I finally realized I was using too much solder on circuit board joints after watching a guy fix a PS4 in 8 minutes flat

I was at a shop in Portland last Tuesday and the old timer next to me just tinned the pad, tinned the wire, and touched them together for 2 seconds, and I had been drowning everything in a big blob like a fool for 15 years, anyone else ever have that 'oh wait' moment with a basic technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenny58019d ago

I did the exact same thing for about a decade. I was using a cheap iron that didn't hold temp, so I thought more solder was the answer. Then I watched a guy fix a laptop in 10 minutes with just a small dab and a steady hand. The trick that really clicked for me was using a flux pen on everything first, no matter how clean the board looks. It keeps the solder exactly where you want it. Have you tried a smaller tip on your iron yet? That alone cut my blobs in half.

taylor30519d ago

Yeah the flux pen thing really changed things for me too @jenny580, I was the same way with a ratty old iron that would jump 50 degrees if you looked at it wrong. Ended up using so much solder it looked like I was trying to build a tin man out of circuit boards. One time I was fixing an old stereo and I guess I globbed on so much it bridged three pins, then when I tried to wick it off I pulled a trace right off the board. That was my wake up call. Switched to a chisel tip and started hitting everything with flux first, even fresh boards from the factory. Now I can actually see the pads again.