How not to solder! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: TheBay
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 02:17:05 pm
content: Normally enjoy this guy's videos, but jeez I was cringing at the soldering on this video!Using 450c Degrees then puts a mondo tip on it and fails!, all sorts of wrong going onTL;DW till the end, he didn't get it working.Quote from: Blastcap on September 19, 2016, 04:12:20 pm

author: Blastcap
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 04:12:20 pm
content: Solder speak starts at 54:04Tip mutilation at 56:42And the soldering works starts at 57:14May be a lot more, i just scrubbed thru it very fast.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 05:21:49 pm
content: I just jumped up to the indicated time marks. Did he really clean the tip with a sanding stick? By the time he gets it over to the board it's already dulled - the high heat plus improper treatment. Scary. Will watch more later, but just that bit was incredibly cringeworthy.

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 05:38:47 pm
content: Canonical tip. I was a beginner once and used that tip and wondered why it was hard

author: bitshape
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2016, 07:41:12 pm
content: The boy needs to go back to school and learn what a solders 'wetting action' is.At least he could use a dry brasswool tip-cleaner & adding some extra flux to make his soldering much better and easier. But who am I...

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 12:08:34 am
content: "You ain't seen nothin' yet...b-b-b-baby you just aint seen nothing yet!"#CONICALSRULEWARNING: the following image may burn your eyes!My iron...you're lucky it's low res, otherwise this image would be DEADLY.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 02:58:58 am
content: "That's a good solder joint, let's zoom in" - to an obvious dry joint that never wicks through the PTH, just a blob on top of the padWhen he applies his "awesome" LF solder to the tip it doesn't properly wet it, but again just makes a blob on one side.

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 06:05:17 am
content: Quote from: helius on September 20, 2016, 02:58:58 amLead is teh debbil!!!That was painful to watch. I'll stick with my old-school Sn/Pb or Sn/Pb/Ag thanks just the same. Win-win - I'll get good solder joints, and there will be more lead-free solder for him to glob on to his projects since I won't be buying any. Perhaps he should look into some that has something more aggressive than no-clean flux.-Pat

author: alsetalokin4017
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2016, 08:04:05 am
content: Truly cringeworthy indeed.But then... who is actually going to watch 5 hours worth of blurry video anyway?

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2016, 02:55:44 pm
content: 1:12:30 is he rapping his iron on the edge of the bench like a drumstick? Doesn't his cheap Atten station use a ceramic heater?

author: elgonzo
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 05:06:12 pm
content: Did the guy just explain that water is not good for the soldering tip (i believe he refers to not liking damp sponges) while manhandling it with a steel blade (knife)?I guess i pass on watching the rest of this video...

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 05:39:55 pm
content: Quote from: bitshape on September 19, 2016, 07:41:12 pmI used a sponge since I started. A friend gave me one of those brass cleaners a few years ago and I really like it. I bought my last iron which is a PACE in April 2004. I use Kester and Multicore Solders and none of my tips are showing any signs of holes in them.

author: John Coloccia
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 05:41:09 pm
content: Wow. That's pretty bad soldering, if you can even call it that.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 05:56:10 pm
content: If you want to see bad soldering, check the pictures in this old post I made :https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/horrible-solder-job-buyer-wants-money-back-after-butchering-kit-with-his-skill/The guy removed the pictures from his blog post after they were on because they got reposted all over the net and traffic was killing his server.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 06:19:54 pm
content: Quote from: mariush on September 24, 2016, 05:56:10 pmThis may very well be the worst workmanship I have ever seen in my entire life. This is bad enough but they scam the seller. That's some ethics! I would have framed that board with the persons full info and hung it in my office!

