Soldering is the metallurgic process used to fix electronic components to a PCB. Soldering can be done by hand or automatic. PTH boards were usually wave soldered, SMT uses reflow technology.
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How do I solder this USB Connector?
I bought this micro usb part: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/10118192-0001LF/609-4613-1-ND/2785378
I need to solder it to a PCB that I designed, but I'm having a ton of trouble figuring out ...
2
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1answer
47 views
Eagle configure autorouter to solder components (except vias) only on bottom layer of double sided PCB
In double sided PCBs it is difficult to solder through hole components like IC bases, headers, etc. in the top layer. Normally the Eagle autorouter places the solder pads on both sides. That is, in a ...
4
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1answer
97 views
Can “lead free” tips be used with leaded solder?
I've just purchased my first soldering iron, an Atten 8586. The item description claims it is suitable for lead free soldering, however I have no interest in using lead-free solder at this point.
...
3
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1answer
91 views
Can I use Sn only solder for PCBs?
I bought the Raspberry Pi cobbler kit a while ago, and I needed to solder a part together. The local hardware store (Useless ACE) only has a specific solder, which has just Sn, a diameter of 1.0mm and ...
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1answer
139 views
What tips or techniques can be used to hand solder/rework fine pitch parts? [closed]
I've had a hand tremor almost my whole life that makes soldering difficult. In a general case, there are examples of when hand rework of very fine pitch parts is necessary. One cannot always hot air ...
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1answer
98 views
Soldering smallest SMD components such as 0402 with Microscope?
I need to use as small components as possible but I need to do everything by hand. My plan is to use OSH Park for the production of the board. The answers did not focus on whether they used microscope ...
6
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3answers
134 views
Question about soldering [duplicate]
I recently bought this product. I would like to know what the best way to solder something such as a wire to those metal leads. Any suggestions?
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5answers
326 views
Why not reflow a PCB before placing parts?
A standard reflow method for low-volume assembly is:
Method A
Apply solder paste (using stencil or syringe)
Hand-place parts (using vacuum pickup pen or tweezers)
Oven reflow
-
But what happens ...
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2answers
141 views
Soldering battery lips
I'm thinking of buying this battery:
As you can see, there are no solder lips. I'd like to add them myself, but don't know if that's a good idea. Is it possible to solder lips on a battery ...
3
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2answers
128 views
Using alligator leads as heat sink for soldering/desoldering PCBs
This is my first question, and I'm pretty new to the world of electronics, although I'm attending an Australian college course called "certificate 3 in electrotechnology".
My guitar tuner seems to ...
3
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3answers
211 views
Do I really need to solder headers to a shield? Or can I just plug it into my Arduino?
I recently purchased an MP3 Player Shield for my Arduino. I bought a couple of headers to run through the shield's holes down to my arduino. Is this TRULY necessary (for testing purposes)? Or could I ...
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1answer
71 views
PCB has strange looking pads, how do I solder them without impacting nearby surface mount components?
I've recently brought the px4fmu and px4ui boards. The px4io requires me to solder a power socket and headers onto it.
However there are surface mount components very close to the holes/pads. Also ...
2
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2answers
82 views
What is the difference between a grounded tip soldering gun and a grounded soldering gun?
What if any is the difference between a grounded tip soldering gun and a grounded soldering gun? My son needs one for school.
9
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3answers
439 views
Why would large portions of traces be completely covered in solder
I've recently found, in some old stuff, a circuit board from an toy, specifically a target for a light gun (if you light up the photoresistor in the middle of the target with the light from the "gun", ...
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6answers
130 views
What should I get to desolder components from random boards
After failing trying to use my friends blow-torch to De-solder components from all these circuit boards and burning them badly and probably both of us getting lead poisoning and smelling the crap all ...
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2answers
146 views
Why does my soldering iron not work after using it to melt plastic? [closed]
I don't understand what happened to my soldering iron. I just used it to melt a hole in a plastic box. I unplugged the soldering iron for 1 or 2 minutes. When I plugged it in again, the light of ...
2
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1answer
66 views
Can I use Formula SP-30 self-cleaning acid paste flux?
