Electronics and Robotics LLC
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Reference the figure below for all of the basics of proper soldering. Please read all of
the captions before continuing.
When soldering, use the area just before the tip of the iron. This will increase the
surface area and therefore heat transfer. Apply this area of to the junction of the
component lead and the applicable circuit board pad. Solder should be applied to
the opposite side of the lead/pad junction rather than the iron to insure the solder
bonds properly. Solder will flow towards the heat. Applying solder to the tip will result
in solder flowing just into the tip. By applying it to the opposite side, it will flow
through the joint. The end result of the solder joint should resemble a Hersey’s Kiss (as
shown in Figure 2 A), as opposed to B)-D). Joint E) is reflective of too much solder,
requiring reworking to fix the unintended short. Fluxing the short and dragging the
iron between the pins often fixes the short. If the problem still persists use solder
braid to wick away excess solder.
Desoldering
Trim the wick so that it is pristine. Then flux it and the joint in question. Apply the
fluxed braid to the joint, and place the soldering iron tip on top. The braid will wick
away excess solder. From the joint.
Figure 2: DOs and DON'Ts of soldering (Source SparkFun.com)
