[Elecraft] soldering suggestions?

[AJSOENKE at aol.com]

Robert,  From the description of the tools you have been using I wouldn't 
even guess you are a "beginner" at soldering. You've made all the right choices 
and have spent some time learning the vast range of devices that will confront 
you. The .05 chisel tip is a good choice, especially for the Elecraft devices. 
It is helpful to make sure the tip has been been wiped clean on the sponge to 
get good contact with the surface. But, it is also important that tip have a 
small amount of solder freshly applied to the tip to enhance wetting contact 
and to improve the thermal transfer to the pad/wire. Not too much, not too 
little solder to wet the tip.  A common error is to use a sponge that is too wet 
and to bury the tip in it. This chills the tip and may delay the readiness to 
solder. The three seconds is a pretty vague figure - I rather rely on the time 
it takes to cause the solder 'break and flow' causing the solder to wet the 
metal surfaces.  Since the tip may not cause the solder to flow immediately, it 
is also likely there is not a lot of heat going into the component that would 
cause damage. If you can't get the solder to flow in a reasonable time 4 - 6 
seconds or so, you may not have ggod contact and might need to apply a little 
more pressure while gently moving the tip around in a scrubbing motion. That 
has always worked for me. It helps to have a flat side of the chisel tip against 
the pad to increase the contact area with the surface. Working off the end of 
a fine tip, like you are writing with a pencil, may not provide for good heat 
transfer.  One last thing - to get solder to flow to a surface and alloy, it 
must be hot, so make sure you have contact with the pad and the wire to get 
things moving right. Avoid movement that will fracture the semi-solid solder 
yielding what is sometimes called a "cold" solder joint. The have a dull granular 
appearance. A well done solder joint will reveal the features of the wire and 
the pad (not excess solder) and will have a bright shiny appearance. Commmon 
rubbing alcohol can be used to clean the solder of flux residue if you need to 
do a close inspection, otherwise I wouldn't do it. It's often needed after 
doing a remove and replace repair, becaus eof the buildup of flux. A cotton 
q-tip can be used for a small job, but you'll get cotton fibres that need to be 
picked off. A better choice is a small swatch of cotton fabric, like a piece of 
old t-shirt. You can also use that to dry off excess. Avoid synthetic 
materials, they are good static generators and can cause ESD damage. My choice is a 
natural bristle brush. You can use an "acid-brush" with pure bristle or boar 
bristle, but not plastic. They are usually about a 1/2 inch of bristle, but I 
trim mine to less than 1/4 inch to give it a little scrubbing strength. These can 
usually be found in auto parts and tool stores. Also, you can sometimes find 
detail brushes or artists brushes that have stiff bristles - they just cost a 
little more.

Remeber this is mainly for the fine work. If you get into 12 gauge wire and 
1/4 inch terminals you'll need the 40 watt or larger iron with a 3/16 - 1/4 tip 
or the old trusty "gun".

Hope that helps.

73 de WA6VNN  Al



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