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XC3754 Soldering Guide
It’s important to make sure that the solder joint is good while you make them, as they
can be difficult to track down once you have built the circuit and you’re trying to find a
reason it doesn’t work as expected. Below are 3 types of solder joints; what you’re
looking for is a nice “volcano” shape, with the solder concaved inwards, rather than
bubbling outwards. It should also appear fairly shiny if it’s a good clean joint.
Once you have done one LED, congratulations! Trim the legs a little neater if you want.
You can have a go of trying the other LEDs, remembering what we’ve discussed:
The longer leg must fit in the hole away from the flat marking.
Bend the leads so that the LED doesn’t move.
Snip the leas so the heat is close to the joint (and not heating the whole leg)
Apply Iron from one side, solder from the other
Aim to heat for 2 seconds max. (count while you’re heating)
Shiny volcano shape. Re-touch if needed but try not to touch too much.
If you find that you can’t get a shiny joint, you
might have to clean any pads and legs you’re
soldering, and get some fresh solder. Most, if not
all solder should have some amount of flux in it,
which helps remove dirt from the joint and give it
that shiny look via a protective flux cover. We also
sell flux pens (NS3036) which can help if you’re
soldering some older or dirtier electronics, but you
won’t need it in this kit.
Once you’ve done the one, you can follow through
and do the rest of them in an alternative fashion as
shown to the right.
Next up we’ll do the resistors.
