I am not new to soldering. I have some soldering experience. I have built a= radio kit with no soldering problems whatsoever. I have made little...

I am not new to soldering. I have some soldering experience. I have built a= radio kit with no soldering problems whatsoever. I have made little boards= for things like transistor amplifiers for my crystal radio. I have little = surface mount experience, but in a moment of extreme courage, my boss let m= e rework about 50 PCBs at once when he was on vacation. That involved solde= ring a lit...

Are there any guidelines for soldering 18g leads to Phosphor-Bronze? I assume that I should rough the Phosphor-Bronze up with some fine sand...

Are there any guidelines for soldering 18g leads to Phosphor-Bronze? I assume that I should rough the Phosphor-Bronze up with some fine sand paper before soldering the wires to it, but I'm still concerned about the connection being. (I'm using Phosphor-Bronze for it's flexibility and electrical conductivity). Thanks. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

When I changed my tip on my Chinese copy of a Hakko wannabe, I saw a small amount of black powdery residue that came out. I have used the...

When I changed my tip on my Chinese copy of a Hakko wannabe, I saw a small amount of black powdery residue that came out. I have used the soldering around 50 times. Is that part of a carbon rod? Thanks, Andy

I have been soldering for a lot of years, but all I had was a single 30W temp iron and no desolder gun. My new kit will have adjustable heat...

I have been soldering for a lot of years, but all I had was a single 30W temp iron and no desolder gun. My new kit will have adjustable heat and a desoldering gun. That will be nice as it's been a bear trying to wick up solder and sling it away. I have been using my bench grinder brush to clean my tips. My current tip is at least a year old, but still heats great. What do you use ? ...

So, I've learned the hard way that it isn't trivial to solder a LED matrix. I've actually extended that lesson to realize any non-planar...

So, I've learned the hard way that it isn't trivial to solder a LED matrix. I've actually extended that lesson to realize any non-planar graph adds difficulty to soldering. Anyway. I was trying to build a 5x5 LED matrix (because I only have 25 LEDs right now, and it seemed like a good start). I got two rows in, before I realized I wasn't going to be able to finish it the way I was t...

I have to solder 550 - 600m of 1mm copper wire. Wire must be completely covered with solder. It will take some time to do this on regular...

I have to solder 550 - 600m of 1mm copper wire. Wire must be completely covered with solder. It will take some time to do this on regular basis ( with soldering iron ) so i was thinking to make some kind of slot in some aluminium housing and melt the lead alloy in it. Then i can put the wire in it and draw it slowly throe this slot. Additionally i can set some stepper motor on the othe...

I bought this thing. It has setting to adjust but it does NOT maintain anything like a set temperature. I left it on one night at the 300...

I bought this thing. It has setting to adjust but it does NOT maintain anything like a set temperature. I left it on one night at the 300 setting. When I woke up the next day and say that it was on, I noticed that the tip was slightly glowing. https://i.imgur.com/qhM1Ymo.jpg https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-Soldering-Iron-Gun-Adjustable-Temperature-60W-Welding-Set-Tool -Kit-110V/37

I having been using Oatey solder paste when soldering large diameter wires. I know it's designed for copper pipes. Is there something...

I having been using Oatey solder paste when soldering large diameter wires. I know it's designed for copper pipes. Is there something better? Thanks, Andy

I was thinking of replacing the 18650s in my Dewalt battery when they go bad. When using tab wire, what temp do I set my iron for? I read...

I was thinking of replacing the 18650s in my Dewalt battery when they go bad. When using tab wire, what temp do I set my iron for? I read that you should go hot and fast to avoid ruining the battery. Andy

I'm a writer, and although I keep telling myself I'm still an electronics amateur, I haven't actually touched a soldering iron in years. I hope...

I'm a writer, and although I keep telling myself I'm still an electronics amateur, I haven't actually touched a soldering iron in years. I hope you'll help me anyway. :) Partway into a story, I've hit a snag because I'm not positive a necessary 'prop' can be made. This problem is therefore theoretical in that I won't actually build it, but my internal editor demands that it could be buil...

