soldering

[studentspark]

Have some LED strips that require the connections soldering!!
I have not soldered anything since school
Could someone tell me what sort of iron is the best to use for this and which solder

Thanks

 

[Monkeh]

Depends how small the solder pads are. You'll probably be fine with any cheap 30W iron and some solder, though. I'd use lead solder, but you may have trouble finding it in small amounts.

I'd find an old PCB to practice on if you've not soldered in a while.

 

[bathjobby]

Also, the key is not to rely purely on the solder to hold the wires in place. After inserting the wires through the holes, the ends should be bent through 90 degrees to form some 'mechanical' connection and then soldered which is primarilly the elctrical connection but also assists the mechanical connectivity. When soldering, don't just melt some solder on the end of the iron and then apply it to to connection. This may look OK and may work at first but it will not have made a solid connection and will almost certainly fail in the future after giving intermittent problems as it starts to fail. Apply the iron to the connection and then apply the solder to the connection when it is hot enoough to melt the solder. Do not overdo this however as most small componants may fry if you do.

 

[Taylortwocities]

And make sure that everything is clean or you won't get a good joint - scrape with fine grade emery cloth.
Tin the connection pad (melt a small amount of solder) onto the pad if it is not already tinned.

Do not overheat anything.

But don't listen to me.

Go on Youtube and type in
"Soldering Tutorial"

Meerkat

• Taylortwocities
• 11 Dec 2009
• 53

Simples!

 

[bernardgreen]

Follow all the above advice.

Without knowing what type of LED strip you have it is impossible to give specific advice.

But one caution

Where the solder pads are small and do not have a hole to mechnically fasten the wire you need to ensure that the wire is not going to put strain on the solder pads.

It is not unknown for solder pads to be torn of the board ( or substrate ) when stiff wire exerts a force on the pad.

Rigidly fixed components and stiff straight wires expanding and contracting with changes of temperature should be avoided. Leave a bit of slack in the wires.

 

[Stoday]

Use solder that has a flux core. Don't use plumber's solder.