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 Post subject: How's your soldering?
PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 1:37 pm 
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These are some pix I took of a Mimosa compressor I'm building for my friend and Darkology bassist Mike Neal. They should give you an idea of what your soldering should look like when you're done with your build. Poor soldering is the #1 problem we see with non-working pedal builds here on the forum. The key to getting a quality solder joint, and I cannot stress this enough, is to get good heat transfer from the iron's tip to the solder pad and component lead that you are soldering. The key to getting good heat transfer is to properly tin your iron before you apply heat to the board and lead. When the two parts get hot enough your solder should flow onto them as if the solder has turned to Mercury. This should only take a second or two. When you're done the solder joint should cover the entire solder pad and taper up to a point at the component lead. The solder joint itself should be no taller than about 1/16". When you're done, clip off the lead at the very top of the solder joint making sure you don't leave a little pigtail of lead sticking thru the solder. This creates a short circuit risk which will result in a non-working pedal when you are done.
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File comment: Mim PCB 1
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Notice in this second photo how there is very little solder that has leaked over to the component side of the PCB. If you are getting a big ball of solder on this side of the board you are applying too much solder. Not to mention more heat than is necessary.
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File comment: Mim PCB 2
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Look at the soldering of the pot pins in this photo. They are slightly larger versions of the soldering of the components. The pad is completely covered and the solder tapers to a point on the pot's pin. If you are getting good heat transfer here you won't be able to see down into the solder pad with the pin looking like it is sticking thru the center of a solder donut. This is a sure sign of a cold solder joint.
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File comment: Mim PCB 3
Mim PCB 3.JPG
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 2:32 pm 
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Now, that's how it's done, people!! Image

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:13 am 
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Here are some assembly pix I took of BYOC’s latest release, the Color Booster (great pedal, LOVE the EQ section). They’re intended for new builders to give them an idea of what their soldering and wire dressing should look like. Some of my wiring methods are for advanced builders who are confident in their ability to have a functional PCB when they’re done. My assembly methods are intended for ruggedness and long term reliability of the build. They don’t really lend themself to easy disassembly (see adapter jack installation below) if you have a problem once you’ve assembled everything so keep that in mind it you use them.

These first 2 pix are of the assembled PCB. Notice on the solder side that there are no blobs or thorn shaped solder joints. Blobs and thorn shaped solder joints are due to poor heat transfer between the iron and what you are soldering. Also note that the entire solder pad is covered with solder. If you can still see the solder pad on your build you need to go back and solder it again. Something you won’t see in any of my builds is excess component lead sticking out of the top of the joint. You will never see this in any OEM soldering. Well… BOSS pedals do it but the lead is lying flat on the PCB and not sticking up towards the sky. These little pigtails of lead are short circuit risks and could prevent the pedal from working or possibly even damage it.
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These next photos show how I attach the pots. I like to insert the pots and spread apart the two outer solder pins so they can’t fall out of the PCB when installing it into the enclosure. I install the PCB by flipping it over and lowering it into the enclosure, aligning the pots, switches, LED or whatever as I go. Once again take note of the pot’s pin soldering. The joints are conical in shape, cover the entire solder pad and you cannot see down into the thru hole. I see this a lot in builds here.
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When it’s time to add the stomp switch I make all it’s connections with it installed in the enclosure. I also solder the connections from the top. Once I’m done I pull the switch/PCB assembly out as a unit and then clip off any excess lead on the other side of the PCB. If you’re wondering I use solid core 22 AWG wire for all my connections.
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My method of installing the adapter jack differs significantly from what I see others do. It can be a real PITA to do it my way if you don’t have a lot of patience. I like using this method to keep the leads as short and neat looking as possible. It requires a lot of bending, twisting and test fitting of the wire to get it all just right. If you don’t have a lot of confidence in your building skills you might want to think twice before trying this. It can be a real PITA to do it this way and then have to take it all back apart when you go to try the pedal and it doesn’t work. I start by soldering in the ground lead first. Then followed by the inner V+ and then outer V+ lugs of the adapter jack.
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The connection between the PCB and the IN/OUT jacks are where I see the most cold solder joints. Often times what I see looks like a blob of solder just resting on the surface of the solder lug. A quality solder joint should look smooth and almost as if it were part of the lug. It should not look like a little silver booger on the jack.
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ColorBoostPCB13.jpg
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The last things to get soldered are the LED & battery harness during final assembly. It’s better to save them for last to keep them out of the way as you make the other connections.

