How to solder a soldering iron with rosin

Any amateur radio amateur or home craftsman who is interested in radio design, electrical equipment repair and other activities related to electrical and electronic devices should be able to solder. How to solder with a rosin soldering iron can be found in many manuals. But it is very important to have not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical skills, work experience. Consider the basic requirements and stages of learning soldering work. What does every radio fan need to know?

For a novice radio amateur, it is very important to know the basics of working with a soldering iron.

Ham radio soldering kit

Every amateur to work with electronic devices should have a minimum set of tools. This includes pliers, screwdrivers, files, nippers and much, much more. But the most important elements of the soldering kit are: the soldering iron itself (their variety is quite large, everyone should choose a convenient model for their addictions), solder (a metal alloy based on a different combination of lead and tin) and flux (the most common of them is rosin - product processing pine resin). Here it is worth adding tweezers, which can significantly facilitate the soldering of small elements. Consider parts of this set in more detail.

Soldering Iron Features

For a beginner radio amateur soldering iron with a capacity of 40 watts.

If you are a novice master, it is best to buy a regular soldering iron for a network of 220 V, with a capacity of 40 watts. This is the basis from which it is better not to depart, in order to avoid a host of problems. In the future, as skill grows, you can purchase a power regulator for your soldering iron, which will help you independently regulate the temperature of the tip of your soldering iron and, accordingly, carry out more subtle work. When soldering is extremely important cleanliness of the surface of the sting, as it is constantly formed film of oxides, preventing good contact with the solder. To do this, you need to heat up the soldering iron and clean its sting with an emery cloth. After that, lower the soldering iron into the rosin, so that a dark, moist film forms on the surface of the tip. Then you can immerse the tip of the blade in the solder and rub it there so that the solder covers the work surface with an even layer. Further, in the formation of a new film of oxides, the operation can be repeated.

Solder - an alloy of tin and lead

With the help of solder metal elements of the structure are interconnected.

Solder is a compulsory soldering participant in radio electronics. It is he who helps to interconnect the various metal elements of the structure. From a chemical point of view, it is an alloy of lead and tin, the proportions can vary significantly depending on the manufacturer and the work performed. Most often, solder is sold in the form of a silver-metallic wire, but there are options in the form of a hollow tube, the inside of which is pre-filled with rosin (flux) for ease of soldering. But still, experienced craftsmen prefer to choose wire solder, since the flux will still be needed for each soldering, only its quantity differs. Each type of solder has its own alphanumeric marking, which indicates to the buyers its performance and composition.

For example, there are varieties of solders such as POS 40 or POS 60. The abbreviation stands for tin-lead solder, and the figure indicates the percentage of the main alloying element - tin. Many masters prefer to work with pure tin or alloys with its highest possible content. The higher the lead level, the higher the melting point and the color is darker. The same PIC 60 has a melting point of 190 degrees Celsius.

Flux Features

Types of twisted wires.

The main task of fluxes is to clean the metal oxides from the surface of the elements being joined. In addition, such compounds prevent the occurrence of these oxides in the future. Flux also helps to better contact the parts between themselves, wetting and preparing the surface for contact with the solder. You can see for yourself that the flux is effective with a specific example. Try to solder with a soldering iron with or without rosin. The fact is that the main metal of the sting is copper, which very quickly in the heating process is covered with a film of oxides that prevent contact with the solder, it will simply roll off the surface of the soldering iron with hot drops. But one has only to lower the sting into the rosin, as a fluent film appears on the surface of the soldering iron, which will keep the solder on the soldering iron tip and allow soldering work. Speaking flux, most masters imply pine rosin. It is she who most often performs this role, outwardly resembling frozen pieces of amber. The same rosin is used to process the bows of musical instruments.

But pine resin is not the only option for flux. In addition, zinc dissolved in hydrochloric acid is used to work with metal utensils; this mixture is called soldering acid. But in radio design this composition is not applicable because of its causticity. One drop is enough to destroy an important compound or metal wire. Acids cannot be used in soldering radio components, the best flux is rosin. But sometimes masters use spirit solutions of rosin when it is necessary to process contacts in a hard-to-reach place. To do this, rubbed rosin is dissolved in alcohol, and then applied with a thin layer to the place of the future compound.

A few secrets of soldering

In principle, there is no particular difficulty in soldering various metallic elements together. You can solder, especially without going into some nuances of skill, but if you want to do the job qualitatively, it is worth considering a few small secrets.

If you have never dealt with a soldering iron before, we advise you to practice a little. To do this, you can take a few pieces of copper wire in the shell. With it, you will be able to acquire the skills of proper tinning and soldering.

Scheme of a soldering iron.

In addition to the nuances that are listed in the description of the main components of soldering (soldering iron, flux and solder), you need to take into account more:

1. When soldering is extremely important cleanliness interconnected surfaces. All contact points should be carefully cleaned and prepared for soldering. To do this, you must first clean the place of the future spikes using a knife or sandpaper. During cleaning, you will see that the metal becomes lighter and brighter. This is due to the removal of a thin and unobtrusive film of copper oxides covering the surface of your wire. After physical cleaning of the contacts, it is necessary to dip the tip of the heated soldering iron into the rosin and transfer some rosin to it on the work surface. Carefully and carefully disperse the molten flux through the workpiece. As a result, your work surface should be free from oxides and covered with a film of rosin.
2. It is extremely important to correctly connect the conductors together, and also to warm up the place of the future connection. To do this, press the ends of the soldered conductors, which were previously tinned, as described above, flat and tight, and then attach a soldering iron tip with a drop of melted solder to it to the junction. Hold for a while, let the conductors warm up enough to allow the solder alloy to flow and fill all the space between the fused elements. Warming up should be such that the solder spreads over the working surface and does not solidify in one lump. Remove the soldering iron and allow the solder to cool. Do not move the conductors. It is better if they cool down alone for at least 10 seconds. Now the solder reliably holds together both conductors.
3. If the soldering surface is large and there is not enough solder to fill it all, then just wait until the first batch of solder cools and apply another one with a soldering iron. Achieve an even distribution of the alloy on the treated surface. Solder, frozen lump, is an indicator of poor quality work beginner. In this master solder covers the surface, like a second skin, smoothly and from all sides.

Soldering metal utensils

In addition to soldering wires, solders often face the need to repair various metal utensils. Of course, the differences between soldering chips and a leaky pelvis are very significant, but, nevertheless, both operations have common attributes.

The procedure for the soldering of copper pipes.

For such works, a special soldering iron is used, which is a copper bar on an iron rod. It is heated with a blowtorch or a regular fire until touching the solder begins to melt it.

Cleaning the edges of the hole and the pre-prepared tin patch with sandpaper, the edges are treated with solder acid and solder. After that, the patch is placed over the hole and the edges are heated with a soldering iron until both parts are securely connected to each other.

Security measures

Both solder and rosin adversely affect the mucous membrane and respiratory tract; therefore, we advise you to work in a well-ventilated room in order to inhale as much as possible of these vapors. In some cases, when soldering, you can do without a soldering iron, no matter how strange it may sound. This is especially true for the formation of tracks printed circuit boards. You just need to dissolve the rosin in alcohol, and then apply it to the work surface with a thin screwdriver. To do this, you need a small glass vial with alcohol and a little rosin powder. Mix, wait until complete dissolution and get to work. Such a tinning does not cause any smoke, so annoying eyes and nasopharynx.

As can be seen from the above text, learning how to solder is not at all difficult.

It is quite enough to work with a soldering iron one day to master all the skills of soldering.

And the repetition of the course for one or two times a week will help develop all the skills to automatism and master all the subtleties.