Soldering is a method without which any electronics cannot work. You require solder for each and every joint used in chips or electronic cards. While soldering classes are also available for giving proper training, there are some mistakes that usually occur when a person tries for the first time or is a beginner in this field.
There is also no doubt that some of these mistakes are by experienced persons too. Mistakes are acceptable and it is necessary that we learn from them and improve. In this post, we will see some top beginner mistakes made when soldering.
What is soldering?
When you want to join two metals at a joint on an electronic chip, the process used for this purpose is called soldering. Soldering is a method for joining two metals using a filler metal called solder. This solder metal will usually be a combination of tin and lead.
A hot gun whose tip is made of iron is heated up to a temperature of around 600 degrees Celsius. The iron is then touched to the solder metal which melts due to high temperature, and as the metal is placed between two joints, the metal cools down after some time and the two joints are bonded together due to this.
The hot gun is also called a solder gun, which works through a power supply. When powered up, the gun starts to heat the iron up to the desired temperature.
Top Beginner Soldering Mistakes
The main soldering mistakes for beginners are listed below.
- Improper placing of soldering iron gun
- Not keeping the iron ready when applying the gun
- Disturbed joint
- Too much soldering
- Cleaning with abrasive paper
- Not pre-tinning before soldering
- Trying to solder in the presence of oxide
- Using large gun tip for smaller joints
- Usage of simple solder guns instead of digital solder guns
- Cutting pins too short
Improper placing of soldering iron gun
This is a very basic mistake and must be avoided. Once soldering is done or when the solder gun is not in use, the person places the solder gun by mistake inappropriately, and if any object or a person’s hand comes in contact with that hot gun, then it will cause burns or any other untoward incident.
The safety of the nearby environment is also important when you are placing the gun on a table. Take care that no object is nearby (special care for any nearby wire) and the gun tip should be in the air properly, and not touching any surface. A support cast is also available in the market for placing the gun on it.
Not keeping the iron ready when applying gun
When you have heated the gun and then started to remove the solder metal for soldering, the gun will start to cool in that time interval. You have to heat the gun. So, keep the solder metal ready in your hand, before your gun has been heated. This ensures quick action of soldering.
Disturbed joint
When you are soldering a joint, due to human error in hand movement or table vibration, the joint will not be soldered properly. The solder will either spread in the unwanted area or display a ripple pattern on the joint.
This error can be reduced but not fully eliminated. Simply remove the solder and reheat the solder again. Check why the table is vibrating frequently and ensure the vibration sources are minimized.
Too much soldering
When you are soldering, a beginner makes a mistake in giving the correct proportion of the solder. Instead of less soldering, they usually make a mistake in too much soldering. So, they must learn exactly how much solder to apply. Frequent use can improvise the mistake.
Cleaning with abrasive paper
Abrasive or sandpaper is harmful to solder gun tips. The material sometimes leaves some residue on the tip, when you are cleaning the gun using that paper. So, do not use abrasive paper for cleaning the solder gun tip. The best method is to use a sponge soaked in water to clean the tip.
Not pre-tinning before soldering
Before soldering, it is always recommended to put some soldering metal on the surface before applying the actual soldering bond precisely. Doing this ensures that the next solder gets a smooth surface already and aids in bonding the joints properly. Not doing this step sometimes results in unbonded joints or the solder spreading in unwanted areas.
Trying to solder in the presence of oxide
Sometimes, the metal surfaces can have oxidation present on them. Oxidation prevents adhesion or hinders the sticking process, so it is a natural enemy of soldering. However hard you try, if the layer has oxide, then soldering will not happen. So, clean the metal to be soldered with an appropriate sponge or material, before applying a solder gun to it.
Using large gun tip for smaller joints
If the gun tip is large and your joint to be soldered is small in size, then the solder metal will spread to unwanted nearby areas and damage the overall chip integrity performance. So, avoid using large gun tip sizes for smaller joints. Appropriate tip size must be used.
Usage of simple solder guns instead of digital solder guns
This mistake is just an advanced-level category observed nowadays because digital solder guns did not exist earlier. A digital gun provides the actual temperature display of the tip, and this helps in using the gun accordingly.
Also, the metal which you are soldering needs to be known with its melting temperature. Overheating can melt the metal you are soldering, and that is a complete bug. So, if possible, try to buy digital solder guns, even though they are a bit costly.
Cutting pins too short
If the joint that you are soldering has a very little area for access, then it will be very difficult to solder them. So, the joint that you are soldering must not be trimmed so low that it makes soldering difficult.
In this way, we saw some top beginner mistakes when soldering.