Soldering arduino I/O pins

Question

I'm planning to make a permanent arduino project that I'm not planning to take apart. Can I solder the jumper cables and the arduino digital pins together? Will that harm the project or arduino in any way? Thanks

Answer 1

You could do something like remove the headers of the pins on the arduino, solder in bigger male headers, and solder the other end of the male headers on whatever board you want. I've done it before on cheaper Arduino-like boards. But unless you're fast and efficient at soldering, I suggest you stick to jumpers. Leaving the solder in contact with the Arduino too much is risky. Another option is, as Passerby said, to use a bare ATMega328P, with the corresponding IC base instead.

Answer 2

No, it shouldn't. Keep in mind that the RX and TX lines do have series resistors on them, so it can interfere if you then try to connect the Arduino to your computer. Look at the schematic for the Uno R3.

Look up Bare Bones Arduino if you'd rather use a bare ATMega328P instead of using the entire Arduino Uno board.

Answer 3

You should avoid soldering directly to the IC. If you are too slow with soldering and leave the iron on an IC leg for too long then you run the risk of damaging the package. The same can even be said for soldering an IC to a circuit board.

A practical solution is to use an IC holder - you'll see there's always one for the processor on an Arduino board. You don't plug the IC into its holder until you have finished all over the soldering, thus eliminating the chance of overheating.

An IC holder also has the benefit of allowing you to replace the IC if it fails.