I am a complete noob when it comes to soldering. I've only done a little bit in the past and it was years ago. Today, I bit the bullet after reading about how to solder and purchased some soldering ...
3
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3answers
167 views
Do any SMT components require hand soldering due to heat limitations?
It has been claimed on another board that some SMT components cannot be used in an automated production line (i.e. reflow or wave soldering) because they cannot withstand the heat/temperature. Hand ...
2
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1answer
74 views
F-SW22 vs F-SW33 flux. What to these figures mean?
I was thinking of purchasing a no-clean flux pen from my supplier, but there are two options, F-SW22 and F-SW33. What do these codes mean and what types of job is each suitable for?
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2answers
185 views
Temperature limit on Soldering iron\heating element
I am trying to design a soldering iron type of tool that will not heat-up past, lets just say 400 degrees F.
I know I can get a PID controller and manipulate the temp, but I'd JUST like the unit to ...
3
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2answers
84 views
What type of solder should be used to assemble Adafruit cobbler
I'm a complete noob at soldering. I want to assemble Adafruit's Raspberry Pi Cobbler as shown here: http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pi-cobbler-kit/solder-it
These instructions fail to mention what ...
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4answers
83 views
Can I just unsolder a volume control from one device to replace the control on its identical twin?
I have two Casio CTK-671 keyboards. One of them (unit A) is dodgy because it outputs a high pitched tone 50% of the time, not reacting to any key press, the other one (unit B) is dodgy because the ...
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2answers
139 views
to solder this wires or not?
Im making a USB adaptor for a Kinect sensor [to use on my computer].
here the schematic of what I did,
Now, the question,
I have soldered all cables with their color match, but There are 2 other ...
2
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4answers
161 views
Need recommendation for a first hot air station
I have a pretty nice soldering station, but now that I am finding the need to work with non-DIP type packages unpreventable, I am beginning to think that purchasing a hot air station would be a good ...
13
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4answers
480 views
Why does solder not conduct sometimes?
I was reflowing and a 2K 603 resistor partially tombstoned. There was solder connecting the lead to the pad, yet my DMM showed an open. When I heated both ends and the resistor came down and contacted ...
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1answer
93 views
Soldering small connector to a wire
I am working on a hobby project which will have a eTape Liquid Level sensor connected to an Arduino controller. Since it is highly inconvenient to attach the sensor directly to the board, I'm trying ...
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5answers
186 views
Is it possible to solder or otherwise connect to this camera chip by hand?
[Disclaimer: I'm a beginner.] I ordered this OV7740 camera chip from Digikey without really researching it, thinking maybe I could connect to it with a microcontroller. (I have only Arduino at this ...
5
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4answers
226 views
Is there a special way to solder to these LED thermal pads?
[I don't know the correct names for these things, so please correct my vocab as needed.]
I just tried to solder a wire to the one of the rectangular contact areas on this LED. I'm a beginner hobbyist ...
3
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2answers
264 views
How to remove enamel from wire?
I want to repair my computer mouse cable witch is disconnected.
the cable has enamel and I have to remove it before soldering on the board.
How should I remove the enamel?
6
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1answer
235 views
Soldering Iron Tip Tinning
I recently purchased a new soldering station (Aoyue 936). This is my first relatively good quality soldering tool, so I want to ensure I maintain it properly.
My question relates to tinning the tip ...
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1answer
154 views
Cutting and resoldering CPU chassis fan power cables
I have a number of chassis fans in my computer which have cables that are way too long. I've been wanting to cut them, but wanted to make sure that I knew what I was getting into before proceeding.
...
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3answers
152 views
General Purpose Solder for Beginner's Toolbox?
I've been asked by a friend to make such a recommendation, to go along with his new Weller WES51. I've told him:
60/40 tin/lead
rosin-core
good name brand, such as Kester
What's a good size to ...
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1answer
164 views
What are tin whiskers and what causes them?
I can imagine what they might be, but how and where do they form and what causes them?
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2answers
763 views
Solder does not stick to tip of soldering iron?
Basic question here, but it's driving me insane!
