# Soldering Practice! Open for feedback!



## TomShadow (Oct 22, 2019)

While I am waiting for my PedalPCBs and all the components to arrive, I thought I'd practice soldering on an old Signal Generator Kit.
I was missing some things like a flux pen, solder wick, Isopropyl alcohol, and Blue tak to hold components in place. (All of them are on their way  )

This is my first time soldering on a PCB so if you notice any red flags or in general any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

P.S I've felt some components like the 50K pot and the signal switch because I ordered full-size ones from Tayda to eventually fit in a plastic case.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Oct 22, 2019)

That is a very good soldering job.  Every joint is shiny.  The solder has wetted to the pad and the leads.  Only criticism, and this is very minor, you could use a little less solder on some of the joints.  Ideally, the solder should form a cone or be slightly concave.  Hard to believe this is your first time soldering a PCB.  

I look forward to seeing your pedals in the Build Reports.


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## TomShadow (Oct 22, 2019)

Awesome, I'll remember that. 
Thank you @Chuck D. Bones that's very encouraging, can't wait to get started on a pedal.


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## Barry (Oct 22, 2019)

Looks good


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## Nostradoomus (Oct 22, 2019)

Yeah nice job!


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 22, 2019)

Nice job. The only thing I might add is that the PedalPCB pads go all the way through to the top of the board as opposed to the one you just soldered so you'll find that it might take the same amount of solder you used here and run through to the other side, forming a tiny cone or slight concave on each side.


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## TomShadow (Oct 22, 2019)

Yeah I was freaking out that the solder is not flowing to the other side no matter how much I fed it. Then I had to look it up, this pcb is ancient. Thank you for the tip


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## Chuck D. Bones (Oct 22, 2019)

With thru-plated holes, all you need to do is fill the circumference of hole with solder.  It doesn't need to mound up on either side.  In fact, if you try to mound solder up on one side, you may very well end up with too much on the other side.  Here are examples of good solder joints in a thru-plated board.


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## TomShadow (Oct 22, 2019)

Nice! If you hadn't mentioned I would have thought that was how a cold joint looked. This is a great reference, Thank you @Chuck D. Bones


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## DGWVI (Oct 22, 2019)

Here's a couple handy charts

From SparkFun (though I do use the tip to heat the joints):




From Weller:


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## Chuck D. Bones (Oct 22, 2019)

TomShadow said:


> Nice! If you hadn't mentioned I would have thought that was how a cold joint looked. This is a great reference, Thank you @Chuck D. Bones



Those joints are actually smooth & shiny.  The granularity is due to the $10 digital microscope I'm using.  A lesson I learned about inspecting circuit boards: the more you magnify, the worse it looks.  Even a perfect solder job can look like the surface of the moon under enough magnification.


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