Hope a few of you can put this info to good use during your build.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:24 am 
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STELLAR build quality! Novices, take note of what can be achieved, but don't be discouraged when yours don't look this good. Heck, I've been building for 12 years, and mine don't look this good, either! :shock:

Something I'll comment on before somebody notices it and asks the question: Note that Stephen did not make the jack sleeve tab to PCB ground connection on the output jack. That's because the input jack sleeve is already grounded and the output jack thereby grounds through the metal enclosure.

Stephen wrote:
The connection between the PCB and the IN/OUT jacks are where I see the most cold solder joints. Often times what I see looks like a blob of solder just resting on the surface of the solder lug. A quality solder joint should look smooth and almost as if it were part of the lug. It should not look like a little silver booger on the jack.

This is a key point. To help avoid the "blobby solder" problem Stephen mentions, I recommend scuffing up the surface of each of the solder tabs on the I/O jacks with some fine sandpaper. There is some kind of thin coating on these tabs that resists wetting by the solder, so the scuffing removes it and allows the solder to flow easily and form those nice smooth joints you can see in his last photo.

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PostPosted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:46 am 
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duhvoodooman wrote:
This is a key point. To help avoid the "blobby solder" problem Stephen mentions, I recommend scuffing up the surface of each of the solder tabs on the I/O jacks with some fine sandpaper. There is some kind of thin coating on these tabs that resists wetting by the solder, so the scuffing removes it and allows the solder to flow easily and form those nice smooth joints you can see in his last photo.

This is especially important for the enclosed jacks (the ones with black plastic housings). For some reason, the solder tabs on these jacks are much more resistant to solder adherence.

Also? NSD. :mrgreen:
Stephen wrote:
It should not look like a little silver booger on the jack.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:37 am 
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I haven't really paid attention to the solder I was using up until recently. I have a variety of solder and I haven't kept track of which I used for which project.
I was revisiting my Crown Jewel recently and found a tone I had been hunting for and Murphy's Law struck. My pedal started acting up. I opened her up for a quick visual inspection and noticed my joints looked a bit crusty and corroded. I live in Las Vegas, so humidity and moisture are not a factor, so I thought maybe the solder used was the culprit.
Can the crusty bits have been caused by the wrong solder? What issues can different types of solder cause?
I'm considering reflowing my CJ, but I'm concerned now about mixing solder, nevermind the number of solder joints.
Thoughts?

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:33 am 
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What kind of solder did you use on your CJ?

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:14 pm 
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I built it nearly a year ago, so it's hard to say for certain. I mainly have lead free around, flux or rosin core. I have some all silver, others are alloy. I do have acid core from a plumbing project. I doubt I'd use that, but I also have been known to make poor choices...
Here's a pic of some of the yucky stuff I'm seeing.Image

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 8:50 pm 
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Get yourself some 60/40 or 63/37 tin/lead solder with a rosin core; the 0.03" diameter stuff is perfect for pedal work. Forget everything else. Lock up the acid-flux plumbing solder--that stuff is PURE POISON for electronics.

I would try to clean up your PCB with a stiff brush or the like. The oxidation should be removed and all of the joints re-flowed with some fresh solder added.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:39 pm 
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Some things I have found with soldiering that help, first and foremost is the hakko 88 station.
I have the older non digital one, that just has a knob, the same tip is still perfect, around 10 years of
Soldering, pro audio, tube amps, stomp boxes, what ever. Best $100 I have ever spent.
Lowers dwell time...the new one gets rave reviews as well...
I used to burn through tips consistently, till I got the hakko.

Keep boards clean, I learned this dealing with high impedance areas on microphones, it’s crazy how much noise a board covered with flux can cause. And it looks better.

A good pair of flush cuts, again hakko has the best price/performance ratio, imho.

Throw lead free solder away!

I only use kestler solder.

Solder and iron tip size changes depending on the job, smaller for pcb work, larger on tube stuff.

Auto wire strippers are the bomb!



Below is two channels of neve 1073 with eq stuffed into a 1u rack.
One of only a few in the world, as it’s a challenge. Currently still building this one.
I started doing all this by fixing a stomp box!


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 22, 2019 10:16 pm 
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Chipss36 wrote:
....first and foremost is the hakko 88 station. I have the older non digital one, that just has a knob, the same tip is still perfect, around 10 years of soldering, pro audio, tube amps, stomp boxes, what ever. Best $100 I have ever spent. Lowers dwell time...the new one gets rave reviews as well...I used to burn through tips consistently, till I got the hakko.

YES!! I bought my Hakko 936 station 10 years ago next month. Still running the same two tips I bought with it, and both look almost brand new. Best DIY electronics investment I ever made.

I find myself nodding in agreement with everything you said. Great advice here!

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:57 am 
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I’m still using the same BYOC soldering station. I got like 8 years ago. Still runs like a champ and has never let me down. Bought a chisel tip in a set and I still love it.


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