Quick check:  When did you solder last time? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 04:49:36 pm
content: Trying to figure out how much practicing is still happening.

author: nfmax
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 09:01:00 pm
content: This afternoon: well, de-soldering anyway. Fixing an air conditioner controller. A light-emitting diode has turned into a darkness-emitting resistor. Replacement ordered…

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 09:24:54 pm
content: This morning, putting an SMA connector on a radio reference clock adaptor. Also yesterday, working on a prototype BPSK modulator.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 10:39:52 pm
content: I probably solder 20-30 times a year on one task or another. But some of those times are multi-day events, so maybe 25-50 days a year. And this poll hit when it has been a few weeks doing non-soldering kind of things so you got less than a month but more than a week for the answer. Just a warning on how a poll and/or statistics can give funny results. That sort of stuff would even out if you had thousands of responses, but I doubt you will get even into four digit territory.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 10:49:03 pm
content: Between 6-12 months ago.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 10:55:33 pm
content: https://www.3dcircuitry.org/post/the-evolution-of-soldering-tracing-the-roots-of-this-timeless-crafthttp://www.weldinghistory.org/whfolder/folder/bhpre1900.html

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2025, 10:57:36 pm
content: someone should make a popular python library called soldering so people can show me they know how to use solderyou know how to use solder?and they askwhich release?kester's latest.Where is the github?

author: brucehoult
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 12:54:56 am
content: Not very frequently, but .. maybe a month ago I put header pins on a nanoCH32V003 board. Sometime soon I'm going to assemble a couple of cables to go from a small 20W solar panel (actually a pair of them) to one of those cheap PWM controllers (Temu kit...) and thence to charge my motorcycle battery .. need to connect to a Hella/DIN/BMW plug to the motorcycle accessory socket. Some inline fuses will be involved, a switch between the panels and the controller. Need to cut and join some premade cables. Some mix of crimping and soldering and heatshrink there. I had the bits for a while but didn't find my Round Tuit. Also have an Olimex RVPC kit to build when the fancy takes me the MCU is an SMC part, fortunately only SOIC-8.So yeah .. it's not every day, but I do know where my soldering iron is :-)

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 01:33:54 am
content: A few hours ago, doing some repair.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 04:12:12 am
content: Your poll is missing an option.My answer is that I solder often enough that I can't remember the last time specifically because it is an ordinary event that doesn't stand out. Tommorrow I have to solder some caps onto large and corroded copper pipes using my new portable oxy-acetylene torch. Hopefully a year from now I won't remember anything about that either.

author: Grandchuck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 12:44:41 pm
content: Two days ago.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 12:52:57 pm
content: I soldered this weekend. It wasn't electronics related, but plumbing. I repaired a copper pipe on my dad's gardern pump spray. My nephews broke it in half and I soldered it back together. It was a difficult job, because my iron isn't powerful enough. After the first attempt which failed, I pre-heated on the gas cooker, which was sucessful. I used lead-free solder, which made it more difficult.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 02:06:25 pm
content: This weekend actually.Just a few pin headers on my own boards.But usually it comes in bursts, and I can go weeks to months without soldering if I don't have a project. I juggle between hardware and software projects, typically taking a fair chunk of time with firmware projects too. And its far easier/cheaper to just get a devboard, some modules and dupont wires these days to prototype many things.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 04:02:14 pm
content: On Sunday I took my Logitech G300 mouse apart and swapped the switches around because button 1 was failing.I did not want to unpackage my spare G300, and I think I should buy some more spares.Update: Huh, Logitech G300s mice are now $120, which is 6 times what I paid for my last ones. I guess it is time to standardize on a new mouse, or buy some replacement microswitches.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 04:28:54 pm
content: I solder almost every day at work.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 05:51:54 pm
content: Don't know for G300 switches, but for most of the other mouse models, any microswitch from some other random mouse model would do it, even the dirt cheap ones. Most of the mechanical touch feel and sound are given by the mouse enclosure, and only little of that is dictated by the microswitch mechanics itself.

