ok i never sodered before in my life and really have no one to teach me...so today i bought a cheap sodering iron, and some rosin core...anyone have any pointers on what to do and not to do...i did a search and nothing came up...

here is a pic of my 1st ever try, i know it sucks but oh well...would this work? should i try and redo it? im making an o2 extension wire...



http://www.imagestation.com/pi...g.jpg


Modified by crxgator at 11:24 PM 3/21/2004

 

There are certain learned methods and tecniques that can help you improve, get a book or find an electrician to help you.

And it's spelled solder, not soder.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kendall &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are certain learned methods and tecniques that can help you improve, get a book or find an electrician to help you.

And it's spelled solder, not soder.</TD></TR></TABLE>

or ask someone on honda-tech who has done it...i dont see why i should try and find an electrician where as someone can give me a couple of pointers on here that will get me through...

 

it's not bad but, next time try not to use so much solder. first: strip both wires and then tin them individually. when i say tin that means putting solder on them. heat the wire up with the iron and then feed the solder onto it letting it flow down the stripped wire. then lay the two wires together and heat them up with the iron. one thing you don't want to do is get a colder solder joint, that's when both wires aren't adhering to each other. this could cause the solder joint to break. i attended a nasa soldering class once and the instructor use to say the bigger the blob the better the job, he was saying that to be funny and to let us know that less solder is the key.

 

what you have done should be okay. When I try to solder you really just wanna have enough to hold it together and but also to make sure it will last. What I would do is take some junk wires and strip a couple of them and practice soldering together. The rosin when melted on the wire should look smooth not so blotchy. Give it some practice. You'll get

 

thanks for the tips guys...now how long should the two wires be before i solder it? should they be rather short, i think that may have been my problem too, one wire was 1/2 inches long and the other was a lot shorter, and one had a lot of strands while the shorter wire had 5 little strands, thats why i thougth i should use a lot of the rosin... so they would stay together completely...

 

well you should try to make sure ther equal length, around a 1/4 inch should be fine as far as for the how many strands well you should make sure your that your using the same gauge wire, which should be roughly the same amount of strands of wire

 

I fray out the strands and twist them together face-to-face. Then heat up the gun and melt a dab of rosin core or flux solder onto the wire to start a pool. Then I drag the solder wire a little down the length of the wire. When you get it just right, the solder will melt like velveeta into the wires, leaving a thin outer coating of solder on the wires.

The thicker the gage of wire, the more heat you'll need to get things to meld together. I really hate soldering anything thicker than a 14gage b/c my 130W gun can't handle it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by torr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it's not bad but, next time try not to use so much solder. first: strip both wires and then tin them individually. when i say tin that means putting solder on them. heat the wire up with the iron and then feed the solder onto it letting it flow down the stripped wire. then lay the two wires together and heat them up with the iron. one thing you don't want to do is get a colder solder joint, that's when both wires aren't adhering to each other. this could cause the solder joint to break. i attended a nasa soldering class once and the instructor use to say the bigger the blob the better the job, he was saying that to be funny and to let us know that less solder is the key.</TD></TR></TABLE>

a cold solder joint is when you dont heat both wires properly, and the solder doesnt bond to the cold wire. or you reheat the joint to many times and burn it.

1. melt a little solder on the iron tip, and use a wet sponge to "tin" the tip, by wiping the fresh solder off.
2. take an aligator clip and clip it to the insulation holding the longer wire to the other (so you dont have to hold it together).
3. apply the iron to the wires, and dabb the solder on the wire near the tip of the iron.
4 once the solder starts to melt near the tip, this will cause the wire to super heat due to the rapid heat transfer from the melted solder. once the wires are covered by a sufficient amount remove the solder first then the iron and let it cool. dont blow it.
5. basically you dont want the wire to solder ratio to be greater than 50%, because of the wires impedance. the less solder the less resistance basically.

and yes I am a certified electronics technician, and a journeyman electrician since 1997.

