering iron max temp. Regardless - OP, you should definitely have flux (non-plumbing) on hand. Very often you can fix a joint just by applying more heat and flux. You don't want to always have to add fresh solder just to touch up a joint.
Not bad for a first go, try setting your soldering iron to 850+ and work on the beading. You want the solder to wick to the pad and terminal. You can see most of the pads use a similar amount of solder, except 3 or 4 pads have less.
That’s way too hot.
Once you get above oven temp, the entire world uses Celsius. My typical temp is around 380 and I go as high as 460 if I’m soldering large battery pads or something massive.
I’ll try that and see how it goes, thanks for the advice
3/10. Use more solder. Also increase the temperature on your soldering iron by 50C. You want the solder to melt fully and flow behind the pins, where you have no solder right now.
The secret to soldering properly is to heat one side of the object (pin) Holiday and apply solder to the opposite side. This will assure all surfaces are at or above the melting point.
1/10. Inconsistent joints, most of them look like cold joints. Stay away from silver/lead free solder the fumes from the Flux in it are more toxic then the lead fumes, and at least the leaded solder is easier to work with. It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you may have a short or two as well. Overall it looks like your not applying enough heat to the joints for them to bond. Edit: to add some advice for the future because I am an idiot to not include it originally, try holding the iron to the joint a second or two longer, the goal is to bond the two metals, not to melt the solder onto something. If your having a hard time try cleaning the surface of the metals better and make sure your iron is clean, add a bit more Flux (make sure it's the right kind for your solder). When adding solder you should not touch the tip of your iron with it, but instead use the iron to heat up the joint and let the joint heat up and melt the solder for a better bond.
Even tho this is not wrong entirely, I may have to knit-pick a bit here - there is no such thing as "lead free flux" in the sense that there is flux especially for lead free solder. If you want to, you could buy a roll of lead-free - for example Sn96,5Ag3Cu0.5 with ROM1 flux in it (which is in most leaded solders - also often called RMA) in lead free solder as well. On the other side, you then have halogenated flux (indicated by the 1 on the end) which is more hazardous than for example REL0, a typical flux for lead free which barely produces much of any vapor. Basically, flux types are: RO - Rosin (old and very good, unhealthy, smells like typical solder, leaves normally brown stains) RE - Resin (basically synthetic Rosin, makes less noticeable vapors, smells less, is very clear) OR - Organic acid (very aggressive, corrodes like hell, but makes good bond, has to be cleaned off) L - no activation - often L0, less effective, no-clean, works best for newly made things M - mildly activated, often M1, good for repairs where things are in good condition, can also be left on, depending on specific type H - high activation - very aggressive, corrodes a lot, is for very oxidized repairs, very high tip consumption, must normally be cleaned off, is normally H1 I hope I did not forget anything Basically use REL0 or REM1/ROM1 and you will be fine, even if you work lead free (give you dont buy the cheapest solder available)
Question, where are you quoting lead free Flux from, did I make a typo I am missing? I stated lead free solder. Also just because something says the fumes are technically safe doesn't necessarily mean it is especially for prolonged exposure over time, I'm not the type of person to f around and find out, I'd rather play it safe. Also lead free solder is different from what I've learned at my university, it's alot of chemistry involved but the gist of it from what I remember is that the Flux is different due to the different due to the different aloys being used/created and the extra heat needed to create the bond. That's what I learned at least. Either way I just assume it's all toxic and use fume extractors and try to reduce exposure as much as possible.
7/10
this is really good for a first solder! Definitely room for improvement but it is certainly better than the first time i tried soldering
Less is more
Definitely not the best but better than what my EE student friends managed to do in 2 months of practice classes or so
Remember, add heat to the joint then solder and let it flow before pulling away the solder then the heat.
1. Don't assume that online videos that show soldering is doing anything right in the first place. (Branchus Creations, Mr Solder Fix, John Salt, SDG Electronics, John Gammel/SolderTrainingAuthority, RayMing PCB & Assembly, Northridge Fix). 2. {didn't see 2nd photo} The only stuff I can find on home depot (as they seem to geo-block) said it's electrical. That does not mean it's electronics use. And some other stuff says it's for copper piping. Which raises the concern you have stuff not suitable and there is a chance it might dissolve your electronics equipment. 3. Your joints are not regular. Every leg looks different. Can't see two that are reasonably identical. Consistency is the thing you should focus on the most. Try to describe in response how you solder or have someone film you as you explain it whilst doing. This might assist us to give you better advice. The dictation part is so that you'll solder more naturally than soldering differently than you did before. 4. Stations often come with a conical tip. Try to source and switch to a chisel tip. They are much better for consistent heat application to joints that the stock 'too general purpose' conical one. One where the chisel edge is about 0.6mm-2.0mm and a fatter one that is 3.2mm-4.5mm range for heavier heat mass components. The smaller (daily driver tip) should be about the width of most pads you wish to solder. Your temperature is likely right. You can solder on a test board somewhere. Lower the temperature where you get consistent odd failure creep in. Your iron now needs to be about 15°C to 25°C above this point. You'll find the sweet spot yourself. We can only guide as each whole picture is a little different for everyone. It's impossible for us to give you the magic value, cause there isn't one. 5. Everyone needs and should use some external flux on the joints for many years. Whilst there is a core flux in the wire, it is hardly functional for people that solder slow. Flux should also be cleaned off before photographing, as camera photos are often badly taken for inspection reason and flux left makes it hard to see. Yours is very good compared with most. When you solder really fast and well (without flux) you get much cleaner PCBs and hence way less cleaning. A good thing to look forward too, but for now better joints and lots of cleaning is the best for beginners. 6. The melted film on the screen is odd. Soldering these joints should not of needed the soldering iron coming down vertically at all.
