How To Solder By: Stephen Eibling

Introduction What is soldering? Steps of soldering Desoldering Prepare Materials Add piece to be soldered Heat up the contact points Add Solder Remove soldering iron Desoldering

What is soldering? Solder is a metal that liquefies after being heated for a short period, and then becomes solid again shortly after removing the heat source. It is most commonly used in ensuring connections in copper piping, as well as the main method for securing computer chips to silicon boards. While soldering copper pipes is similar to soldering parts to an electronic board, there are enough differences to warrant a separate method for each process. Therefore, this example focus on soldering chips to an electronic board.

Step 1: Prepare Materials Heat up Soldering Iron Have the materials ready to be soldered Gather any other materials Solder – Is usually supplied in long, thin coiled wire Tape – To hold parts down in place Desoldering Material – In case a mistake is made Clamps – Useful for holding the board at a certain angle or in place Wet Sponge – Useful for cleaning the tip of the soldering iron in case solder builds up on it.

Step 2: Add piece to be soldered Place piece on the board in the correct spot. Usually will be a metal pad for the pin (the little ‘feet’) of the piece to rest on Secure the piece in place, or be sure you do not move it while adding solder.

Step 3: Heat up the contact points Using the soldering iron, heat up the point of contact between the pin and the board. This step doesn’t take very long, and is sometimes combined with Step 4 to speed up the process.

Step 4: Add solder While the pin and connection point are sufficiently heated, add solder to connect the two. This is best done by touching the tip of the coiled solder between the pin and connection point. Most of the time, you should not remove the soldering iron while trying to add the solder. Note: If the solder begins to ball up on the tip of the soldering iron during this step, clean off any solder on the tip, and repeat Step 3.

Step 5: Remove the soldering iron After having the solder connect the pin to the board’s connection point, remove the soldering iron carefully, and the liquid solder should solidify.

Desoldering Desoldering is useful if you added a part in the wrong place, or you ‘bridged’ two pins or connection points. Bridging is the process of creating a path for electricity to flow that is not desired (in our case, from one pin of a chip to another directly).

Helpful Websites http://www.elexp.com/t_solder.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering http://mccworkshop.com/setup/soldering3.htm