Tools & Prototyping
Soldering basics: your first reliable joints
6 min read
Setup
Work in a ventilated space, use a stand and a damp sponge or brass wool, and set a temperature-controlled iron to roughly 320–350 °C for leaded solder (higher for lead-free). Always tin a new tip immediately — a thin silver coat of solder protects it and transfers heat.
The technique
Heat the joint, not the solder: touch the iron to both the pad and the lead for about a second, then feed solder into the joint (not the tip) and remove iron and solder together. The whole joint should take around three seconds. A good joint is shiny and cone-shaped; a dull blob usually means the joint moved or never got hot enough.
Common fixes
Cold joint (dull, cracked): reheat with a touch of fresh solder. Bridge between pads: drag the hot tip through the gap or use desoldering braid. Solder won't stick: the surface is dirty or oxidised — clean it and add flux.
Ready to put it into practice?