My first soldering!

[Elecmox]

Let me show you my first soldering.
This is my first attempt:

This is my second attempt:

Please, be gentle.

 

[DPG]

Practice makes perfect.
Donkeys years back, I remember we were practising at tech and one thicko was totally baffled. One lad had brought some 60 amp fuse wire from work and we stood back giggling.

Remember doing the same thing years ago when making circuits on veroboard - picking the tinned copper link wire up instead of the solder. Gets hot quick!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

I do that quite often. First, I look over at the soldering station to see whether the iron is on (which it is, and has been all day,) then I notice the time which usually turns out to be 3 AM and I take it as a signal to turn the bench off and go home. Talking of which...

 

[ipf]

Here's a practical example of an inline soldered joint in a 5-core screened cable to a readout encoder on a lathe. The cable had a fatigue break in the middle of a job, so I cut out as much of the worn section as possible and joined it back up. The inner braid screen is connected through (and sleeved, so there are two layers of insulation between it and the other conductors) but not reformed to shield the joint as there is another shield over the top. The joint was sleeved in adhesive heatshrink.

We used to have some big 400v 2 phase spot welders. They had two multi pin interconnecting sockets and plugs, army standard and murder
repairing when faulty, soldered and insulated connections on both. Fault finding and taking apart de-soldering and then re-soldering and heat shrinking each individual connection because one had failed. A days work for each, forcing back and reforming all the outer protection, too. I think one was 21 pin and the other 16, not sure.

 

[Elecmox]

Nice soldering examples, thanks for posting.

 

[Elecmox]

I need advice what to use for cleaning tip of solder.
In store there are two fluxes:

KONTAKT PASTA ZA LEMLJENJE 20g 539087 | Woby Haus Online

- 20 gr

www.wobyhaus.co.rs

MAST ZA LEMLJENJE 20g 539085 | Woby Haus Online

- 20 gr

www.wobyhaus.co.rs

Which one to use?

 

[DPG]

I need advice what to use for cleaning tip of solder.
In store there are two fluxes:

KONTAKT PASTA ZA LEMLJENJE 20g 539087 | Woby Haus Online

- 20 gr

www.wobyhaus.co.rs

MAST ZA LEMLJENJE 20g 539085 | Woby Haus Online

- 20 gr

www.wobyhaus.co.rs

Which one to use?

Use the grey type as recommended in post #5 of this thread.

 

[Megawatt]

OK here are some examples of straight inline joints of equal-size cables. Obviously different configurations merit different methods. For speed, all of these joints were made with a 3.5mm chisel tip at 365°C.

0.5mm² Tri-rated soldered with Alpha Vaculoy lead-free:
View attachment 58467
View attachment 58468View attachment 58469

Next is 4.0mm² 6491B conduit cable soldered with Alpha Vaculoy lead-free and sleeved with adhesive-lined medium-wall 3:1 heatshrink
View attachment 58470View attachment 58471View attachment 58472View attachment 58473View attachment 58474
More in the next post...
[automerge]1590692245[/automerge]
Then we have 10.0mm² tri-rated, strands interlocked, bound with 29SWG tinned copper, soldered with 60/40 Crystal 511 and insulated with PVC tape. The PVC was applied with a 90% overlap and then a 50% overlap in the opposite direction. Once completed, I cut through the middle of the joint to show that it is solid copper/solder, circular in section and evenly covered with PVC equal in thickness to the original insulation.
View attachment 58494View attachment 58495View attachment 58496View attachment 58497View attachment 58498View attachment 58499

@Lucien I’ve got to say that my friend is some of the neatest soldering I have ever seen. Great job ?

 

[Elecmox]

@Lucien I’ve got to say that my friend is some of the neatest soldering I have ever seen. Great job ?

Electrons don't give a crap about pretty solder. It can look like a swamp as far as they are concerned.

 

[pc1966]

Electrons don't give a crap about pretty solder. It can look like a swamp as far as they are concerned.

The same way computers don't care about how software is designed and written, they just jump through instructions.

But the bigger picture often reveals a large difference in the safety and reliability of systems built by folk who are capable of good quality work.

 

[Elecmox]

The same way computers don't care about how software is designed and written, they just jump through instructions.

But the bigger picture often reveals a large difference in the safety and reliability of systems built by folk who are capable of good quality work.

Amen. ✝
Seriously.

 

[Megawatt]

Electrons don't give a crap about pretty solder. It can look like a swamp as far as they are concerned.

Eleocmox you are welcome to your own opinion but it still represented the expert work of electricians who really have pride in their work. I still say that looked awesome

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Which one to use?

Those are fluxes, that you apply to parts that are difficult to solder due to oxide formation on the surface. For normal small electrical and electronic work, the flux cores in the solder are enough and no extra flux is needed. For heavy work, the flux and solder are applied separately and that is where this paste flux is used.

To clean the soldering iron tip there is a product (as mentioned above) that consists of a solid block of solder paste mixed with flux. Personally, I don't find it necessary. E.g. I was building and wiring equipment for many hours yesterday, I probably wiped the tip on the sponge 20 times and that was all that was needed.

It can look like a swamp as far as they are concerned.

It can, but it is important to inspect the joint carefully on completion and that is easier if it is neat. If the surface is smooth, solid and uniform, with curved concave edges etc, you can be confident that the solder properly wetted the surfaces, flowed inside and then cooled correctly, resulting in a sound connection. If it is rough-looking, it is much harder to know whether these requirements have been met. It could be a cold / dry joint or it could be fine, the appearance no longer gives you as much information about its quality.

I still say that looked awesome

Thank you! I make a lot of equipment that travels the world under arduous conditions. Reliability is very important and that begins with reliable connections.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I want to learn to solder now after seeing those lovely examples!!
I realise some of you guys will be gritting your teeth and thinking "well you should bloody well know how to solder", you're right!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It's not difficult in principle, but plenty of practice is needed if you want to be able to join any two things under any circumstances. Different size objects made of different metals with different surface finishes demand different solder alloys, fluxes, tip sizes and temperatures etc. But most important is physical technique - muscle memory - which takes experience.

I'm making stuff this afternoon, perhaps I can post a wider variety of examples...

 

[HappyHippyDad]

It's not difficult in principle, but plenty of practice is needed if you want to be able to join any two things under any circumstances. Different size objects made of different metals with different surface finishes demand different solder alloys, fluxes, tip sizes and temperatures etc. But most important is physical technique - muscle memory - which takes experience.

I'm making stuff this afternoon, perhaps I can post a wider variety of examples...

If you get the chance to, that would always be welcome Lucien. Many thanks for the effort you take to help.