NEWBIE Needs Help Soldering!!
- Thread starter mpireone
- Start date
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csshih
Flashlight Enthusiast
try sanding the terminals, and dont forget to tin the iron, use flux, etc.
I'm sure a better member will post something better soon.
Welcome to CPF!
I'm sure a better member will post something better soon.
Welcome to CPF!
bshanahan14rulz
Flashlight Enthusiast
you need:
clean parts
electrical solder (none of that stuff use with torches or anything)
leads must be hot too. hot solder doesn't stick to cold metal.
that's the bare minimum.
Now, let your iron heat up. once it is hot, tin the tip either with tip tinning compound or some solder. wipe the excess off with a wet sponge. I use a paper towel folded over on itself enough to keep me from burning my fingers.
Now, arrange what you want to solder and touch the soldering iron tip to the joint. this will heat up the parts getting them ready to be soldered. You shouldn't need to hold it on there more than a second before applying solder. Try to see if the joint will melt the solder. If not, you can still melt it on the soldering iron tip as close to the place where it is touching the joint as you can get it. the solder should flow between gaps via capillary action, i guess.
if you are having trouble, let the parts cool back down. you don't want to damage that nice new $10 emitter.
You will know when you have done it right, the solder will pretty much work for you. I reflowed a cree xp-e to an 8mm round board. the xp-e is only 3 or 4 mm^2. I dropped that led on the melted tinned contact pads crooked by mistake, but wouldn't you know it, the dern'd thing oriented itself.
Anyways, try practicing on some wire or something first. solder is cheap. LEDs, not so much.
clean parts
electrical solder (none of that stuff use with torches or anything)
leads must be hot too. hot solder doesn't stick to cold metal.
that's the bare minimum.
Now, let your iron heat up. once it is hot, tin the tip either with tip tinning compound or some solder. wipe the excess off with a wet sponge. I use a paper towel folded over on itself enough to keep me from burning my fingers.
Now, arrange what you want to solder and touch the soldering iron tip to the joint. this will heat up the parts getting them ready to be soldered. You shouldn't need to hold it on there more than a second before applying solder. Try to see if the joint will melt the solder. If not, you can still melt it on the soldering iron tip as close to the place where it is touching the joint as you can get it. the solder should flow between gaps via capillary action, i guess.
if you are having trouble, let the parts cool back down. you don't want to damage that nice new $10 emitter.
You will know when you have done it right, the solder will pretty much work for you. I reflowed a cree xp-e to an 8mm round board. the xp-e is only 3 or 4 mm^2. I dropped that led on the melted tinned contact pads crooked by mistake, but wouldn't you know it, the dern'd thing oriented itself.
Anyways, try practicing on some wire or something first. solder is cheap. LEDs, not so much.
JamisonM
Enlightened
mpireone, flux is the secret sauce that makes soldering possible. BTW jason 77, where can I get some of that?This is the Flux I use,
MWClint
Enlightened
home depot and lowes both carry solder paste flux for a couple bucks.
it should be in the aisle where they keep the solder/gas torch accessories.
JamisonM
Enlightened
I haven't been to lowes or home depot, but all the hardwares store nearby only carry acid flux. I'll see if I can't get to one of them and see what they have.
jasonck08
Flashlight Enthusiast
Strange... It should work.
Did you scratch up the parts good with sandpaper? What wattage of soldering iron are you using? Maybe its not getting hot enough to be effective?
Also doesn't flux just help the solder melt quicker? Or does it do something else too?
Did you scratch up the parts good with sandpaper? What wattage of soldering iron are you using? Maybe its not getting hot enough to be effective?
Also doesn't flux just help the solder melt quicker? Or does it do something else too?
old4570
Flashlight Enthusiast
Flux Cored Solder .
Make sure the tip of the wire is pre-soldered , then just gently press the soldering iron onto the top of the wire when its held in the correct place and watch for the solder to melt as soon as the solder melts pull the iron off and cool the board , Viola , !!
Also make sure the iron is hot enough , IE , melts solder on contact .
:thumbsup:
Also , dep on what your trying to solder , you may want to pre solder that as well ...... Hope this helps !
Make sure the tip of the wire is pre-soldered , then just gently press the soldering iron onto the top of the wire when its held in the correct place and watch for the solder to melt as soon as the solder melts pull the iron off and cool the board , Viola , !!
Also make sure the iron is hot enough , IE , melts solder on contact .
