Elenco Soldering Station - Manual (Page 5)

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Solder Soldering Iron
Foil
3. Allow the solder to flow around the
connection. Then, remove the solder
and the iron and let the connection cool.
The solder should have flowed smoothly
and not lump around the wire lead.
4. Here is what a good solder connection
looks like.
Solder
Soldering Iron
Foil
2. Apply a small amount of solder to the
iron tip. This allows the heat to leave the
iron and onto the foil. Immediately apply
solder to the opposite side of the
connection, away from the iron. Allow
the heated component and the circuit foil
to melt the solder.
SOLDERING
A poorly soldered joint can greatly effect small current flow in circuits
and can cause equipment failure. You can damage a PC board or a
component with too much heat or cause a cold solder joint with
insufficient heat. Sloppy soldering can cause bridges between two
adjacent foils preventing the circuit from functioning.
What Good Soldering Looks Like
A good solder connection should be bright, shiny, smooth, and
uniformly flowed over all surfaces.
Soldering a PC board
1. Solder all components from the copper
foil side only. Push the soldering iron tip
against both the lead and the circuit
board foil.
Component Lead
Soldering Iron
Circuit Board
Foil
SOLDERING IRONS
Iron wattage varies from 15 to over 100 watts. For working on PC
boards, irons ranging from 15 to 40 watts is suitable. If a heavy-duty
soldering iron is required, a 60 watt iron should be considered. If you
use an iron with a higher wattage rating than 40 watts, you may
damage the copper tracks on the PC board. The higher wattage irons
are best suited for heavy-duty electrical connections.
Soldering Iron Tip
The tip is the very important part of the iron. The material that the tip
is made from is an important factor. The soldering iron tip contains
four different metals see figure below. The core consists of copper.
Since the copper is a soft material, it is plated with iron. Then the tip
is plated with tin, because it can be easily cleaned. Chrome plating
is used on the area where no soldering takes place to prevent
oxidation.
Copper Iron Plating Chrome Plating Tin Plating
Tip Cleaning
A good clean solder tip makes soldering much easier. The tip should
be tinned by lightly coating it with solder to prevent it from oxidizing.
The tip can become pitted (black spots) from normal use.
It is
important to clean the tip by wiping it with a wet sponge or rag. For
tips that need a good cleaning, the tip tinnier and cleaner (#TTC1)
should be used.
Never use a file or abrasive material to clean the
tip. Using such methods will damage the plating and ruin the tip. Do
not remove the excess solder from the tip before storing. The excess
solder will prevent oxidation.