The solder does not seem to stick to the tip of my soldering iron. After the iron heats up, the tip appears black (sometimes on all sides and ...
10
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3answers
589 views
Is this desoldering hack likely to work?
I found an interesting YouTube video with a neat de-soldering trick that requires no special equipment.
Essentially you bend a reasonably thick piece of copper wire round into a right-angled S ...
3
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3answers
302 views
Having trouble soldering headphone wires
I was fixing my friend’s headphones today and I’m having trouble soldering the tiny wires. I know they have a tiny coating layer that works as an isolation, I have stripped this layer using a gas ...
13
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8answers
535 views
How to tell if chips overheat while soldering
I am new to soldering and I am afraid that I am getting some of my chips too hot. I'm sure this will be less of an issue when I get more experience. I also ordered some DIP sockets but they won't ...
6
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2answers
376 views
Soldering leads/pins to SMD/SMT for solderless breadboard prototyping?
Background:
I just began with electronics and I'm looking to build a 12v to 5v converter circuit. My plan is to use a Murata 78SR-5 to power either an Arduino or Rasberry Pi. I'm studying electronic ...
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2answers
165 views
Is it possible to solder the back pins of an Arduino board?
To ensure a more stable connection to the arduino board, would it be possible to directly solder the wires to the pins below the board? Is there any risk of interference between the pins?
It may be ...
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2answers
119 views
what is solderless post
I've seen metal "sticks" with a special end that let them fit snugly into a through-hole for when you want a contact but don't want to solder a wire into the hole. What are they called and where can I ...
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2answers
278 views
pcb damaged, broken copper any ideas?
I was trying to solder a new capacitor on my pcb and I had problems. At the end I think I burned the copper under the pcb mask and I am wondering if i totally destroyed my pcb. Here is a picture:
...
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1answer
76 views
Four conductor, solder pin, ceramic plug - source? [closed]
I have a ceramic connector for a wireline system that has no part number. I am looking for some assistance in identifying it and sourcing new units, any help would be greatly appreciated. I have ...
3
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3answers
243 views
Creating a low (90-250F) temperature-controlled soldering iron (or modifying a higher temp one to get lower temps)
I'm a wax sculptor and am interested in getting a temperature controlled soldering iron but I need a very low temperature range (like 100-250F). Most units come with a bottom end of 350F+. Is there a ...
4
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3answers
219 views
Soldering gun vs. soldering iron
Everywhere I look, nobody seems to use a soldering gun for electronics work only soldering irons.
Is there a good reason for that ?
I'm a beginner in electronics and I happend to have a soldering ...
10
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5answers
559 views
How do I solder headers so that they always stand straight up?
When soldering headers, usually single and double pins, I flip the board over so the pin rests on the surface and then solder them. They never come out straight. It would be great if someone figured ...
3
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1answer
369 views
How to start implementing your own computer? [closed]
The question
As a first step I need to select a circuit board, CPU & RAM/ROM chips and I/O connectors. How do I select a board that can interconnect all these components? Perhaps you could give ...
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5answers
246 views
How do I dead bug solder this SOT-23 to my PCB?
I swapped the base and emitter of my NPN transistor land pattern. If I flip over the part, the pins are in the correct orientation, although there is a 1mm between the pins and the pads. When I tried ...
4
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1answer
248 views
Soldering 0.5mm pitch ICs using stencil and reflow oven
I'm new to SMD soldering, and tried to assemble a couple of boards, using a reflow oven.
I 'm using a stencil (Kapton - mylar) and so far it worked fine except for the LQFP48 devices (pitch 0.5mm). In ...
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3answers
1k views
Replacing (and perhaps upgrading) bad capacitors within a speaker system?
A few months ago the volume of the left speaker of my pair of low-cost audio monitors began slowly diminishing. Every day it seemed to lose a fraction of it's normal operating volume until the speaker ...
4
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2answers
160 views
Can pins (breadboard friendly) be added to non-drilled pads?
Some PCBA's have pads along the edge, where I believe some kind of headers could be soldered (or may be not), but don't have the pads drilled. I guess manufacturers save a little cost on drilling, and ...