:thumbsup:
Also , dep on what your trying to solder , you may want to pre solder that as well ...... Hope this helps !
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What are you using for an iron?
Is it a bare cree, or on a MCPCB? Is it also mounted to an additional heatsink?
When I first started soldering these things I was so worried about overheating the emitter that I was having bad results. I have since learned they are pretty robust. A good hot iron and a clean surfaces as others have said, and it takes me around 3-5 seconds to get the solder to flow nicely.
What are you using for solder?
olrac
Flashlight Enthusiast
A question, what are you trying to solder it to, is it a compatible metal? If it's aluminum that could be your problem, if it is compatible is the piece a larger mass, meaning it will take a lot longer to heat the area you are soldering to, if that is the case you might want to preheat that area first than solder the emitter to it so you don't throw too much heat into the small area of the emitter.
Never mind
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Just google it... thousands of links will come up... or as mentioned Lowes, home depot, ace, fry's, radio shack should all have some form of flux...
blasterman
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2008
- Messages
- 1,802
I was a beginner to soldering before I started screwing around making my own LED projects a year ago. There were a few basics I was screwing up and causing frustration, and after I figured them out things went *much* easier.
I don't use flux.
(1) A good iron is essential. 40-watt minimum - should be hot enough so that when it touches even a thick solder joint it liquifies instantly. I was using cheap 30-watt radioshack irons and they sucked. If your soldering iron requires you to hold it against the solder and you have to wait for it to melt, or the solder only turns mushy, then it sucks. Friend of mine loaned me a 40-watt Weller, and it's night and day. The Weller will liquify even thick solder, or solder pads on a star on a heatsink *on contact*. This alone made things 1000x easier.
(2) Tin the wire first. You guys can use flux if you want, but once I started using a good iron I didn't have a problem. I just hold solder, wire and iron tip together and get a good coating of solder on the wire first. Then, all you have to do is tap the wire against the LED contacts withe the iron tip and it should stick on contact. Again, if your soldering iron sucks, this will be a pain.
(3) Use thin solder wire. The stuff at Home Depot is usually meant for copper plumbing, a propane torch, and a handiman called 'chuck'. Usually it's too thick for electronic work, or just drips all over the place. I use much thinner solder sold at electronic stores, and it heats much faster and is more workable. Again, if you have a crappy soldering iron it might not even melt the thicker stuff because it transfers heat away too quickly.
I don't use flux.
(1) A good iron is essential. 40-watt minimum - should be hot enough so that when it touches even a thick solder joint it liquifies instantly. I was using cheap 30-watt radioshack irons and they sucked. If your soldering iron requires you to hold it against the solder and you have to wait for it to melt, or the solder only turns mushy, then it sucks. Friend of mine loaned me a 40-watt Weller, and it's night and day. The Weller will liquify even thick solder, or solder pads on a star on a heatsink *on contact*. This alone made things 1000x easier.
(2) Tin the wire first. You guys can use flux if you want, but once I started using a good iron I didn't have a problem. I just hold solder, wire and iron tip together and get a good coating of solder on the wire first. Then, all you have to do is tap the wire against the LED contacts withe the iron tip and it should stick on contact. Again, if your soldering iron sucks, this will be a pain.
(3) Use thin solder wire. The stuff at Home Depot is usually meant for copper plumbing, a propane torch, and a handiman called 'chuck'. Usually it's too thick for electronic work, or just drips all over the place. I use much thinner solder sold at electronic stores, and it heats much faster and is more workable. Again, if you have a crappy soldering iron it might not even melt the thicker stuff because it transfers heat away too quickly.
Anglepoise
Flashlight Enthusiast
Recently I was in a situation that I needed to upgrade my soldering skills.
I have always used 60/40 multi core solder with the horrible sticky brown flux. It worked but fellow member Georges80 has this to say on the situation
Now after talking to him, he sent me a link with his suggestions that I might consider.
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/4800-0058/
and for another interesting prospective,
http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=13&pagestring=Solder+vs.+Crimped
I have always used 60/40 multi core solder with the horrible sticky brown flux. It worked but fellow member Georges80 has this to say on the situation
Now after talking to him, he sent me a link with his suggestions that I might consider.
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/product/4800-0058/
and for another interesting prospective,
http://www.cardas.com/content.php?area=insights&content_id=13&pagestring=Solder+vs.+Crimped