 

you need to keep the soldering iron about 45-60 degree angle with the circuit board or wire. then try to insert the solder at the point where the iron meets the board. this way the solder wont ball up on the iron. also make sure you keep solder on the iron at all times. wipe it off on a sponge before you solder and put fresh solder on. just enough solder to keep the tip covered while soldering. if u are leavnig it on sitting there put as much solder on as you can, so you dont burn ur tip. also try not to just blob solder on the wires without the wires being hot or you will have a cold solder.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syner-G-Racing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
and yes I am a certified electronics technician, and a journeyman electrician since 1997. </TD></TR></TABLE>
what type of certification? i was told that the only thing i could really get that would be general electronics would be a college degree. i have a deploma that says something to the effect of eclectronic something major. i was thinking about going for some networking certifications?

 

so do you guys think i should redo it?

 

tug on it I think you need some shrink wrap though....

 

yeah i tugged on it, and it held good, i was waiting for opinions before i used heat shrink tubing...

 

dont redo it. it looks fine. normally if you can still see the shape of the wire it is still a decent solder job

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KraZEtEggIE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you need to keep the soldering iron about 45-60 degree angle with the circuit board or wire. then try to insert the solder at the point where the iron meets the board. this way the solder wont ball up on the iron. also make sure you keep solder on the iron at all times. wipe it off on a sponge before you solder and put fresh solder on. just enough solder to keep the tip covered while soldering. if u are leavnig it on sitting there put as much solder on as you can, so you dont burn ur tip. also try not to just blob solder on the wires without the wires being hot or you will have a cold solder.

what type of certification? i was told that the only thing i could really get that would be general electronics would be a college degree. i have a deploma that says something to the effect of eclectronic something major. i was thinking about going for some networking certifications? </TD></TR></TABLE>

it all depends on what job you want to do. I was certified through a company named Gothcha Covered Security, to install commercial and residential alarms I had to go the National Security Training acadamey (with my vocational training it only took two weeks) then I left and went to work for Willmar Elec. inc. and they put me through for my fiber optics cert. and networking (for ethernet etc.) I was basically a control technician working a goodyear on a contract to install all their tire machines (my favorite job). I moved on to Newport News shipbuilding & Dry Dock co. working on air craft carriers there I got my journeymans license ( i had to, so i could work on the nuclear reactors and special freq. generators) now im in the army working on aircraft (and cars after work of course) basically what im saying is you can get special certification for certain work. its not a certificate its more of a license. sorry for the off topic guys...just trying to help a guy out.

 

this any better?

 

not bad, i would put a little more solder on there by the green wire, but again i can't tell what the bottom looks like. Just remember heat the object your soldering not the solder itself to make it melt

 

Here's what I like to do and some things my dad taught me.

In a good solder joint, you should still be able to see the individual wire strands even though they are covered in solder. That way you know you have a good connection w/o too much solder globbed on there.

Always let the wire itself melt the solder.

What I like to do is strip each wire a little more than usual, bend the bare ends of each wire into a hook formation, hook them together and then twist them back around each other. This by itself gives a strong joint, and then you can use the solder to keep it in place.

 

Strip the wires so that you have a decent amount to work with. Put the middle of each piece of stripped wire together and twist them. Hold the solder on top of the wires and the gun on the bottom. Since heat rises, it'll cause the solder to melt onto the wires and should cover the enitre wire since it'll be in a liquid stage, then heat shrink those suckas!

 

terrible grasshopper

 

Stop using rosin-core solder, get some liquid rosin flux and coat the parts you are soldering first. And it REALLY does help having a good soldering iron. I use a Hakko 936, works VERY VERY well. Get the wire hotter BEFORE applying solder to the wire.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crxgator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this any better?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmm. Looks a little rough.

Try twisting the stripped ends together before soldering. Also, as stated above, make sure your iron is HOT before trying to solder. You want the solder to liquify into the strands, not just sit on the surface like jelly.

Practice makes perfect!

I don't have an certificate in soldering, just thousands of hours of practice!