www.tubedepot.com/how-to-solder The basics of making electrical solder connections - covered in this video are safety, tools you'll need and techniques.
Found this 14 years after you posted and it is a "BIG" help, wish I had this when I was learning but it was the 80s. All you teach I learned from a Scottish Tutor who was super safety conscious and would show us once and then let us get on with it...alone till one of would do something stupid and then come ti the rescue, "Don't blow on the solder lad and don't inhale the smoke" he siad, of-course we ignored his warning till one student fainted and another got his tie caught in a spinning motor and lost the skin off his chin, that's when we all grew-up fast.
Even though I used to solder on an assembly line for some high tech music products,I found this video very helpful. You answered a lot of "why" questions that were never covered at that time. Thank you!
This video has helped me to get beyond my screw ups & back into the pile of things that need attention. The right materials, equipment, & approach all ad up to a "happy ending" thanks.
It may have been mentioned already ( i have looked back through a lot of replies/questions here ) what CORE size would you recommends for guitar amp wiring.
Would it be possible to use wire-wrap for a guitar amp's circuit? (Obviously you'd still have to use soldering to secure components to wires or wire-wrap pins.) Was wire-wrapping used in any historic guitar amps?
Pro tip (and just the tip) when cleaning flux off the board: Apply alcohol to area and cover it with a tech wipe, then use your acid brush over the top of the wipe. This can slow evaporation and allows the wipe to absorb the alcohol and flux as you are scrubbing.
hi i have built some guitar fx pedals..but i need a few tips on shielding...some people say make sure the input is shielded...how is this done...is it just using guitar lead type cable and using just the core?????.....or does the outer core have to be soldered too...cheers for the excellent vid...
@TubeDepotTV: Thanks for the feedback. A little to late though. I already soldered it. It's a little messy, and I wish I used lead instead, but for some reason I thought silver was superior. Is it possible to remove solder in an easy way? Probably not advisable, right?
Goodness gracious! Your soldering without safety goggles. I always use lead free solder. Lead based solder is harder to get these days, in Sweden. Question, what board material are you using?
Great informative video. But you talked about the importance of flux and then never used it. I'm new to soldering. Where does the flux go and when do you use it? thanks
Hey thanks for the video....very informative and precise. Just had a quick question. I'm new to the subjectand I'm just wondering if the Lead fumes are toxic? Thanks again for the awesome video.
Do you recommend any good soldering irons (except for Weller there a bit too over budget) for very small components? ex.) data ports on an Xbox. Because I've recently bought one from the source, and the tip went completely black from first turn on (even flux cant help it :( )
@TubeDepotTV: ok, sorry for bursting out. I was just frusterated that there is no videos on youtube that show how to use flux (for electronics). I was soldering for the first time today, it went so-so. I bought the gun, soldering wire (silver bearing?), and flux. But I wasn't sure what the flux was for. Do I put it on before I solder? Or after? Do I put it on the tip of the gun? Or on the wire? Or on the soldering wire? How much? I was fixing my cable from my comp to my moniter, lol. Delicate!
For soldering guitar components, amps, circuit boards, switches, etc., is it better to use a 30 watt or 60 watt iron? I've used both but the 60 watt really burned through a lot of stuff and the tips kept disintegrating quickly. too much power?
maggit, your iron may have poor plating on the tip, or was it perhaps damaged by cleaning it by filing or sanind it with abrasive paper? Keeping the tip tinned with fresh solder at all times keeps the plating from oxidizing. swipe on the damp sponge or soft brass wool as soon as the iron gets up to heat, tin with fresh solder, clean and tin before and after each connection. your tip should last a very long time this way. I have tips that have made over a million connections, still looking good and on the job.
How is it, when I see soldering demos, it take a second. I’ve been thru several different irons and they all, regardless of power take time to heat the connection. And yes I pre heat the iron.
Thanks buddy. Soldering is the HARDEST thing for me. I believe it's due to a under performing, cheap soldering iron. But now that I have these techniques, I want to try again. Question; how would you solder multiple items in one hole (for lack of a better term)? Example; on a 5E3's fiber board, I see multiple caps being soldered to one location, but not at the same time. If you were to solder something after something else was there, wouldn't that make everything a bit more difficult and result in a possible bad solder?