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 06:08:31 pm
content: Two wire-ends a couple weeks ago.

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 09:33:46 pm
content: ...today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday.Today's was different as I only soldered a 470R 1/4W resistor to crocodile clips to test some 5V1 Zener diodes in series with it (thus avoiding soldering them to it).[currently 3 batches x 100 diodes tested at 5V and only 5 => 4.8V, none reaching the deemed good 4.85V]

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 11:07:52 pm
content: Quote from: bdunham7 on July 21, 2025, 04:12:12 amSo it wasn't today or yesterday then? Surely you should be able to remember what you did within the past 24h.If you can't remember there is a specific option for you: "Can't remember, or very long time ago (say when in the comments)". No one is expecting you to remember daily events from a year ago.

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2025, 11:38:04 pm
content: Quote from: bdunham7 on July 21, 2025, 04:12:12 amLike this?

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 03:40:28 pm
content: Quote from: thm_w on July 21, 2025, 11:07:52 pmI remember what I had for breakfast this morning but not what I had for lunch yesterday. I have soldering equipment and solder on my workbench ready to go. If I need to solder something small like a test lead or connector, it takes less time and effort than making a sandwich so it isn't usually a memorable event.

author: Kasper
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 03:54:56 pm
content: A couple months ago, I replaced a 5V SMPS in my truck with a hot air station. A couple months before that, thru hole headers on some boards where JLC soldered the SMT.Most of my soldering is to fix mistakes in my designs. Seems fair: when I fail at design work, I demote to production work.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 04:36:06 pm
content: Quote from: ledtester on July 21, 2025, 11:38:04 pmYou should sell this as a novel water purifying solution. I bet it will sell as hot cakes.

author: xvr
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 05:34:02 pm
content: Last week - this one (using hand soldering iron)Yesterday - This (using a hot plate, stencil and solder paste)

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 05:37:46 pm
content: Quote from: RoGeorge on July 21, 2025, 05:51:54 pmThe G300s has 4 of one type of microswitch for the 4 auxiliary buttons and 2 of another type of microswitch for the 2 main buttons, and the microswitch for the index finger, mouse button 1, always fails first. This is not the first time this has happened. These switches are all functionally compatible and I do not know why they use two different types. I assume there is some difference in the click or force.I ended up swapping both main switches for 2 of the auxiliary switches, which is what I did last time. First I confirmed that the problem was not a cracked solder joint by resoldering the joints about a week earlier.Last time the mouse wore out in other ways before I had to swap or replace the switches again, and in retrospect maybe I should have kept it for spare parts.I found no replacements for this discontinued mouse. I have started compiling a list of replacement switches as others have reported the same problem.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 06:44:12 pm
content: Quote from: xvr on July 22, 2025, 05:34:02 pmJust some constructive feedback: on both of those boards, the joints have too much solder — ranging from “a bit too much” to “vastly too much”. Solder joints should have a concave shape, not convex. (The fine-pitch QFP and SSOP on the first board look OK. But the SOIC chips and all the passives have way too much. The QFN on the second board also has too much. A “PLCC knife” soldering iron tip can be used to get in there and pull away excess solder, after applying flux liberally.)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2025, 09:03:24 pm
content: you can look at this documenthttps://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/NASA-STD-8739-2.pdf(lower half of document)if you are getting too much it usually means you need more flux, thinner solder and a smaller iron tip. Fortunately for prototyping too much does not really hurt anything, too little can break. but eventually at some point if you really load on the solder you would weaken the joint, and its possibly a indicator chips are being roastedI think prototypes often look like this because... not many people want to buy 0.35mm solder spools and switch tips several times during board soldering. and it can be hard to measure without using magnification. I think its fairly streneous workThe one that bugs me is parts that are not level. Nasa accepts 25%. I am bothered when its even 10%. Nothing looks worse then tilted components. Tilt makes it alot weaker because solder joints have like a range of how big the seeparation is before they start to get really weak.