Plain Physics Hub

Soldering for Beginners

[shadyflygon-blog]

Soldering Techniques: Laser Soldering

Laser soldering is a relatively new technique that has the potential to replace regular soldering. In the laser technique, a laser beam is used to illuminate leads which then emits heat and raises the temperature of the material to melting point. At this stage, solder is applied, melts and seals joints, crack and holes within or along the leads. The main differences between laser and regular soldering include;

Heating

Regular soldering uses soldering iron, torches or guns to heat the surface and the tips. However, laser soldering makes uses of laser beams to illuminate the leads. The illuminated section of the lead heat up and transfer the heat to the rest of the component. This is carried on until the leads reach melting point. Once this temperature is achieved, solder is applied to the contact point, melts and flows into the joints. It is less messy than the regular soldering process.

Equipment

While the regular soldering process makes use of soldering irons and torches, a laser soldering device is required for laser soldering. This is a high precision device that blasts the laser ray required to illuminate the leads. These are still relatively uncommon but may become the mainstream soldering equipment in the near future.

Heat transfer vs heat emission

In regular soldering, heat is transferred to the leads using tools such as a soldering iron. However, in laser soldering, a single point is illuminated and emits heat that is then transferred to the rest of the lead. These methods have their own shortcomings and advantages when compared. However, laser soldering though still expensive is catching up to regular soldering and may soon be the main soldering technique.

[shadyflygon-blog]

Soldering Kit Accessories: Soldering Tinner

Soldering tinner is a cleaning agent for use with work-pieces, soldering tips and other soldering items. The tinner is relatively acidic and thus helps remove residue from an iron tip and to reduce or prevent oxidation of metals within the soldering process. Depending on the specific manufacturer, soldering tinner may come in different packaging sizes, slight component differences and also slight pricing differences.

The working of a tip tinner is relatively simple. Once an iron tip is coated with unwanted material, mostly solder from operations, it is dipped into the tinner at the temperature normally attained during soldering. Due to its reducing characteristics, the tinner will stick to the tip of the iron thus forming a bright and shiny surface and removing all other unwanted material. Tinners, unlike a wide range of other soldering pastes are almost hazard-free and present very few if any personal risks.

Tinning becomes necessary since most tips often come covered with iron-plated copper. Through the accumulation of solder, this tip becomes covered in other elements and thus obstructs the manufacturer’s tinning. This is why it becomes important to have a means of re-tinning. The tinner thus becomes a handy tool. If left unattended, a damaged tip may still solder but will develop soldering joints with poor structural rigidity. Tinners are readily available from hardware stores, online stores and general electronics stores. The price for the same is also relatively low. There aren’t many differences in the chemical compositions of tinners from different manufacturers and thus quality is always more or less the same across different brands. Among soldering accessories this definitely among the must-have ones.

[shadyflygon-blog]

Soldering Kit Accessories: Soldering Wick

A soldering wick is a handy tool when it comes to undoing a piece of soldering. It is also commonly referred to as a desoldering braid. In most instances, a soldering wick involves a copper wire coated with flux, mostly natural rosin. The desoldering wick usually comes in a roll though rare varieties may come in different configurations.

Using a desoldering wick is relatively straightforward. The braid is unrolled to a reasonable level; enough to cover the length of solder being unsoldered. After holding the wick in place, a hot soldering iron is placed over the wick above the solder. The iron is held in place until the solder melts. Once this happens, the molten solder is absorbed by the copper wick through a process known as capillary action. Once all of the solder is removed from the work-piece, the wick is removed and the part with the solder is cut off from the braid. The surface is then again ready for resoldering or other activity.

It is necessary to regulate the heat levels especially when desoldering components from printed circuit boards. These have very small and sensitive tools that are prone to damage at high temperatures. The above-described technique may vary slightly depending on the soldering method that was used to get the solder in place initially. Through-hole soldered components may require a variation of the technique applied to a surface-mount solder. Among the desoldering methods available, use of a soldering braid is perhaps the most effective and simple one. Solder wicks are also cheap and available tools making the method very cost-effective too. However, the braid makes use of special copper, often 18-42 AWG copper. This has different melting, absorption and heating characteristics as compared to regular copper.