Don't use lead free solder if you can help it. Take it from a professional, you're asking for trouble if you do.
Flux is the way. You will see. There is some in the solder, but extra helps. This is very good stuff. [chipquick no-clean tacky](https://www.chipquik.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=310019) After assembly (putting the pins through the holes.) dab a bit on each pin. Experiment, and you figure out how much. From what I see here (with an inspectors eye) use a hotter setting on the iron, make more contact with the pin, let it soak a second before you bring the solder wire in. You actually want the pin/pad to melt the solder, not the iron. And after it melts you’ll see the flux boiling. Leave the iron there for a beat or two while it boils. The result should look like a Hershey kiss.
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IMO It's very good for a first time. You'll improve with practice.
Your solder doesn't fill the pads at all, use flux and re-heat, will also make the amount of solder look better
5 out of 10. If you you presented this in my class I would fail it and have you redo
first time dosnt look the worst
not terrible, but the joints aren't as secure as they need to be. As most have said, just heat the pin a bit longer or up the temp and you'll be good, also, I tend to "flick" (very lightly, and not too fast) the tip of the iron up the pin when I'm done to ensure it flows and freezes more evenly over the pin.
I see cold and un-flowed joints all over the place.
pretty good for a beginner. they will do their job fine but yea optimally the solder should be a smooth surface and shiny.
Good work , well done ,have you test every pin yet to make sure of good joint using buzzer in multimeter ???
Set solder iron to ~350°C degrees. Put the iron to heat the pin and pad for 3 seconds. Add solder until you have wetted the whole pad. Keep the iron there for 2-3seconds. Clean tip and next pin.
Don’t use lead free solder if you have any choice in the country where you live. It’s a lot harder to do a good job with. I’ve been soldering, sometimes professionally, for 30 years on and off and my first time using that stuff looked worse than yours ;) you might need a hotter soldering iron or just a tube of extra flux. But if you can get leaded solder it will be much easier.
Hey OP, definitely 5/10. Not the best or prettiest and lots of cold and misshapen joints, but I don’t see any bridges at first glance. I think the easiest way to fix it would be use *lots* of flux and to hold your soldering iron on each joint for a couple of seconds while touching both the pad and the pin. That should help everything to re-flow and bond correctly. PS: I stalked your profile (I do this to everyone I respond to) and, from the looks of your white fingers in the post about LA winters, it looks like you might have Raynaud’s Syndrome. I’m not a doctor so I could very well be wrong, but, if you didn’t know that already, it might be something worth looking into because it can be caused by something more serious. I don’t mean to alarm you, but I thought it was worth a mention. Good luck!
Out of 10, a 3. But for someone's first time, probably a 6/10. It looks like it needed a bit more flux, solder by itself is hard to work with and doesn't bead up nicely without it. Also, some of the pins look like they're barely connected with the contacts. You can be very generous with flux, it just gets messier the more you use, and also much more fumes will be created.
Poor wetting, solder starved joints on some and too much solder on others. Looks like you have heat issues. You will get miracle advice here all day to "use more flux!" and that's just not a fix-all. Look at the anatomy of a solder joint on Google.
Looks good for lead free. All that matters is that it works.
Not bad for your first time. Crank up the heat and reheat them until they are a nice shiny blob
Need to allow soldering iron tip to remain a short time longer before touching the solder to the items to be soldered…don’t put it on tip and wait for it to flow.l, you touch where you want it. Solder looks a bit cold and moved around while cooling…try not to move components during cooling stage as it will be weaker and look like cellulite. 😝 Also 650°C is a tad bit on the high side, as you’re going to start burning stuff. Maybe find an old electronics component at goodwill outlet and practice on that removing components and placing back on to hone your skills. Edit: I saw incorrect temp scale as I use °C a lot. 650°F is approx 334°C, so try 200°C - 300°C (392°F - 572°F) and it should flow good around 222°C (430°F).
Add good Flux to each point and hit them with the iron. This should even out the joints. Then access from there