Want to see how temperature affects certain electronics components. I know = I can use freeze spray to drive temperature down. What do I do to...

Want to see how temperature affects certain electronics components. I know = I can use freeze spray to drive temperature down. What do I do to raise tem= perature? Tried soldering iron with a piece of metal attached (so the IC wo= n't melt) but seems the metal was dissipating the heat so well.

Hi! Are most flux pens good for soldering tab wire to solar cells or what should I look for? Thanks, Bernhard

Hi! Are most flux pens good for soldering tab wire to solar cells or what should I look for? Thanks, Bernhard

Temperature might be one way of doing it. Any subsequent history of soldering would flag a problem. Board watching cameras might be the...

Temperature might be one way of doing it. Any subsequent history of soldering would flag a problem. Board watching cameras might be the easiest cheapest way to preserve the integrity of a device. https://www.wired.com/story/plant-spy-chips-hardware-supermicro-cheap-proof-of-concept/

I recently received this and am learning about what applications it is good for. https://imgur.com/3pGTm0a I put a small amount on a project...

I recently received this and am learning about what applications it is good for. https://imgur.com/3pGTm0a I put a small amount on a project board and the solder seemed to adhere better. I am using up some old RS solder that has the paste already in it, though it may have dried out quite a bit. What situations would be good to use the paste in? Thanks, Andy

Is there such a thing as open source AVR simulator anywhere? Some kind of development environment that I can experiment writing & running...

Is there such a thing as open source AVR simulator anywhere? Some kind of development environment that I can experiment writing & running code without going near a soldering iron. Thanks.

Are Circuit Pen's as useful as they sound? I'd like to create my own circuit boards. Since I'm just learning and only doing one-offs, I'd...

Are Circuit Pen's as useful as they sound? I'd like to create my own circuit boards. Since I'm just learning and only doing one-offs, I'd prefer to keep the total cost down. Are they "good enough" to do full circuit boards, or are they mostly for repairs? Are there brands that are a better value than others? How well does soldering on them work? Are they typically fine enough for SM...

I'm trying to repair my MSI motherboard by replacing the caps near the regulators since they are bulging and are most likely defective....

I'm trying to repair my MSI motherboard by replacing the caps near the regulators since they are bulging and are most likely defective. However, even at the highest setting of my soldering iron (480 degrees Celcius) I'm unable to liquify the solder. I don't know what kind of solder they're using for motherboards but it's obviously not the kind you can easily manipulate with common DIY to...

I have a plain 30-watt pencil iron. It's this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KXX6RLA/ The tip is almost 3 inches long, and when...

I have a plain 30-watt pencil iron. It's this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KXX6RLA/ The tip is almost 3 inches long, and when fully inserted only about 3/4 inch protrudes out of the barrel. The 3 inches also corresponds to the portion of the barrel that has become darkened over time, which I assume indicates that's where it heats up. Would it be possible to pull the t...

I'm contemplating offering a basic, assume nothing electronics course during the "winter-session" at our school. 17 meetings over 5 weeks...

I'm contemplating offering a basic, assume nothing electronics course during the "winter-session" at our school. 17 meetings over 5 weeks totaling about 40 hours. I want to offer basic concepts and hands-on, use a soldering iron, make stuff. Without treating it as magic, I'm also facing the fact that there's no assuming that the students will have had any advanced mathematics, so I'm...

Resistors, capacitors, LEDs, etc, when made for soldering into through hole curcuit boards, have really long leads. Why are they still made this...

Resistors, capacitors, LEDs, etc, when made for soldering into through hole curcuit boards, have really long leads. Why are they still made this way since the leads all get cut short? Is it just for handling? It seems so wasteful. The long leads are great for folks like me making home made electronic stuff like kits. I'm not complaining and perhaps I should shut up but I just wondered again a...