Tips for soldering in posts in perfect 90 degrees angle - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 01:21:55 pm
content: Currently I have the problem that I bought some nice breadboard set including some posts that have to be soldered in.(Yes, could have bought it with the posts factory-installed, but decided to save some €€€ and develop some soldering skills...)https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/msg4675468/#msg4675468Problem: I have to put those posts in from one side, and flip it over to solder from the backside- which means the small posts try to flee the hot iron, and my previous attempts in affixing them resulted in some, lets say, creative angles after soldering them in.Which tricks can be applied to have thgem standing perfectly in 90 degrees? Glue them first, or so?

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 01:37:39 pm
content: I have a sacrificial breadboard (an awful aliexpress thing with very high contact resistance) that I use only as a soldering jig for exactly this kind of thing. (Don’t use a breadboard you care about, as the heat can damage it.)FYI, though ELV ships with standard square headers, those can be tough on a breadboard, and I suggest using round (machined) headers instead.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 01:44:36 pm
content: Thank you! Sometimes the solution is near ;-)I could sacrifice the old noname chinesium stuff I got in some kit, would fit perfectly for that...As I tried some other already fittted parts on the high-quality breadboard supplied by ELV, they fitted perfectly.Or do you mean that the breadboard itself gets worn out quickly by them?

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 01:57:24 pm
content: It's to late to do this, but SparkFun has a solution:https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/114What do I do? Whatever works. Unfortunately, this site does not save posts in progress, so I lost a longer previous reply. I have found a 2" machinist's vice handy (attached).* Sometimes I use a spring clothespin. Often I will spot solder one pin, then while holding the header, touch that one spot with my iron to get it vertical. Sometimes, adding a mating socket or scrap of perf board helps..*Hold the pins in the vise and shim the board until it is level. I still just solder one pin, check, and align before soldering the rest.

author: artag
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 02:05:51 pm
content: When soldering the pins to breakout boards I push them into a strip of square-pin sockets. This works best if two rows can be pushed into a single socket strip, resulting in a square frame with two fixed right-angles. I think this would work for you, too.For strips, I also just solder one or two pins first, straighten them, then solder the rest. This won't help with your problem though as they appear to be all single pins.Another possibility is to drill a block of wood with a matrix of holes. It looks as though you'd only need a scattering of holes to handle most of the items. Use a pillar drill or similar to ensure you drill the holes at 90 degrees and a scrap of protoype board to get an even spacing.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 02:16:18 pm
content: Quoteor use a bit of vero board

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 02:50:02 pm
content: Quote from: nightfire on February 19, 2023, 01:44:36 pmQuote from: nightfire on February 19, 2023, 01:44:36 pmYeah. The relatively fat square pins spread the contacts. On a top-quality breadboard (like 3M) it’ll still hold plenty well (though the contact deformation is visible, it’s still tight), but on very bad breadboards with very cheap contacts, the deformation will make it loose on smaller leads like small transistors. So I try and avoid using square pins. The downside to the round ones, aside from price (though chinesium ones are still cheap) is that they’re much more fragile — easier to bend, and will often snap if bent back.

author: Infraviolet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 09:32:02 pm
content: Using some blue tack (not sure what it is called in other countries, but it is the blue coloured reusable adhesive clay like material often used for corners of posters stuck to walls) can help keep the headers aligned once you've used something to position them, as well as a sacrifical breadboard any waste PCBs with correctly pitched through holes at useful spacing can also be used this way as an alignment jig while you solder.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 10:31:23 pm
content: Good news, I pout them on a sacrificial breadboard and managed to solder the first half of that batch. Next days I will have to buy a spare toothbrush and scrub the flux from parts where I do not want to see it...Also some nice experience of the Felder Sn100Ni+ in regard of flowing quite well in a 1mm size- I still have some simple standard Ersa 30 Watt S30 iron, which is a bit big for those parts with the standard tip.Wetting of the solder (I have the version with 3.5% Flux) was very good, and some limited amount of splatter.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 19, 2023, 11:40:54 pm
content: I believe ZEP cleaning products are sold in Germany. Find ZEP "heavy duty floor stripper." Dilute it 1 part ZEP with 2 parts DI or other clean water. Ultrasonic for 2 minutes, rinse, then ultrasonic for 2 minutes with DI/distilled water. You will be surprised. I was.The ZEP formula is chemically the same as Kester's water-based flux-remover formulas, including the presence of a "saponifier." Can you use a higher dilution? I don't know, as ZEP is relatively cheap in the US. My guess is, probably.Can it be used for spot cleaning with a brush, probably. I have not tried that. If I were to do that, I might try a 1:1 mixture for a start.I used to use absolute ethanol + 25% acetone. I have not used that since for cleaning a whole board in over 2 years. For spot cleaning, that is what I use, as it is cheap to me and is fast.

author: nightfire
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2023, 09:30:05 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on February 19, 2023, 11:40:54 pmAbsolute as in 99,9 % ethanol, orwww.absolut.com/?Here in germany due to taxation ethanol is very expensive, let alone in a purity that does not introduce other unwanted dirt. Denaturated ethanol in somewhere between 94%-96% can be bought for under 10 € a liter (quarter of a gallon), but the stuff whats in it smells very nasty.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2023, 10:11:50 pm
content: Ethanol is expensive here too. Common untaxed denatured ethanol, which used to be mostly ethanol is today about 50% methanol. Ethanol (absolute) and methanol have quite different solvent properties. The former is actually a good solvent for fats while being miscible in water. I inherited gallons of absolute ethanol and have not abused its use. I prefer it mixed with a little acetone to IPA for spot cleaning.ZEP floor stripper is quite cheap. The key to its effectiveness are inclusion of cellosolves and a little ethanolamine, which is basically the composition of Kester water-based flux remover. Quite a while ago, I went on a search for something better than my ethanol and got at "retail" prices some low molecular weight cellosolves thinking they needed to evaporate. Then, once I realized that boards with solder mask are highly hydrophobic, I dropped that research and adopted stuff like butyl cellosolve and ZEP. I use compressed air to blow off excess solvent after cleaning. With a water-based cleaner, there is almost no water left on the board after rinsing in water.My kitchen and bath floors are a linoleum-like product. I use ZEP stipper every year or so to strip them, so it was nothing I had to buy specially to remove flux. It's around $13 to $14/gallon at big box storesTo say the least, I was extremely skeptical until I tried it.

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2023, 01:47:18 am
content: Here's a scheme I use on some of my boards. Drop the pins into the board. Then, place a book over the board and flip the stack over, being careful to not separate board from book. Place book on table. Now, push board to one side until pins slide on book. Then, release pressure on side, and board should rock back until pins are square to board. Solder all pins, then flip board over and check for any pins that are not square. This usually works better than 95%.Jon