How long does it take to get good at soldering. I've been at it all day and finished some wired for my car only to have solder flake off entirely.
>>2961819Bout tree fiddyAre you using flux?
>>2961819Do it more. Like way more. Like way way way way more
like 30 seconds if you have enough heat and the right solder.
>>2961819Soldering on through hole components like in your pic, at a desk indoors, a day or two of practice and some readingSoldering two thick wires together laying on your back outdoors or in a windy garage, may take a while, or a long time to get it perfect. Also solder joints are pretty brittle so I’d avoid it for my car and just use crimp connectors instead wherever possible.
Bump temperature to 380-400 degrees.
>>2961819>only to have solder flake off entirely.it shouldn't 'flake off' at allyou should be able to pick it up immediately if you understand the principles.use flux core solder, tin the iron to maximise heat transfer, heat the wire not the solder, tin the wires individually will help but is not necessary.post pic/more info for help
it takes skill to solder well with shit gear. it takes no skill to solder decent with good gear. do this:buy alientek t80pbuy 1.0mm 0.8mm and 0.3mm rosin core solderpotentially buy a very fine tip for the t80p for micro-fuckupsthere you go, you can now solder moderately well from the very beginning.
>>2961889this. If your iron can't pump out heat faster than the heat is dissipated you can't do anything good. You need a good iron with a good power supply, good solder, and good parts. It's a good idea to have replacement tips in case you ruin it.Tin your tips, clean your surfaces, have good lighting, have a fan because the fumes will always go straight into your face if you're at a desk, or hold your breath, or just wiff it. Might want to get some wick and flux. For real small stuff a giant magnifying glass or microscope is really nice. Solder paste and a heat gun if you're into that stuff. Also, get yourself a reflow oven, a PCB mill, PCB laser engraver, chemical etching station, spray enamel, PCB auto-populator, and a few Chinese children.Good luck anon!
>>2961819Get some noclean flux like from chipquic. Flaking or spiky solderblobs mean you've burned off all flux from taking too long to heat up both solderees. Put a blob of solder on your tip to increase contact area to heat up both solderees before adding some solder (with a flux core) to the heated up solderees. Also, joining wires is best done by twisting the end of both wires and pretinning them individually as a first step. There should be a little blob of solder on each solderee before attempting to join them. Position the pretinned sections side by side (slightly touching), ideally by fixing them in place so you have your hands free for your solder-wire and your iron. Now, take your iron with a solder blob on your tip and heat both ends up again while adding a bit of solder(with flux core) to add fresh flux while the solderees are both hot. ("Solderees" is the term to describe the parts you want to solder).If you're planning to solder a lot you should invest in a soldering tip that is shaped like a little spoon called "wave soldering tip". I do almost everything with such tip since it doesn't dry out like pencil-shaped tips due to the solder reservoir that prevents oxidation of your tip, which causes the tip to not get wetted by solder.Be aware that flux containing colophonium has to be cleaned off due to it's acid content so stick with " noclean" flux for additional flux, usually available in syringes.
I found out my syringe flux needs another accessory not included in with the syringe
>>2961827>Soldering two thick wires together laying on your back outdoors or in a windy garagegas soldering irons are way better when you need to do it "in the field"they heat up fast and have better heat transfer, they also have an exhaust hole on the side which can be used to preheat the wires quickly
>>2961819I think soldering wires inside a car isn't really a good idea due to the wire around the soldering joint getting brittle, which is not what you want in a vibrating environment. Crimping wires together is probably much better and will last longer and also doesn't require much skill to do properly.Or get yourself some Wago 221-2401 and enjoy a tool-less way to join two wires that are joined spring-loaded and should be reliable in a vibrating environment.
>>2961827crimp connectors are worse than a proper western union splice. git gud and you can WU anywhere
>>2962103Anon, no shit-posting outside of /b/, m'kay?
>>2961827>just use crimp connectors insteadWay worse for copper embrittlement. Turns out that crushing wires flat make them brittle and fail.
>>2961819Solder shouldn't be used as a holding mechanism, especially when the connect is going to be under physical strain, as in the vibrations inside a car. Make sure your wires are already physically held together, and use the solder to protect the electrical connection In other words, twist them together, heat the wires (both of them) and melt the solder on the wires, not on the iron.Also, use flux.
>>2962128>cRiMpEdTeRmInAlSaReShItmeh gud nuff fir da space shuddlehttps://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/nasa-std-8739.4a.pdf
>>2961819>only to have solder flake off entirelynot enough heat, it should just work and wet the copper as long as its clean and you are using flux core NOT ACID CORE OR PLUMBERS FLUX! that will cause corrosion if you dont clean 100% of it upand for SMD soldering, surface tension is your friend>bottom left connector was added and the wifi signal capacitor (bottom left) was rotatedim still surprised these RTL8812BU modules commonly found in smart TV's even have windows drivers, only issue they have is they take 3.3V instead of usb's 5v so you need to knock it down using an AMS1117-33 in the middle of the cable or somehow cram it in the plug by taking it apart down to the bare metal shell and the plug insert
I learnt something today.
>>2962128Do you have a source on that? I've never had a crimped connection fails on me even is I bend the shit out of a wire repeatedly but do the same with a soldered joint and just a few cycles of bending a wire cause the wire to break at the edge of the solder joint.
>>2962134Thanks anon, that document is fire. If I lived in the US I would apply to any job at NASA, even if it's just a technician gig. Let's just hope the US government gets their shit together and continues funding NASA to do their thing asap.
>>2961819>How long does it take to get good at solderinghmmm... well I started when I was about 8 using a gun from the 60's. used that till it broke in the 80's. so for through hole? I would say about 1 week. for SMD? couple months.
>>2962142>realtek snibbety snabIt warms my heart that they have not changed their logo in decades. I hope they never change it.
I solder and crimp and then tape because I just know I'll fuck up at least two of those methods
>>2961819You need to be crimping. Soldering has no place in automotive wire harnesses. Do the job properly fggt.
>>2961819A day to a week. Correct tips, solder and flux make a huge difference. Like if you want to solder stainless steel you need some acidic flux or else it will never stick.
