How to solder

Soldering is the act of making a joint between two

metals. This is done by heating up the junction
between the metals using a soldering iron and
then melting solder into it. The solder flows
between the two metals, joining them and then
sets when the heat source is removed to leave a
good physically and electrically stable joint.
A typical soldering setup is shown in Figure 1. It
shows a soldering iron and stand, the sponge used
to clean the iron, a set of tools commonly used
when soldering, a water bottle, some solder and
some stripboard/Veroboard.

Figure 1

Before beginning to solder, the sponge in the stand should be dampened by the water. This prevents the
sponge from burning when the tip of the soldering iron is cleaned and also helps with cleaning the tip.
(See Figure 2).
Figure 3 shows a small selection of components commonly used - ICs, resistors, capacitors and LEDs of
varying sizes.
For ICs, its always wise to use a chip holder - that way you can easily insert or remove the chip and you
also dont have to worry about damaging the chip with heat as you solder it in. (Figure 4).

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

It may be necessary to bend the legs of some components in order to

make them fit into the veroboard holes (Figure 5).
Different components are obviously different sizes and so some will
stick out from the board more than others (Figure 6). It is usually a
good idea to start with the shortest components first as it makes it a
lot easier to hold them in place while soldering. In this example, the
resistors are the smallest components so they should be put in and
soldered first.
You will notice that the Veroboard has two sides - one with copper
and one without. Components should be inserted from the noncopper side so that the legs sick out of the copper side to enable
them to be soldered.

Figure 5

Figure 6

***Before you start trying to solder, remember that the iron reaches 370C and that the components
that you are soldering in will get hot too, so try not to burn yourself! If you do, run the burn under cold
water for 10 minutes to cool it down and prevent any further damage occurring.***
Copyright Emily Tatlow 2008

Switch the soldering iron on if you havent already done so and ensure the fume
extraction is connected and switched on. When its at the right temperature
(wait about a minute for this to be reached) clean the tip on the sponge to
remove any old solder or dirt. Next take some solder and melt a tiny bit onto the
tip so as to coat it. (Figure 7) This is called tinning the bit and it helps the iron
to make a better connection at the joint to be soldered so that heat is transferred more easily.

Figure 7

Now take the component you want and place it into the Veroboard in the required position then turn the
board so that the copper side is upwards. Take the soldering iron and hold it such that it contacts both
the leg of the component you wish to solder and the copper track at the same time. After a couple of
seconds it should have heated both enough for you to feed the solder in. The solder should start to melt
and flow to cover the two parts. Once you have fed in enough solder to just cover the joint you want,
remove the iron and the solder at the same time, being careful not to dislodge the component as the
solder cools and solidifies.
Ideally you should get a joint like the one shown in Figure 8 - the solder only
goes where is needed and does not cover other holes or cross to other tracks
and is evenly distributed around the joint and fully contacts both parts of the
joint. Be careful to not take too long else the solder burns and goes dull leading to an unstable joint.

Figure 8

You do not want joints like the following:

Figure 9a

Figure 9a shows a joint

where the solder has not
properly connected with
the copper and so is
unstable and liable to
break away from the
track causing a dry
joint that is not
properly connected
physically or electrically.

Figure 9b

Figure 9b shows a joint

where too much solder
has been applied and
so the solder has
covered over adjacent
holes in the board this makes fitting other
components difficult.

Figure 9c

Figure 9c shows a joint

where not enough solder has been applied to
make the joint stable this joint can easily
break and is another
form of dry joint.

Figure 9d

Figure 9d shows another

joint where too much
solder has been applied.
This time its to the
point where the solder
has spilled over onto
the adjacent track
causing a short circuit.

If you do make a mistake like this, it is easy to fix. Simply heat up the solder again and either use a solder
pump (solder sucker) or some solder wick to remove the excess solder and then try again. Continue
until all components have been soldered in.
Once youve soldered your components in you may find that, because of the
design of the board, there are some tracks connecting components that you dont
want connected. This is easy to sort as well - take a track breaker (the tool that
looks a bit like a drill bit with a handle) and place it into a hole in one of the tracks
at the point you want to break. Gently but firmly twist it in the hole until the track
has been cut away (Figure 10). Dont cut in too much as it will start to cut into
adjacent tracks and also go too deep making the board unstable, just do enough to
cut that single track.

Figure 10

Any components that you have soldered in that have long legs can be cut down to
neaten things and prevent short circuits. Just take a pair of wire cutters and cut
the legs off as close to the solder as possible (Figure 11).
Check your board carefully for any dry joints or short circuits and correct as
necessary. If all is correct then your board is finished and ready to go!

Figure 11
Copyright Emily Tatlow 2008