World Domination Part One - Learn to solder

[idc]

I intend to dominate the world. I have a plan which you follow here and in other threads. The plan is;

Part One - Learn to solder

Part Two - Make a cable

Part Three - Make an Cmoy amp

Part Four - World Domination and make a Death Star

This is Part One, learning to solder. I have got the kit together and tomorrow I start.

 

[jimdonnelly]

May God have mercy on us all.

 

[Andrew Everard]

 

[gpi]

I've just bought my first ever soldering iron. I can now solder...

a) the earth wire to the end of the solder rod. So well I had to cut it off and strip the wire again.

b) the surrounding area of my intended solder joint, including parts nowhere near it but alas, not the wire itself to the base of the tonearm.

c) the palm of my hand. Ouch it's a tad hot.

I was informed later that I would need the power equivalent of a small furnace (while the street lights dimmed along the road) to sufficiently heat up the large brass washer I was attempting to solder a wire to.

 

[John Duncan]

I had thought that if world domination were your intention, you might be best to first learn to soldier?

 

[professorhat]

I'd go with public speaking...

 

[laserman16]

georgejack:

Cmoy........ If you need a hand give me a shout, I've made a few in the past.

Ditto the Death Star...................

 

[scene]

Have you picked your sweet tin yet, or are you going for an upmarket wooden-box finish?

 

[idc]

All will be revealed. First the kit.

The soldering iron is a 30w Maplins one, with holder it is £15. I got spare tips for another £5 and some phonos and heatshrink to practice with. The heat resistant mat is £5 from B&Q. The solder and wire was about £3 from a hardwear shop.

 

[idc]

Next, information. Intelligence is vital when aiming for world domination and so, of course I used You Tube. I went through loads of soldering videos and these two were the best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cl5QI4pqKc&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4&feature=related

A lot of the videos are from the USA, where they call soldering; sodering. That is distracting as the presenter asks you to join him and watch him soder.

 

[Anonymous]

the presenter asks you to join him and watch him soder.

i think id pass on that one

 

[daveh75]

idc:

A lot of the videos are from the USA, where they call soldering; sodering. That is distracting as the presenter asks you to join him and watch him soder.
Ah,but do you think it's wise getting tips from a nation that can't even pronounce the word

 

[idc]

Firstly, tinning. This is the simplest solder and it is used to help keep the strands of wire together and for making connections. Once stripped the wire looks like this......

I dont have a grip yet so I used pliers. The strands are twisted......

Then the solder is applied by heating the wire and the solder so it flows into the strands...

I would invite comments on my various practice attempts. The iron takes ages to heat the wire. Is that right?

 

[The_Lhc]

idc:I would invite comments on my various practice attempts. The iron takes ages to heat the wire. Is that right?

Well if you think about, the wire is very conductive, for heat as well as electricity, so the initial heat energy you put into the wire is going to be conducted away down the cable. If you snipped the exposed bit off and just tried heating that you'd find it would heat up a lot quicker. It just wouldn't be much use with your speakers though...

 

[idc]

Going by You Tube tutorials, you should heat the wire and then the solder will also heat till it melts. They all say dont heat the solder and then put it onto the wire. But I find heating the solder and then running it up the wire is easy and gets the best coverage.

 

[The_Lhc]

idc:Going by You Tube tutorials, you should heat the wire and then the solder will also heat till it melts. They all say dont heat the solder and then put it onto the wire. But I find heating the solder and then running it up the wire is easy and gets the best coverage.

From what I remember it a lot harder to control the flow of the solder if you do it that way, it's probably ok for cables like that but when you come to solder components to a circuit board heating the solder first makes it a nightmare. "It looks like you've dripped the solder from a plastic bag with holes in it!" as one of my old college tutors once complained...

 

[idc]

So there is nothing wrong with doing it that way if you find it easier? I have lots of wire to practice with.

Something else I do is instead of using the sponge to wipe the soldering iron I use some kitchen towel. Again. I saw that on You Tube. I liked the way the guy said 'I prefer to wipe my tip and keep it clean with tissue paper'. I had no idea that sodering involved wiping your tip afterwards.

 

[daveh75]

idc:
So there is nothing wrong with doing it that way if you find it easier? I have lots of wire to practice with. Yes.You will end up with dry joints using that technique. You should always heat the work then apply the solder!

 

[Tom Moreno]

idc:
So there is nothing wrong with doing it that way if you find it easier? I have lots of wire to practice with.

Something else I do is instead of using the sponge to wipe the soldering iron I use some kitchen towel. Again. I saw that on You Tube. I liked the way the guy said 'I prefer to wipe my tip and keep it clean with tissue paper'. I had no idea that sodering involved wiping your tip afterwards.

You should always be prepared for any job by ensuring you are using a clean tip.

 

[scene]

idc:Going by You Tube tutorials, you should heat the wire and then the solder will also heat till it melts. They all say dont heat the solder and then put it onto the wire. But I find heating the solder and then running it up the wire is easy and gets the best coverage.

If you heat the solder up, you risk evaporating all the flux; assuming you are using flux-cored solder. (Which is probably the case.) With no flux, the joints you produce may not have been cleaned properly, and the joint won't be "wetted" correctly, so the solder won't flow. As daveh75 said, you risk dry joints if you do this.

As for keeping your "tip" clean. You should wipe clean your tip regularly, to stop old solder building up and to reduce the chance of dry joints. However, to extend the life of your soldering iron tip, it is worth keeping a small amount of solder on the tip as this does stop the tip corroding. Now I know these are conflicting instructions, but what it means is wipe the tip and then let a small amount of solder melt onto the tip... You don't have to do this.

 

[Diamond Joe]

It's important to leave the soldering iron on the work for the minimum time possible, otherwise you're going to melt insultaion or unecessarily over heat other components. To this end, put a small dab of solder on the tip - and I mean small - before you apply the tip to the work, this will aid in transferring heat more quickly. Trial and error idc, just keep practicing.

p.s. when you go for world domination, can I be on your team please?

 

[Tom Moreno]

Diamond Joe:
p.s. when you go for world domination, can I be on your team please?

Me too- on condition that you can guarantee not to lose power to a rival faction and that I get irrevocable travel perks for life.

 

[scene]

Tom Moreno:Diamond Joe:
p.s. when you go for world domination, can I be on your team please?

Me too- on condition that you can guarantee not to lose power to a rival faction and that I get irrevocable travel perks for life.

C'mon now - only one of you can be Pinky...

 

[idc]

Only I can dominate. But I will be a kind and benevolent dominator. I can already weld to make the outer structure of my Death like Star. The soldering is for the electronics.

Thanks for all the replies and support.

 

[PJPro]

Hmm. My Borg Cube is already under construction in the garage. I need some help so I am currently busy fixing a titanium skull cap to the next door neighbour's head to grow the Collective. For some reason I'm having difficulty interfacing the hive chip into the host's brain. Any tips?

Tangent provides some useful tips for beginners. I recommend that you take a gander at his site. He also provides details on how to build a CMoy.