soldering

[Lord Maul]

when the tip is hot rub it on a wet sponge. that cleans it. do that every time you use it
don't file it, that will just screw it up more

[xwingband]

the iron im using is a hot iron and the tip is pretty bad all black and crusted ive tried filling it off and sometimes it seems to help but its getting progressively worse do you have any tips

Well, my tip would be to try a new tip, lol.

Filing is okay, but that's not going to help the source of the problem. If you properly "tin" your tip it will last 10x longer and the solder will flow a lot easier.

By tinning I mean this: when you first get it you should when you're done lay some solder on the tip and coat it evenly with a thin layer. If you are sure to do this each and every time the rest of the tip will look like crap but the end of the tip will be nice and silver due to the layer of solder on it.

[Jonitus]

Here's how I have always soldered the wires to the LED:

With a hot iron, get a bit of solder on the tip of the iron

Touch the tip to the solder pad on the LED to get it to flow to what's already there

Flatten out the wire you wish to solder to the pad

Tin the wire with what's left on the tip of the iron

Place the tinned, flattened wire to the solder bad

Put the tip of the iron on the top of the wire and the heat should cause the solder underneath to melt and encase the tinned wire

Remove tip and the joint should solidify...nice and shiny...the sign of a good joint



You may have to hold the tinned wire in place to do this. I use a set of insulated needle-nose pliers if need be.

[neophyl]

Another little 'tip', if you twist normal stranded wire it acts as a wick and draws solder into it. This is especially useful when tinning the wire in preperation to soldering it to the pad.

So to recap,
1. tin soldering iron tip
2. tin the wire you want to join
3, tin the pad
4. hold the wire and pad together and apply the soldering iron letting the pre-tinned parts heat and the solder flow together.

Properly tinned parts dont really need any extra solder applied at the time of joining.

[Firebird21]

I know this is in here some where however when I do a seach Im not finding it ...

Is this what you're talking about?

I'm far from the best at soldering but it gets the point across.

[xwingband]

Short and sweet recap!

That's about it. If you don't have the skill tinning every part is your friend!

I only tin on really difficult joints, but sometimes even me (a relative youngin') doesn't have the steady hands to apply the solder all at once.

[shaas0927]

thanks for all the help guys

[jjshumpert]

it may just be the years ive been working with electronics and soldering, but i have no trouble making my connections to the led without adding solder in most cases. what i do is measure out 22 gauge wire to the length i need, set the tip of my iron to the pads on the led pcb, and when the solder flows i pull the iron and set the wire to it quickly, and then set the iron on top of the wire i just set to press it firmly into my solder pool. a few seconds after removing the iron the solder sets and the wire is locked in place. the trick to getting this to work is going to michaels or hobby lobby and looking in the woodburning section for a pack of various shape replacement tips. i use a tip that has a needle point and is bent slightly, which works great for getting into small spaces... hope thats of some help