John, good tools make a huge difference in soldering ... especially the quality of the soldering iron. For fiberboard eyelet soldering, I recommend a 35W iron with a larger sized chisel tip. The added mass of the tip provides the necessary heat for the connection. For soldering multiple component leads into a single eyelet, the solder is added once all the leads have been installed. With practice, soldering becomes much easier.
Thank you for your very informative reply! I bought a suction of ebay for £3. I need it because i need to replace a faulty servo from a motherboard on my rc helicopter. But im a bit nervous because the board is very small and if i mess up the soldering ,to buy a new one is £60 !!! Any tips on soldering tiny thing Thanks
Im so crap at soldering, i upgraded my strat with a new set of pickups but i couldnt get the solder to stick to the pots, everytime i thought i had done it id touch it and it would pop away, i ended up putting way to much solder on the pots and it looked a mess, any tips on why the solder wouldnt stick to the pots ?
Paul Roadz - pots could have had a coating on them or your soldering iron wasn't sufficient to heat the pot enough for the solder to stick (very common). Use at least a 40W iron and a little electronics grade solder flux is helpful.
question when should i replace my soldering pin i'm great at about everything else for being self taught via vids like these i just haven't come across any vid saying i should so iv'e just been shaving it down every so often.
Another good reason to remove flux (or just don't use it to begin with) is that flux creates noise quite often, especially when it crosses traces on a PC board.
I have a soldering station, kinda like the one you used. What should I set the temperature for PCB soldering? It goes from 0-450 Celsius or 0-842 Fahrenheit. I'm using kester 60/40 solder wire
Thanks. The servo is attached to the board by screws then the small wires solder onto the board. (heres the part number of the board and the servo EFLH3001 ,,,, EFLH1066. I nscrewed it off the board the pulled the wires off. So when i receive my de solder pump ill take the solder off. THomas
Isn't it a good idea (when soldering components such as capacitors) to attach an alligator clip with a lead to act as a heat sink to prevent damage to the component?
Point-to-point component soldering isn't a problem as the component leads are usually quite long and the components themselves are large enough to dissipate the heat. A good temperature controlled soldering iron (on 650 degrees F) and good soldering techniques are the most important. I use a heat sink only when having to leave the soldering iron on a large connection for an extended period of time. Otherwise, using a heat sink for every soldered component isn't necessary.
how do you stop wire coating/plastic sleeve from shrinking back when soldering it to a pcb?....it really bugs me....i put the wire through the pcb hole then solder, but the sleeve always shrinks away from the hole, even if i do it quite quickly.....thanks.
Too late, I know but to answer your question anyway: use an alligator clip style heat sink and place it on the bare wire butted up to the edge of the wire's insulation. The width of the clip will also allow you to maintain a standard clearance between your board and the insulation. Be sure the clips don't have teeth. Those are not heat sinks! www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0032UYTV6/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_328_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TQY52W0KSAWPSSG4BMGN&dpPl=1&dpID=31d95PBt5OL
Some nice advices, but in my opinion you should: 1. spend more time to heat up the solder spot 2. than add some solder 3. wait two seconds and then add the big amount of solder 4. first take the solder away 5. take the iron away, when you can see that the solder is melting around the spot like icecream in the sun 6. don't push and pull a fresh soldered connection... wait a couple of minutes
Thank you for your input. The process for a good solder connection is: 1) create a good mechanical connection between the two surfaces to be soldered 2) apply sufficient heat to both surfaces that solder will evenly melt. 3) once surfaces are at proper temperature, apply sufficient solder to flow evenly around both surfaces. 4) once sufficient solder is applied, remove both solder and soldering iron at same time 5) finally, do not move connection until solder has solidified. I mention these steps and properly demonstrate them in this video.
