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PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:32 pm 
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I’m new to this hobby and having a heck of a time soldering. I’ve read the brilliant thread, and I feel like I understand the premise well. But I STILL have problems. The tip of the iron never seems hot enough. I managed to successfully build the Classic Fuzz, so this is my second build. And I think I killed it in Step 1!

I got through soldering all the resistors and only realized after clipping the leads down to the solder points that one of the 1K resistors had slipped through a bit while soldering into place. I tried heating up the solder and just pushing it in, but couldn’t manage it. It got way too hot, solder kept hardening. So the legs were long enough and I snipped them off. Tried to use the solder sucker to clean out the ring so I could feed it in again, and in this really frustrating process, I must have gotten it too hot, scorched the PCB and the ring basically came off.

Am I totally hosed?


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:49 pm 
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soundave wrote:
Am I totally hosed?

By no means. These kind of things are quite easily repaired. But...

...Of more concern is your soldering. What type of (a) solder, and (b) soldering iron are you using?

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:35 pm 
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The soldering iron is the economy one that’s for sale on this site. A friend gave it to me. It’s the ZD99, I think. As far as the solder, I had some 60 40 rosin core, but it was too thick for these solder points. I went back to some solder I had from my audio engineering school days, and to be honest, I’m not sure what it is. It’s not labeled, but it’s narrower gauge. I can definitely get something else. What’s recommended?

I just can’t get the very tip of the iron hot. The solder melts on the sides. It’s infuriating. And it actually was okay for a while, which is why the first pedal went pretty well. I’ve been fighting with this. I’m contemplating replacing the tip, but having a tough time finding the fine tip anywhere online. They’re out of stock on the BYOC webstore too. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

And the solder points do look bad. I know.


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:38 am 
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I think I also need to use the magnifying lamp I have for painting miniatures. I hadn’t noticed how rough some of the solder points I thought were okay really were. I was going to resolder that big blob and a few other points as well. But some are not as nice as I thought.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:22 am 
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soundave wrote:
As far as the solder, I had some 60 40 rosin core, but it was too thick for these solder points.....What’s recommended?

I strongly recommend Kester rosin core 0.031" diam. in either 60/40 or 63/37 tin/lead ratios. I buy 1 lb. rolls to get the best value, but you may wish to try a smaller quantity, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Kester-83-4000-0 ... r_1_1_sspa. But if you want to "go big", this would be my choice: https://www.amazon.com/KESTER-SOLDER-32 ... ref=sr_1_2

soundave wrote:
I just can’t get the very tip of the iron hot. The solder melts on the sides. It’s infuriating. And it actually was okay for a while, which is why the first pedal went pretty well. I’ve been fighting with this.

Sounds like you may be getting oxide build-up on the tip of your iron. Are you cleaning & tinning your iron's tip every few solder joints? This is critical for getting good heat transfer. You can use a wet sponge or (my choice) a brass wool tip cleaner: https://www.amazon.com/Kaisiking-Solder ... r_1_2_sspa

You may also find this informative thread useful: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52211

soundave wrote:
I’m contemplating replacing the tip, but having a tough time finding the fine tip anywhere online.

Looks like these folks sell ZD-99 tips: https://www.mpja.com/Mini-Solder-Statio ... 5860%20TL/

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:07 am 
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Thanks so much for these recommendations!

I do use a sponge. I’m also using the brass wire cleaner thing. The tip comes out looking pretty good, actually. I try to tin the tip, which is shiny, and the solder beads up into a ball and drops off! Again, further up the tip, it will melt. But not on the point, where it needs to be!

I’ll get a new tip, and I’ll make sure I treat it lovingly. Tin at the outset, tin before “putting it to bed”, correct?


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:37 am 
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soundave wrote:
Tin at the outset, tin before “putting it to bed”, correct?

And a few times in between! Whenever the tip no longer appears smooth and shiny silver, cleaning and re-tinning is indicated.

BTW, where are you setting the heat control on your ZD-99 station? I would start at the line between the orange and red zones and run it higher if that still isn't doing the job. The higher that it's set, the faster that you get tip oxidation. I also recommend chisel tips over the conical ones because it gives you more contact area and thermal mass at the interface with what you're soldering. I find that a chisel tip width between 1/16" - 1/8" works well for pedal projects.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:53 pm 
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That’s exactly where I had it set. Tried hotter when I got very frustrated.

I never would have considered a chisel tip! I’ll look into that. Thanks again for the help. I started doing this to make pedals, for sure, but also to learn. I built XLR cables and simple breadboard circuits in audio school in the late 90’s but have only done the odd repair here and there (Rock Band drum set, for example). The premise is simple, and if I have decent tools, it should only take a little while to improve my skills to the point where I’m not burning up the PCB or getting cold solder joints.


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