DIY amp and such build gallery

[Spiug31]

for a man deprived of sleep that is astonishingly neat soldering

[Augsburger]

Wow! I have no idea what I am looking at but it looks sweet! You do nice work man.

[Dusty Chalk]

Originally Posted by Augsburger

I have no idea what I am looking at ...

I believe the technical term is "nudie".

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by Spiug31

for a man deprived of sleep that is astonishingly neat soldering

I clip the leads before soldering, so it's almost impossible to fuck it up even when I can't focus my eyes properly.

[Spiug31]

smart

[Smeggy]

I bet I could still find a way to fuck it up.

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by Spiug31

for a man deprived of sleep that is astonishingly neat soldering

honestly, those solder joints look kinda to me.

[JBLoudG20]

Originally Posted by luvdunhill

honestly, those solder joints look kinda to me.

x2 but whatever.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by luvdunhill

honestly, those solder joints look kinda to me.

There's no lead sticking out past the pad, so physics make it a little difficult to get a concave "volcano" joint.

[luvdunhill]

If enough solder wicks through the through-hole it's possible. Looks to me that this isn't happening.

IMHO, those look like recipes for cold-solder joints.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by luvdunhill

If enough solder wicks through the through-hole it's possible. Looks to me that this isn't happening.

IMHO, those look like recipes for cold-solder joints.

I do not have any cold joints, whatever you may think, I am not that clueless. I made this picture to help explain:



The joints are just like on the left half of the picture. But you are telling me it is possible to make the surface tension of the solder behave differently and look like the one on the right? I don't think that has anything to do with wicking solder through the joint, when I already have enough going through to make "normal" joints on the component side of the board. The only way I have ever gotten a joint like that with flush-cut leads is if I am reworking an old joint and the solder is getting nasty and pulls up with the iron when I remove it.

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by Fitz

The joints are just like on the left half of the picture. But you are telling me it is possible to make the surface tension of the solder behave differently and look like the one on the right?

I dunno. I just got finished reworking a bunch of PDIP parts which had the leads cut basically off with a flush cutter. At first, I was getting spherical joints, and then I turned up the heat on the iron and fed the solder in faster and they came out flatter and didn't bubble up into small balls. The speed in which the solder was applied was the key.

As for cold solder joints, they usually develop from the component led not being heated, and instead the solder being touched to the iron tip directly. If the lead is cut first, this becomes much harder.

I'd be curious what temperature you're using and what type of solder. Just trying to help

[Fitz]

The image disappeared so I upload it again:


Why do you assume the domes are just "accidental"? I feed the solder in until it stops wicking through easily, then add the dome "cap" because the flat joints look ugly to me. However, I would like to know your secret technique to make the joints concave like on the right half of the picture.

It is very easy for me to heat the lead like this though, because I can lay the tip of the iron flat across the pad and lead (covering half the joint). With the lead sticking up, it is harder for me to solder it while up late at night because the pad is so small and hard to get good contact with when the lead forces the iron to the very edge. This is why I said I did it this way so I couldn't fuck it up even with tired eyes.

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by Fitz

However, I would like to know your secret technique to make the joints concave like on the right half of the picture.

use a hot iron and work quickly... didn't mean to strike a nerve...

anyways, the "physics" would be capillary action, and yes it's possible.

[swt61]

Am I going to have to separate you two kids? If so one of you will be sitting by my desk.

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by swt61

Am I going to have to separate you two kids? If so one of you will be sitting by my desk.

lol, I wasn't trying to be belligerent, thought I could see how I might have come across that way.

anyways, cheers!

[Fitz]

Show me a picture of a joint like the one in the right of my drawing, without a lead supporting it. I've only ever seen that happen when it is not clean and the solder sticks to the iron as it's pulled away.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by swt61

Am I going to have to separate you two kids? If so one of you will be sitting by my desk.

When somebody tells me I don't know how to tell the difference between a clean solder joint and a cold joint, I get annoyed.

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by luvdunhill

use a hot iron and work quickly... didn't mean to strike a nerve...

anyways, the "physics" would be capillary action, and yes it's possible.

Yes, if there was a lead extending above the pad for the capillary action to pull it upwards into the volcano shape. That is irrelevant to this because there is no lead sticking up to affect the surface tension of the molten solder in that way.

[luvdunhill]

Originally Posted by Fitz

Yes, if there was a lead extending above the pad for the capillary action to pull it upwards into the volcano shape. That is irrelevant to this because there is no lead sticking up to affect the surface tension of the molten solder in that way.

...or capillary action pulling the solder down into the through-hole. Looks like I'm on my own here in my opinion, so I'll just keep quiet