Thanks for the great tips, couple of comments - at 8:20 you say isopropanol is environmentally friendly and made from plants. This is not true, it is produced by a chemical process and is made from propene a petroleum by-product. Also you never use the flux that you say is so important in the beginning of the video.
4:55 ; This is not up to military spec. He should have shortened the lead by cutting it in place slightly more than 50% (cause 50 is the minimum). This lead needs to be tight against the post for a good mechanical connection and to be considered passable for Micro/Miniature (2M) repair work.
Wait - you said flux was the secret weapon or tool that people don't know about, and you handled that bottle of liquid, but then in the whole video you never used it or explained its application. Got me all curious.
The solder will have flux in it, so it's fine for this type of connection. You probably want to pre-flux before soldering if you're working on a PCB with SMD components.
The most important part of a good connection is a good mechanical connection, the solder keeps it from moving. Yes solder is a good conductor but, a mechanical connection is the key to a good connection. I disagree with not first making a mechanical connection because it's hard to remove. Just my .02 cents.
Tube Depot doesn't show an example of how to solder Tubes? Joking but in all seriousness I came here hoping for tips on soldering tube sockets. For example, I just soldered up my heater wires and now the tubes are very difficult to push in. Wish this video had something because I don't see anything on RUclips.
Isopropyl alcohol is a volatile organic compound and when it evaporates it can mix with other chemicals in the atmosphere to make smog. Not exactly environmentally friendly.
i think that he's talking about to much time you're soldering one element. it's something about 'you feel it burns' or something like that. don't know much technical aspects of russian ;p
Robert, safety is very important. When making up guitar cords once, I had my goggles, shoes, long sleeves, but I forgot to wear any pants and I dripped a big wad of molten solder on my balls... YIKES!
Наука
Found this 14 years after you posted and it is a "BIG" help, wish I had this when I was learning but it was the 80s. All you teach I learned from a Scottish Tutor who was super safety conscious and would show us once and then let us get on with it...alone till one of would do something stupid and then come ti the rescue, "Don't blow on the solder lad and don't inhale the smoke" he siad, of-course we ignored his warning till one student fainted and another got his tie caught in a spinning motor and lost the skin off his chin, that's when we all grew-up fast.
I bought some of that liquid flux from you guys and it is absolutely amazing. I won't solder without it again.
Thank you. All your vids are very thorough.
I soddered up a 5E3 and two pedals just recently. Your tips are spot on 👍
Made me feel better about my soddering!
Even though I used to solder on an assembly line for some high tech music products,I found this video very helpful. You answered a lot of "why" questions that were never covered at that time. Thank you!
That's the biggest question "Why" followed by "How".
"You don't want to wear shorts, or open toed shoes". Thats good advice for any situation, not just whilst soldering
Excellent tutorial. Clear speaking and good closeups with the camera.
This video has helped me to get beyond my screw ups & back into the pile of things that need attention. The right materials, equipment, & approach all ad up to a "happy ending" thanks.
Some great soldering tips and a very clear video!
Many thanks!
Thanks!!!!, Best tutorial i'v seen. It helped me out a bundle. Clear and praticle.
Thank you for this. It's a very good tutorial.
Great demo on soldering! Thank you!
Wow! Great video, with some really valuable information. Thanks so much!
It may have been mentioned already ( i have looked back through a lot of replies/questions here ) what CORE size would you recommends for guitar amp wiring.
Excellent...many thanks for the effort and time.
Would like to see more on using heat sinks to protect components and de-soldering techniques.
Would it be possible to use wire-wrap for a guitar amp's circuit? (Obviously you'd still have to use soldering to secure components to wires or wire-wrap pins.) Was wire-wrapping used in any historic guitar amps?
Awesome vid dude, very helpful.
Love all the groovy musical interludes
Thanks Robert, great video. Did you take a mil-spec soldering course at some point?
Good video for some basic techniques but for sensitive electronic soldering, what temperature on the iron is best?
Does the light color natural board burn and turn brown if you get it to hot when you're soldering it?
