Got the urge to DIY, kit-build, or rehab/resto-mod? Scared to solder?

mhardy6647
mhardy6647 Posts: 33,909
in Electronics
Doc Bottlehead is on Youtube to help!
Soldering's not hard but it is scary to some folks, so it's nice to have something to point to that might be helpful.

Now, in full disclosure, I haven't watched this - yet - but I have a fair amount of faith in Dan "Doc B" Schamalle, so I am taking the risk of sharing the link without having reviewed it.

https://youtu.be/EN16Pi7pcfk

I'll certainly offer critique if I discover oddness to it!

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Comments

  • Nesmith98
    Nesmith98 Posts: 218
    First rule of soldering.....


    c1g51ii641wg.png
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,953
    Have man hands?
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  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,603
    Clipdat wrote: »
    Have man hands?

    No silly! Wear purple!
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,953
    Is that cubic zirconia?!
    zvapdo1iqr1r.png
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,953
    edited December 2021
    This seems to be a trend. Check out all these photos of women soldering properly:
    soldering-iron-electronic-printed-board-soldering-iron-electronic-printed-board-female-123024160.jpg
    woman-soldering-a-circuit-board-in-her-stock-photo_csp78642927.jpg
    138500939-woman-assembling-works-soldering-iron.jpg
    woman-soldering-beautiful-repairing-printed-circuit-board-forced-air-iron-44098800.jpg
    woman-soldering-stock-photography_csp17526300.jpg
    19293123-beautiful-woman-in-protective-glasses-fixing-computer-parts-with-soldering-iron-and-other-tools.jpg
    EEf2vJnU0AEdvIZ.jpg




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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,755
    One time I accidently dropped my soldering iron and out of instinct caught it... on the end they are holding with a smile...

    I had blisters the next day from that point 5 second catch!
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • stevep
    stevep Posts: 335
    I hesitate to comment cause he did a great job but I have a couple of thoughts.

    More tip cleaning. If the solder isn't flowing nicely on the tip it doesn't usually flow in the joint either. Cleaning the oxides off your solder doesn't hurt.

    Move the object around so you can see and easily reach the place you want to solder.

    Don't bend the leads over so much on through hole assembly. The solder flows better and you don't have to bend the leads again to trim them.

    Demonstrating on camera can cramp your style, overall he hit the key points and provided a good example.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,576
    VR3 wrote: »
    One time I accidently dropped my soldering iron and out of instinct caught it... on the end they are holding with a smile...

    I had blisters the next day from that point 5 second catch!

    You too huh? I will tell you very loud colorful language immediately burst forth from my mouth ....
    You win I'm sure I didn't hold it 5 seconds
    😂😂
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,909
    I was gonna post that first soldering lady stock image but I was runnin' off to choir practice, so I am glad that y'all checked that box -- and then some! :)

    I've had some soldering experiences...
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  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    Burning yourself goes with the territory. In my case at least ! :)
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,909
    edited December 2021
    Long, long ago on audiokarma one of the regulars posted a photo of a solder blob incident that impacted his bare, hairy leg -- sticking out of a bathrobe, if memory serves. Or maybe he was wearing shorts.
    At any rate, to this day (AFAIK) the DIY section at AK has an admonition to the effect of "always wear pants while soldering".

    Words to live by.

    cjexbxgztsbf.png
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  • tonyp063
    tonyp063 Posts: 1,088
    edited December 2021
    ^^^^
    That's right there with

    "Do not look into laser with remaining eye"*



    *says the guy who dripped solder on a bare foot.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,909
    edited December 2021
    In my day ;) there was a professor in the Biophysics Dep't at... well, you know where... named Francis "Spike" Carlson. He worked with lasers when lasers were still pretty esoteric -- he also had profoundly poor vision. I don't know if it was causation or correlation, but it was striking.

    https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1999-02-11-9902110161-story.html
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  • Navy_Goat
    Navy_Goat Posts: 375
    My "worst soldering" story happened to a friend at work one day. It was at least partially my fault. I stopped by his shop to grab him for a smoke break as he was about to sit down with his next soldering project. We worked in a large electronics repair facility and he was trained as a solder tech. He had just grabbed a large circuit that needed a massive cap removed and replaced. 1 farad or more, it was huge.

    As we walked out we joked about how much it would suck to find out that the cap was not discharged the hard way. I really meant to remind him on the way back in, but I forgot all about it. Apparently so did he. I rushed back to remind him and he was laying on the ground. Apparently that cap knocked him out of his chair.

    He was fine after a min or two, but he was sent to the hospital to get checked out non the less. It was scary for sure.
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  • xsmi
    xsmi Posts: 1,798
    I watched about 4hrs worth of soldering tutorials on YouTube before I completely screwed up my SRS boards. I’m NOT doing it again. LOL
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  • engie490
    engie490 Posts: 432
    I love the intro...Doc Bottlehead, double-oh 12AX7!
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,508
    edited December 2021
    If not wearing pants, best to stand when soldering. :D Also, I'm glad Doc covered for best results with electronics, use rosin core, not acid core solder. :)
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,909
    edited December 2021
    SCompRacer wrote: »
    If not wearing pants, best to stand when soldering. :D Also, I'm glad Doc covered for best results with electronics, use rosin core, not acid core solder. :)

    In the good old DIY/kitbuilding days (1950s and 60s) a middle-class suburban tinkerer might grab whatever solder he (in those days, usually "he" :/ ) had handy. Acid core solder is not a good thing for electronics. :/
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  • WLDock
    WLDock Posts: 3,073
    :p:p:p All of those pictures are hilarious!

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