If the solder balls up or forms mountains, it’s not hot enough. I’ll bet you’re trying to hurry too much. Remember that the iron heats the work, and the work melts the solder. I touch the tip to the joint, and leave it there steadily as I start dabbing the solder at the work, watching for it to start melting. The cold solder is sucking heat away from the joint, and it takes a little time for the iron tip to replenish that heat. Once the solder starts melting, you have to dab the solder and then wait for it to fully melt and flow into the joint. Don’t pull the tip away until the joint looks flat and smooth.
For a seam, you have to be able to combine the above technique with moving the tip along the seam. Trying to join pieces that have vey different thermal mass, like soldering a wire to a chassis or a star to a pill, is tougher; you have to dump enough heat in so that the bigger piece reaches soldering temperature.
The technique isn’t hard to master, but it’s easier demonstrated than described. Do you know anyone who can help with a hands-on demo?
Thanks everyone for all the usefull help. My problem seems to be solved.
Today my new Weller WESD51 Digital Soldering Station arrived and I can now solder like a son of a gun. Wow. What a difference. My old iron couldn't even melt hardened solder.
I built my first light today...it was easy. I feel like I could paint a picture out of solder with this Weller. Man oh man, soldering is fun. I tinned everything, it was like doing a watercolor. I don't care what anyone says, a good soldering station allows you to easily do jobs that a cheap iron cannot do.
I say this every single time a soldering iron/soldering station thread comes up. I’m ALL about “Budget”, but when it comes to a soldering station, you get what you pay for.
Ouchyfoot, you just convinced me to buy a proper soldering station. I’ve been doing a few mods lately with a cheap soldering iron, and while I’ve been successful the soldering is pants, especially soldering vertically onto a mounted star. Is that the Roche F8? Nice, I’ve had my eye on that one for a while.
I know it seems like "that ouchyfoot" has sure been asking a lot of dumb questions for the last few weeks, but I have been methodically picking you brains, and gathering knowledge from the best. I couldn't have done it without you, and this little baby.
I use a soldering iron that has 48W I believe, adjustable temperature and very often I run at 295°C/560°F. With a normal thin but not long tip. If I would use a longer and thinner tip it needs more temperature. That is for Sn63Pb37 1mm solder wire.
If you have something lead free etc. you might even go 305°C for normal operation.
Depends how well your tip heats up and holds the heat.
And remember to flux flux flux, it makes all the difference at least for me.
It’s so much easier to solder when both parts are covered in flux.
I have a flux pen/brush.
I realize this is a very old thread but it seemed the appropriate place to post. I just completed a very simple mod on my L6,
and had trouble soldering the leads to the sink pad. It seemed I did not get it hot enough at first. With some time and cursing I managed to get it done. My question is when you solder the wire to the sink pad do most of you use solder paste or regular rosin core solder?
Thanx, Steve
Especially with DTP stars already mounted to the shelf, you gotta hit it hard and fast.
What I’ve done is had a bit of liquid flux (blue stuff, looks like washer-fluid) just wetting the pad to be soldered, had the soldering iron good’n’hot with a small molten blob of solder dangling off the tip, then hit the wire+pad with the already hot blob, wait for it to sizzle away some, then when you’re sure it’s a nice hot weld, pull away the tip.
This way the iron doesn’t have to melt and heat up the room-temp solder, the liquid “wets” to the pieces in a nice wide area vs just the hard contact-point of iron-to-whatever pinpoint, and you get the parts hotter, faster, so you don’t cook everything in existence.
Thanks all for the comments. So its seems there is no big secret and I’m on the right track, just need more practice.
Lightbringer, I ended up using a method as you described. My big issue was the heat sinking to the light body. I could actually feel the heat on the head of the light. Next time I will crank up the irons heat and hit it hard and fast as you described. I may try the paste method also. Also have to work on keeping the iron clean.
Steve.
P.s. the light now pulls over 9 amps (not sure exactly how much: cheap meter reads to 10 amps only). Used a xhp70.2 p 4000k and MTN FET+1 driver.
Yeah, there are a few “issues” with that technique, as high heat can “harden” the tip (my own terminology, ie, solder doesn’t wet to it anymore ’til you dress the head again).
And lots of people make the mistake of using low-wattage irons to be “safer” with delicate electronics, but when you gotta hold the iron to everything that much longer, you’re heating up everything as the heat spreads, vs a quick in’n’out with high heat, before the heat gets the chance to spread out too much.