Pro tip (and just the tip) when cleaning flux off the board:
Apply alcohol to area and cover it with a tech wipe, then use your acid brush over the top of the wipe. This can slow evaporation and allows the wipe to absorb the alcohol and flux as you are scrubbing.
excellent demo
thanks very much, would you recommend some stranded wire, for 0.8mm holes?...thanks.
Very nice tutorial! Thanks :)
hi i have built some guitar fx pedals..but i need a few tips on shielding...some people say make sure the input is shielded...how is this done...is it just using guitar lead type cable and using just the core?????.....or does the outer core have to be soldered too...cheers for the excellent vid...
@TubeDepotTV: Thanks for the feedback. A little to late though. I already soldered it. It's a little messy, and I wish I used lead instead, but for some reason I thought silver was superior. Is it possible to remove solder in an easy way? Probably not advisable, right?
Goodness gracious! Your soldering without safety goggles.
I always use lead free solder. Lead based solder is harder to get these days, in Sweden. Question, what board material are you using?
This is by far the best tutorial. Cheers man :D Wish you could do some DIY pedals haha xD like an attenuator xD
@TubeDepotTV the little copper rings around the holes in my printed circuit board came out and i was wondering do have anny tips
I built my last tube amp drinking beer the whole time. Woops
Can you share how you created your nifty flux distributor?
Great informative video. But you talked about the importance of flux and then never used it. I'm new to soldering. Where does the flux go and when do you use it? thanks
Hey thanks for the video....very informative and precise. Just had a quick question. I'm new to the subjectand I'm just wondering if the Lead fumes are toxic? Thanks again for the awesome video.
so you squirt it on the item to be soldered just prior to soldering?
Do you recommend any good soldering irons (except for Weller there a bit too over budget) for very small components? ex.) data ports on an Xbox. Because I've recently bought one from the source, and the tip went completely black from first turn on (even flux cant help it :( )
@TubeDepotTV: ok, sorry for bursting out. I was just frusterated that there is no videos on youtube that show how to use flux (for electronics). I was soldering for the first time today, it went so-so. I bought the gun, soldering wire (silver bearing?), and flux. But I wasn't sure what the flux was for. Do I put it on before I solder? Or after? Do I put it on the tip of the gun? Or on the wire? Or on the soldering wire? How much? I was fixing my cable from my comp to my moniter, lol. Delicate!
For soldering guitar components, amps, circuit boards, switches, etc., is it better to use a 30 watt or 60 watt iron? I've used both but the 60 watt really burned through a lot of stuff and the tips kept disintegrating quickly. too much power?
probably want to get a 40W or a 60W variable soldering station.
maggit, your iron may have poor plating on the tip, or was it perhaps damaged by cleaning it by filing or sanind it with abrasive paper? Keeping the tip tinned with fresh solder at all times keeps the plating from oxidizing. swipe on the damp sponge or soft brass wool as soon as the iron gets up to heat, tin with fresh solder, clean and tin before and after each connection. your tip should last a very long time this way. I have tips that have made over a million connections, still looking good and on the job.
How is it, when I see soldering demos, it take a second. I’ve been thru several different irons and they all, regardless of power take time to heat the connection. And yes I pre heat the iron.
Thanks buddy. Soldering is the HARDEST thing for me. I believe it's due to a under performing, cheap soldering iron. But now that I have these techniques, I want to try again. Question; how would you solder multiple items in one hole (for lack of a better term)? Example; on a 5E3's fiber board, I see multiple caps being soldered to one location, but not at the same time. If you were to solder something after something else was there, wouldn't that make everything a bit more difficult and result in a possible bad solder?
John, good tools make a huge difference in soldering ... especially the quality of the soldering iron. For fiberboard eyelet soldering, I recommend a 35W iron with a larger sized chisel tip. The added mass of the tip provides the necessary heat for the connection. For soldering multiple component leads into a single eyelet, the solder is added once all the leads have been installed. With practice, soldering becomes much easier.
Thank you for your very informative reply! I bought a suction of ebay for £3. I need it because i need to replace a faulty servo from a motherboard on my rc helicopter. But im a bit nervous because the board is very small and if i mess up the soldering ,to buy a new one is £60 !!! Any tips on soldering tiny thing Thanks
Great video :-) So how do you remove solder?
