Soldering Process

Practice Parts

Soldering requires a higher level of hand eye coordination than many other machine shop processes, we recommend students practice on the donor boards and resistors provided need the soldering stations in the projects lab before attempting to solder their projects.

Prepare Components & Gather PPE

Use the appropriate clamps or holders to secure your components for soldering. For PCB components slightly bending the leads after the are inserted should prevent them from falling out.

Safety glasses must be worn for all following steps.

Power On the Soldering Iron

Ensure the soldering iron tip is stowed and not in contact with any stray cables. Power the solder station on and allow the soldering iron to come up to temperature before proceeding. The soldering irons have been locked to an appropriate temperature setpoint for our use and do not need to be further adjusted.

If you must get up from the table, or need to set prepare another set of components, power off the soldering iron for safety. This also ensures the longevity of the soldering iron tip.

Clean and Tin the Soldering Iron Tip

Apply a small amount of solder to the tip of the iron, then use the brass wool to scrape away and contaminates on the surface. The "tin" the soldering iron by applying a very small piece of solder to the tip. This will help conduct heat from the iron to the components.

Soldering the components

Use the Iron to heat both the component and the PCB PAD for ~1-seconds
Add solder, the components should be melting the solder, not the iron
Remove the solder, followed by the iron
Once finished be sure to power down the soldering station

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