Upload: TWT #13

Hello everyone!

Today I uploaded episode 13 which is a two part episode of TWT, I haven't been posting much on here as it doesn't seem to have a very large audience. (So far only a google search bot seems to pop by).

The episode was a soldering basics episode. I briefly went over how to solder and the information required.

Whenever I create an episode like this I generally work from a script, so I figured for fun I will also post the script for the episode here as well! The videos are linked after the script or you can click HERE for Part one, or HERE for Part two!
TWT13 Soldering Basics
Hello everyone, today’s episode is about Soldering Basics.
If you’re new to electronics you may not know exactly what soldering is. So let’s define soldering.

Soldering is the process in which a component is joined together with a circuit board, wire or another component, by melting a filler metal known as solder to make a solid connection.

This filler metal’s melting point is much lower than the melting point of the metal used for the component’s leads or the pads of the circuit board. 
Solder:
The solder itself is one of the most important components of soldering. In electronics there are two common types of solder, leaded solder, primarily used by hobbyists, and lead free solder, which is used primarily in consumer electronics. Lead free is also used whenever components will come in contact with humans or food, such as wearables, cakes, gingerbread houses, etc.
Each type of solder has advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages to leaded solder are that it requires much less heat due to its low melting point. This means that it is very easy to make a good and properly wetted joint with minimal effort the melting point of leaded solder ranges from 183°C - 188°C. The main disadvantage is that it contains lead.
Advantages for lead-free solder are that it does not contain lead and newer lead free alloys don’t require quite as much heat to melt as older versions did. The main disadvantage to lead free is its poor wetting properties, this means that joints require the application of additional flux, and in turn additional cleaning of a PCB, it also requires much higher temperatures, 217°C – 227 °C to reach its melting point.

Soldering Irons:
There are numerous types of soldering irons available, however the most common will be the fixed temperature variety. These soldering irons generally run without any sort of temperature setting, they are adequate for small or infrequent soldering projects, the inability to control temperature is their biggest downfall, as well as the lack of thermal cut off that most of the inexpensive ones exhibit, generally resulting in very short tip life. 
A variable temperature soldering iron allows you to change the temperature based on the components and solder you are working with. Generally you want the temperature at a medium point, you can usually hone in the temperature by applying a bit of fresh solder to the tip, if it sputters and spits solder and produces a lot of smoke then your iron temperature is set too high. Ideally there will be very little smoke and no spitting or sputtering from the solder. 
 
Iron tips:
There are a variety of soldering iron tips available, the two most common will be the conical tip, also called Pencil tip, and identified as shape B  or shape I by some manufacturers. This tip is often included with a soldering iron and can be very effective as it can solder a joint from almost any angle.

The other common type is wedge tip, or shape D, these tips have two soldering point options you can use the face of the wedge or the line/tip of the wedge. For desoldering or soldering onto ground planes the face will be a big advantage as it allows for a larger contact area between the tip and the solder. The tip or line of the wedge can be used to solder smaller components such as SMD or to heat the leg of a through-hole component while the face heats the pad.
There is much debate online about whether the pencil or the wedge is better. In the end it doesn’t matter which you use, so long as you are comfortable with whichever you choose.



 

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