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 24, 2016, 11:12:30 pm
content: Quote from: mariush on September 24, 2016, 05:56:10 pmI just read that thread and looked at the photos of the board.My soldering was far better when I was in sixth grade and just starting out in electronics. I don't think Icouldsolder that horrifically, even if Itriedto.-Pat

author: John Coloccia
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2016, 04:39:59 am
content: Quote from: mariush on September 24, 2016, 05:56:10 pmHe should go back to his day job restoring frescos.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 25, 2016, 10:08:42 am
content: ok, i can't watch anymoreit's a shame he's disseminating such poor advice and technique to his viewers

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2016, 09:13:28 am
content: There seems to be a trend on youtube soldering videos: the worse you are at it, the more you feel the need to create a soldering tutorial for beginners....

author: Cyberdragon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 12:01:59 am
content: Comment that the title should be changed to "please help, I don't know what I'm doing!", and leave a dislike.I think the term for these people should be "solder suckers"

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 02:14:44 am
content: The VERY FIRST thing I was taught about soldering - many years ago...DO NOT CARRY SOLDER TO THE JOINT ON THE IRON !sigh.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 03:40:26 am
content: That puts you at a cut above the average novice. Far too many of them have to be taught as a VERY FIRST thing not to pick up the iron by the hot end.The irony is that you probably have a fair degree of skill by now at carrying the solder to the joint on the iron when its appropriate to do so - e.g. drag soldering larger SMD ICsI know I can do better than that video when working with a 100W Weller soldering gun - its not my iron of choice for fine stuff, and it chews through bits unless you buy copper loaded solder, but as long as it isn't SMD, or finer than 0.1" pitch, its extremely short warmup time makes it my 'goto' iron for odd jobs. Otherwise, I've done SMD repair work on a boat rolling at anchor, using an Oryix Portasol gas iron, with a chunk of pine rosin bought in a 3rd world market dissolved in the local double distilled hooch for flux and got better results than that.Someone who's into video blogging and who has a sufficiently dry sense of humour should do a spoof 'How to Solder' video, doing TQFP drag soldering with Grandpa's coal heated iron! With a bit of practice, and more flux than Louis Rossman likes to use, it should be possible to do a nice job of it, though I suspect they'll have to stop and clean the flux fumes off the camera lens every five minutes or so.

author: Blastcap
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 02:20:20 pm
content: Quote from: Ian.M on September 27, 2016, 03:40:26 amMakes me wonder if be buys it by the barrel or so.

author: fubar.gr
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 02:38:13 pm
content: I always melt a small amount of solder on the tip before soldering.A completely "dry" tip won't make good contact with the pad/pin to be soldered and it will take a lot of time for them to warm up.If the tip is slightly "wet", you can go through solder joints really quickly and there's less risk of damaging a sensitive IC.

author: Blastcap
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 02:51:14 pm
content: We are all wetting our tips.But he is applying the bulk of the solder by melting the solder on the tip, and lets it flow over the iron on to the joint, and not applying the solder directly to the joint.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 03:08:37 pm
content: Quote from: fubar.gr on September 27, 2016, 02:38:13 pmThis is proper practice to get good thermal transfer.But there's a difference; you're adding solder with fresh flux to the joint, not solely relying on what you wetted the tip with to make the joint without even adding any additional flux to the pad & lead.SMD changes this a bit (can solely use the solder on the tip), but it still requires the leads & pads to be fluxed prior to touching them with an iron (i.e. drag soldering with a tip that has a hollow in its face).

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 04:49:51 pm
content: Quote from: Blastcap on September 27, 2016, 02:20:20 pmMe too, man, me too.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 05:06:59 pm
content: Quote from: Blastcap on September 27, 2016, 02:20:20 pmHe might.I remember him mentioning in one of his videos that it's sold in his store.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 05:07:11 pm
content: IIRC he buys it by the case from Amtech. Seehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/rossmann%27s-repair-videos-using-tons-of-liquid-flux-for-no-apparent-reason/. He's in NY so time is money + he has a swept ultrasonic cleaning tank so its cheaper to use plenty and save time than to be stingy with it and take longer.

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 06:10:21 pm
content: Yeah and he resells it.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 06:19:28 pm
content: Plus he is showing you the microscope work, where 1ml of flux will appear to be a very large lake on the board. Remember the components on the board, while looking large, are actually sub millimeter in size.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2016, 07:14:50 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on September 27, 2016, 06:19:28 pmFather Ted teaching Dougal about this...It does look disgusting the amount of flux Louis uses, the scraping of damaged pads, etc. but he himself says he is the worst at soldering in the world. I think he is just being very modest, when you realise how tiny those parts are.I would really love a decent (Tagarno?) microscope. A bit too pricey for me, so the magnified lamp or headmount loupe will have to do for now.