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Basics of soldering

Before engaging in your first soldering task, it is important to understand various basics of soldering. This includes learning about the tools needed, types of soldering irons, solder and the soldering process. Soldering, in its most basic form is the process of joining metal items by putting metal filler between them. This metal filler is known as solder and is often an alloy of two or more metals. The alloy is designed to have a melting point that is lower than that of the components it joins. Without this characteristic, the work-pieces would probably be damaged by the solder or even before the solder effectively binds them.

Types of soldering irons

There are five types of soldering irons. However, most tend to fall within the definitions of five major classes. These include regular soldering irons, soldering torches, soldering guns, soldering stations and digital soldering irons. The most common are the regular soldering irons.

Buying a soldering kit

When buying a soldering kit, the decision should be influenced by a variety of factors. These include the tips, grip, thermostat, wattage and type. For starters, a good soldering iron should have a tip kit containing at least three tips.

Importance of a soldering kit

There are very many instances in which soldering skills and more importantly soldering equipment becomes necessary. These include minor electrical repair or modification problem. The second is minor repairs in plumbing. In art, the skill is applied in creation of sculptures, repair of musical instruments and the making of jewelry.  

Types of solder

Depending on the type of work and desired outcomes, one can choose from a wide range of solder. The most common include lead-free solder, rosin-coated solder, lead solder, flux-core solder and hard solder.

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Buying a good soldering kit

A soldering kit contains various items and tools necessary for carrying out activities involving a soldering iron. It is in essence an all-in-one kit for all soldering needs and eliminated the need to buy individual tools and items. A good soldering kit has to meet certain criteria.

Value for money

Notice I did not say price but value for money. There is a notion that cheap becomes expensive in the long run. This is probably due to the compromises made to quality to come up with the low price levels for cheap products. However, in the modern day and age, companies have learnt to benefit in maximum from their brand names and customer base. Therefore, at times high prices do not necessarily reflect high quality but rather brand perception. When buying a soldering kit therefore, it is important to find one that balances on acceptable quality for the price charged.

Range of components

Different soldering kits contain varying components. Needless to say, the more there is in the package, the better the kit is. A good soldering kit should contain a soldering iron, a cleaning pad, at least three tips, a user manual and one additional item depending on the manufacturer. More advanced kits contain digital temperature control interfaces and preference setting input.

Brand name

Companies really indulge in efforts to ensure that their brand names improve with time. This helps improve their customer base due to loyalty. Well established companies are usually safer bets to go with in the purchase of a soldering kit die to their tried and tested quality. However, there is a downside to this in that old companies tend to ride on their reputation and may therefore afford to lower product quality and still maintain revenue levels.

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How to desolder

Soldering may often end up with mistakes usually involving joining work-pieces that should not have been joined. How do you undo this? The process is called desoldering. This is basically the reverse of soldering and involves removing dried-up solder from a soldered work-piece. For this, one needs a soldering iron kit, desoldering braid or a solder sucker depending on the preferred method.

Using a desoldering braid

Place the desoldering braid on the solder you wish to get rid of. Prepare the soldering iron and once hot place on top of the desoldering braid. This will melt the solder and after a while remove it. Once this is done, it might be necessary to clean up the surface depending on the presence of residue, especially resin residue. This is easily done using readily-available resin-removal tools and agents. It is necessary to note that this method should be applied using a low wattage soldering iron since high wattage will most probably damage components within the work-piece especially if it is a circuit board. The soldering braid is alternatively known as a soldering wick.

Using a solder sucker

This is a simple tool that essentially sucks the solder from a work-piece. The process involves pushing the solder sucker into the solder, melting it and then pushing the plunger to suck the molten solder. This may however need to be repeated several times to eliminate the solder completely. The methods work effectively and the choice between any one of them is entirely influenced by personal factors. However, it is important to understand the basics of soldering before learning how to unsolder. Like in using a desoldering wick, it may be necessary to remove resin residue from the surface. The most common solution is 000 steel wool.