I already have an acid brush. Where can I get a peyote brush?
good teaching
Thx for sharing.
Do you sell a high quality LA2A kit ?
Please if you could send me price. Thx
Those soldering-terminals are looking really nice. How are those called? And where to get them? Thanks in advance.
Im so crap at soldering, i upgraded my strat with a new set of pickups but i couldnt get the solder to stick to the pots, everytime i thought i had done it id touch it and it would pop away, i ended up putting way to much solder on the pots and it looked a mess, any tips on why the solder wouldnt stick to the pots ?
Pots have a coating you want to scratch away first.
Paul Roadz - pots could have had a coating on them or your soldering iron wasn't sufficient to heat the pot enough for the solder to stick (very common). Use at least a 40W iron and a little electronics grade solder flux is helpful.
I get that I shouldn't breath lead fumes, but if I get lead on my fingers and then pick my nose will lead stay in my nose?
Is that a sliverface fender amp?
I am from the netherlands. Can you show me how to make a coax cable for my tv?
greetings Mart
thank you Sir
Not related to soldering, I'd really like to know the music used in this vid. Thanks
@tubedepottv and is that soldering iron made in Australia? I think it is we have them at school :)
question when should i replace my soldering pin i'm great at about everything else for being self taught via vids like these i just haven't come across any vid saying i should so iv'e just been shaving it down every so often.
Is it just normal silicone/plastic sponge?
Another good reason to remove flux (or just don't use it to begin with) is that flux creates noise quite often, especially when it crosses traces on a PC board.
I would like to see you soldering without flux
Do you have contracts with the military or were you an electronics tech in the military? You were talking about Mil-spec and i'm just curious. Thanks!
how do I solder a wire to a tube socket pin ???
I have a soldering station, kinda like the one you used. What should I set the temperature for PCB soldering? It goes from 0-450 Celsius or 0-842 Fahrenheit. I'm using kester 60/40 solder wire
Use 63/37 Sn/Pb, it's an eutectic alloy so there is no plastic state. For temp start out at 600 F and work your way up to whatever temp you need.
You should mention that with lead free solder the connection can appear grainy and still be a good joint.
how do i solder small tiny copper wires on motherborad traces? i need to repair one :(
Thanks. The servo is attached to the board by screws then the small wires solder onto the board. (heres the part number of the board and the servo EFLH3001 ,,,, EFLH1066. I nscrewed it off the board the pulled the wires off. So when i receive my de solder pump ill take the solder off.
THomas
Isn't it a good idea (when soldering components such as capacitors) to attach an alligator clip with a lead to act as a heat sink to prevent damage to the component?
Point-to-point component soldering isn't a problem as the component leads are usually quite long and the components themselves are large enough to dissipate the heat. A good temperature controlled soldering iron (on 650 degrees F) and good soldering techniques are the most important. I use a heat sink only when having to leave the soldering iron on a large connection for an extended period of time. Otherwise, using a heat sink for every soldered component isn't necessary.
how do you stop wire coating/plastic sleeve from shrinking back when soldering it to a pcb?....it really bugs me....i put the wire through the pcb hole then solder, but the sleeve always shrinks away from the hole, even if i do it quite quickly.....thanks.
Too late, I know but to answer your question anyway: use an alligator clip style heat sink and place it on the bare wire butted up to the edge of the wire's insulation. The width of the clip will also allow you to maintain a standard clearance between your board and the insulation. Be sure the clips don't have teeth. Those are not heat sinks!
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0032UYTV6/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_328_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TQY52W0KSAWPSSG4BMGN&dpPl=1&dpID=31d95PBt5OL
how do you remove solder?
thanks
I ordered a solid 20 guage wire from you guys , but you shipped out as SLOPPY Stranded one.
Yes, I too wonder about the flux and the technique of "removing both the solder and the soldering iron at the same time."
