[Elecraft] Circuit Board Soldering Question

[Don Wilhelm]

Dennie,

There are advocates of both methods, and each have their own advantages.

I admit that I am a 'parts stuffer'.  I put in several parts (bend the leads
in or out a bit to hold them in) and then turn the board over and solder -
as I clip the leads, I inspect each joint - if I find any that are not
soldered, I solder it before clipping the lead.  I can tell by tapping the
lead with the tip of the cutters whether it is soldered or not (that comes
with years of construction experience).  The big advantage to this method is
that if I should put a part into the wrong holes, I will find it before I
solder it in - I continuously scan the previously installed parts as I put
another one in - yes, I do occasionally find one misplaced.

Others feel the one part at a time approach is better.  You concentrate on
only one part at a time, and soldering misses will be rare - but I find it
time consuming, and it requires flipping the board over for each part.  For
a kit like the K2, that is a lot of board flips.

Your choice should depend on your confidence level and whichever makes you
more comfortable.  Start on the Front Panel board like the manual says, and
try both methods.  By the time you are ready to start on the Control Board
you should know which works best for you.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message -----
One question though; In the manual the instructions say to insert several
components and then solder all of them at once. After building several other
projects I have found that placing one piece and then soldering it seems to
work better and stop mistakes. My question, is there any reason for not
doing it this way?