Some nice advices, but in my opinion you should:
1. spend more time to heat up the solder spot
2. than add some solder
3. wait two seconds and then add the big amount of solder
4. first take the solder away
5. take the iron away, when you can see that the solder is melting around the spot like icecream in the sun
6. don't push and pull a fresh soldered connection... wait a couple of minutes
Thank you for your input. The process for a good solder connection is:
1) create a good mechanical connection between the two surfaces to be soldered
2) apply sufficient heat to both surfaces that solder will evenly melt.
3) once surfaces are at proper temperature, apply sufficient solder to flow evenly around both surfaces.
4) once sufficient solder is applied, remove both solder and soldering iron at same time
5) finally, do not move connection until solder has solidified.
I mention these steps and properly demonstrate them in this video.
you didn't use the flux at all after talking about it? do you put it on the component? on the terminal? both? or what? when do you use it?
Thanks for the great tips, couple of comments - at 8:20 you say isopropanol is environmentally friendly and made from plants. This is not true, it is produced by a chemical process and is made from propene a petroleum by-product. Also you never use the flux that you say is so important in the beginning of the video.
4:55 ; This is not up to military spec. He should have shortened the lead by cutting it in place slightly more than 50% (cause 50 is the minimum). This lead needs to be tight against the post for a good mechanical connection and to be considered passable for Micro/Miniature (2M) repair work.
there is a lot of talk about the importance of flux at the beginning of the video but as far as I can tell he never uses any. When do you use flux?
The best part about this video is that hes not wearing his safety glasses that he told us to wear...
I love the way you DON'T explain HOW to use flux. I never saw you use it once!!
Wait - you said flux was the secret weapon or tool that people don't know about, and you handled that bottle of liquid, but then in the whole video you never used it or explained its application. Got me all curious.
you didn't use flux?
The solder will have flux in it, so it's fine for this type of connection. You probably want to pre-flux before soldering if you're working on a PCB with SMD components.
much solder and long kept soldering iron will burn sensitive parts
@TwoDogsX2 He is not saying "Sarder" - inserting an "r" but rather the "l" is silent. Kinda like the "l" in salmon.
The most important part of a good connection is a good mechanical connection, the solder keeps it from moving. Yes solder is a good conductor but, a mechanical connection is the key to a good connection. I disagree with not first making a mechanical connection because it's hard to remove. Just my .02 cents.
Tube Depot doesn't show an example of how to solder Tubes? Joking but in all seriousness I came here hoping for tips on soldering tube sockets. For example, I just soldered up my heater wires and now the tubes are very difficult to push in. Wish this video had something because I don't see anything on RUclips.
thanx! I might add: use rubber gloves with the isopropyl alcohol.
4:44 .... That is just like the military to be so picky. hahah
That hook would never pass in the military's 2M solder repair program. He was not picky enough...
The best engineers always have the worst haircuts.
Isopropyl alcohol is a volatile organic compound and when it evaporates it can mix with other chemicals in the atmosphere to make smog. Not exactly environmentally friendly.
He did mention that the core of the solder has rosin flux in it. For most applications that's really all the flux you need.
Penfold8 still good to have a syringe of flux around.. the stuff in the solder burns off instantaneously
i think that he's talking about to much time you're soldering one element. it's something about 'you feel it burns' or something like that. don't know much technical aspects of russian ;p
If the 70s had higher quality cameras and color LCDs.
That'd be mil-spec!
@TwoDogsX2
> says to wear protective eyewear during soddering
> doesn't wear protective eyewear during soddering
>Doesn't spell soldering correctly
With all that probing I expected to see some solder juice.
"always use saftey goggles" you dint wear it lol
Messi!!! jajajaja
Robert, safety is very important. When making up guitar cords once, I had my goggles, shoes, long sleeves, but I forgot to wear any pants and I dripped a big wad of molten solder on my balls... YIKES!
Bourne Accident - dang ... that had to have hurt!
Oh man what a bummer.
sheeez!
署光胆
@greensp4rk yeh lol bug dummy
The title said learn how to solder! what is this sodering some strange pastime in the good old USA. as sodding in my country is very different!
да да это будет